WSCC hosts exhibit at Old Kirke Museum in Manistee.

WSCC hosts exhibit at Old Kirke Museum in Manistee.

WSCC News is a presentation of West Shore Community College in partnership with Mason County Press.

MANISTEE — The West Shore Community College Humankind series is hosting an exhibition by artist Anni Holm, Can’t See the Forest for the Trees, at the Old Kirke Museum, located in the historic Danish Lutheran Church, 300 Walnut St. The exhibition will open on Saturday, Feb. 19 and run through Friday, Mar. 18. The exhibition hours will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.

An exhibit reception will be held on February 19, 1 to 4 p.m. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. 

The site-specific multimedia installation will transform the Old Kirke Museum into an artificial forest site reminiscing the past as well as contemplating the present and future. Inspired by local history and Danish immigration experience of the 19th and 20th centuries, the exhibition addresses (de)forestation and celebrates people coming together to make a difference.

West Chicago based Anni Holm is a conceptual artist working with photography, installation, performance, and collaborative art. Born in Randers, Denmark, Anni Holm attended Krabbesholm Højskole in Skive before she immigrated to the United States in 1999. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree of fine arts, majoring in photography from Columbia College Chicago in 2004.  She is the director and curator of People Made Visible, which organizes a variety of art and cultural events and is an international artist in residency in Chicago. She is also a freelance curator, as well as a teaching artist at Chicago Arts Partnership in Education. 

“Anni Holm’s work is community oriented,” said WSCC’s Professor of Art and Curator, Eden Ünlüata-Foley. “As an immigrant from Denmark, she deeply appreciates the value of community for moving beyond challenging experiences many immigrants face. In her work, Anni brings people together where participants can exchange stories, share perspectives, and seek common threads. Anni Holm has been working with past WSCC president, Dr. William Anderson, in researching, meeting local community members, and visiting significant sites tied to the Danish immigrant experience.” 

Those interested in contributing to the exhibition, may donate artificial Christmas trees by making arrangements with WSCC curator Eden Ünlüata-Foley at nfoley@westshore.edu. One may bring them directly to the Old Kirke Museum on Feb. 11, 12 or 13 or arrange an alternate drop-off time.

The theme of the 2021-2022 Humankind series is movement. Topics to be explored under this theme include bodily ability (in the context of disability rights), socio-economic mobility, transportation, immigration, and even traveling and movement through society post-Covid.

For more information please contact WSCC curator Eden Ünlüata-Foley at nfoley@westshore.edu.

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