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The Inn At Harbor Shores Fourth Art Gallery Exhibit In Inaugural Year Features Internationally Recognized Artist

02/05/2015

February 5th 2015 – ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, January 28, 2015

The Inn at Harbor Shores is proud to host an artist reception featuring selected works by Ladislav Hanka entitled Spawned by the Great Lakes; etchings from the watersheds of Michigan, and ceramic sculptures by Jana Hanka on Friday, February 20 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. This is the fourth exhibit at The Gallery at the Inn in its inaugural year. Lad Hanka has had over 100 one-man exhibits and his etchings can be found in over 100 public collections on all continents.

The Gallery at Harbor Shores celebrates the talents of these artists and exclusively showcases Michigan artists in the rotating exhibit located on the second floor of The Inn at Harbor Shores. The art program has two components; a permanent collection displayed in rooms and public areas and rotating exhibitions in the Gallery curated by Susan Wilczak. The Gallery at Harbor Shores is open to the public and art on display is available for purchase. 

Ladislav R. Hanka, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Lad Hanka exhibits internationally. His work examines themes of life, death and transfiguration of nature as the crucible in which man finds a reflection of his own life and meaning. Over the years that has meant going to visit old trees and drawing them from life, artist residencies at Isle Royale, circumnavigating Lake Superior and of course angling for the various Trout and Pike he’s needed as models for his etchings. Most recently his work has also involved close collaborations with honeybees and placing his works into living hives. Lad holds a bachelor’s degree of arts from Kalamazoo College, an MFA in printmaking from Western Michigan University and a master’s in zoology from Colorado State University.

Lad Hanka’s work is featured in the following institutions including but not limited to Detroit Institute of Art, Newberry Library in Chicago, Grand Rapids Museum of Art, Princeton University Print Collection, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ, The National Museum, Prague, The Czech National Archive, Huang Zhe Temple (Buddhist) in China, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, Numazu & Metropolitan Museum of Art in Tokyo, The British Library in London, Great Britain; The Rembrandt House, Amsterdam; Sint Niklaas, Belgium; The Bookplate Society, Eubonne, France; Tropical Wings Nature Center, San Jose Succotz, Belize; Graphic Arts Institute and Francisco Toledo Museum, Oaxaca, Mexico. The Permanent Archive of his works, books, proofs, documentation and correspondence is housed at Special Collections: Western Michigan University.

Jana Hanka, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Jana received her MFA from the Prague Academy of Fine Arts in 1980 and has been living in the USA since 1987. Jana began life as a painter and have slowly evolved into a sculptor, employing clay and bronze. My currently displayed work is mostly ceramic sculpture. I have grown particularly fond of the rough and unpredictable earthy effects created by ash deposits and microclimates within the large fire-breathing dragon of a kiln we use for week-long Anagama Japanese-style wood-firings. It is a force unto itself, beautiful and primal and the work that comes from the kiln is a reflection of that ancient process.

About The Inn at Harbor Shores

The Inn at Harbor Shores is the first high- rise hotel built on Lake Michigan's southwest shores in more than 10 years and is located inside the Harbor Shores development in St Joseph, Mich. The Inn opened in May 2014 and is part of a $114 million Harbor Village project located on the north bank of the St. Joseph River, just east of the M-63 bridge in Benton Harbor. The Inn features an adjacent 12 ft deep water marina, riverwalk, condominiums, event space, waterside dining, an art gallery, indoor and outdoor pool, indoor/outdoor hot tub, and coming in 2015, a spa. When complete, The Harbor Village development will bring an estimated 230 direct jobs to the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph community and add additional tourism revenue to the local economy. For more information contact The Gallery at Harbor Shores Curator, Susan Wilczak at susan@susanwilczak.com or 269-449-3231.