Local award-winning artist Lora Garcelon never expected her “angry art starts” would explode into a national painting “campaign,” attracting artists and non-artists from across the country who wanted to participate in her message of love, support and hope for the LGBTQ+ community.
Following the presidential election, Garcelon, the mother of a gay child and a trans child, was desperate for an outlet to release her outrage, frustration and despair. She went outside her home and began throwing paint, rocks, sticks and anything she could find at watercolor paper.
Looking over her raw, chaotic pieces, Garcelon felt a sense of peace and calmness. It was then that she decided to transform her angry expressions into artistic messages of hope. She began painting over the watercolor papers and asked a handful of friends from the art community to join her. She cut 16 squares in the hopes of finding 16 people who wanted to participate in her small project. Within a few weeks, she was flooded with emails and text messages from hundreds of people across the country who wanted to be involved.
Garcelon mailed seven-inch watercolor paper squares to 185 people – from California to Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Texas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Ohio and even England – who wanted to share their message of support and love for the LGBTQ+ community.
So far, 100 squares have been returned. Some are art expressions, while others are personal written messages. Her youngest supporter is 8, and her oldest is 91. She has heard from artists and non-artists, as well as LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ individuals. Garcelon, along with the help of her husband, created the “Together Art Project,” mounting each square on cradled wood panels. The result was four, 4’ by 4’ collages that are on display at Cleary University in Howell.
Garcelon covered one square with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way sheet music, and another square features excerpts from the Obergefell vs. Hodges, and Lawrence vs Texas Supreme Court decisions.
“I wanted to underscore the message of love, equality and resilience,” Garcelon said. “I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the support for this project. I think I reached out to three or four friends and my message went viral very quickly. Instead of anger, people are expressing love, which is far more powerful. Through this art initiative, I hope people are feeling a greater sense of connection and belonging.
“Support for the LGBTQ+ community is diverse; it is everywhere and everyone, The support for this project demonstrates that members of the LGBTQ+ community are not alone. We are stronger together.”
And Garcelon realized that “anger can be a powerful force for good it used the right way.”
As more squares are returned, she will continue to add to the collage.
She hopes the “Together Art Project” can travel across the United States for others to view. It will remain on display at Cleary University until the end of February and then travel to a church in Brighton in the spring. The public is welcome to view the artwork, located in Cleary Commons, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. (Cleary Commons is the first building on the right when you enter the university’s campus at 3750 Cleary Drive, off Grand River and west of Latson Road.)
Garcelon has won many awards for her work, including Artist of the Year from the Livingston Fine Art Association, and as a finalist in the Howell Art Project in 2016, 2017 and 2018. She’s also won best of show for the winter show of the Mid Michigan Art Guild; the Michigan Watercolor Society Founder’s Memorial Award in 2013; Michigan Watercolor Society Award in 2022, as well as several travel awards.
She is a member of the National Watercolor Society, the Brighton Art Guild, and a signature member of the Michigan Watercolor Society. Her work is on display at the Blue Heron Gallery in Elk Rapids.
You can learn more about her by visiting her website. https://www.loragarcelon.com/
Cleary University, which serves as the site of the Arthur Secunda Museum, is “committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone,” said Brett Rogers, director of marketing.
“Hosting Lora Garcelon’s “Together Art Project” aligns with our efforts to celebrate diverse voices and provide an atmosphere for meaningful artistic expression, as demonstrated by the Arthur Secunda Museum on our campus,” Rogers said. “This powerful piece created by Lora and 100 others from across the country reflects themes of resilience, unity and hope – values that resonate deeply within our campus community.”
If your organization would like to exhibit the collage, you can contact Garcelon at loragarcelon@msn.com.
About the Arthur Secunda Museum
Arthur Secunda, an internationally acclaimed artist with roots in Michigan, traveled the world for nearly seven decades, purposefully to study a wide range of artistic techniques from the most renown talents. Through his journeys, he learned and mastered most art forms – lithographs, serigraphs, monotypes, etchings, collages, block prints, welded sculptures. He also was a distinguished printmaker and even made his own paper.
Cleary University is the site of the Arthur Secunda Museum, where the largest collection of his works anywhere in the world is exhibited. Secunda died in August 2022, but his legacy lives on at Cleary. Through grant funding, Cleary will honor the memory and life work of Secunda by continuing to collect, restore, maintain and most importantly, share the art of this American treasure with the entire community for many generations.
Cleary recently hired Suzanne Fischer as curator for the Arthur Secunda Museum. In addition to preserving, maintaining and sharing the art collection, she will organize exhibitions, guided tours, community outreach programs and hands-on workshops; and collaborate with Cleary faculty to integrate Secunda’s art collection into academic curricula, creating opportunities for educational engagement. Dr. Fischer also will establish relationships with local museums and academic institutions to advance a long-term preservation and enrichment plan for Secunda’s collection.
“Cleary University strives to provide an attractive, engaging, and challenging learning environment, which stimulates originality and creativity; develops natural curiosity; broadens perspective, and encourages interpretation through the search for meaning,” Rogers said. “Art is a catalyst for teaching and learning those important skills, which are keys to a successful business career.”
