Pointes Artist's Work Picked for Permanent Installation

From left, are works by Gary Kulak, of Birmingham; Mark Beltchenko, of Grosse Pointe Park; Matthew Zacharias, of Ann Arbor; Emilie Beadle, of Romulus; and Richard Bennett, of Detroit. (Photos by city of Royal Oak)

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Five area artists have been selected as winners from nearly 60 applications in the11 Mile Art Project sponsored by the Royal Oak Commission for the Arts. Winners are:

• Richard Bennett, of Detroit;
• Mark Beltchenko, of Grosse Pointe Park;
• Matthew Zacharias, of Ann Arbor;
• Emilie Beadle, of Romulus; and
• Gary Kulak, of Birmingham.

The Commission for the Arts budgeted up to $40,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development community development block grant funds for the purchase and permanent installation of the artworks along East Mile Road from Troy Street to Campbell Road.

“Judging was very difficult,” Commission for the Arts juror Camille Lecoutre said in a statement. “We were looking for projects that would make people going about their day-to-day routines stop and think about art.”

One of the pieces that excited Lecoutre is the first work of art to be installed — “Colorful Abstract Beach Sunrise” by Beadle, a 27-year-old up-and-coming artist.

Beadle’s work, a 6-foot by 2-foot weatherproof reproduction of one of her oil paintings, was installed earlier this year on the Hotel Royal Oak, 811 E. 11 Mile Road, and will be permanently installed at 825 E. 11 Mile Road.

“I put my heart into to my art,” said Beadle, a Huron School District teacher who uses a palette knife technique to create layers of texture. “I am thrilled and honored to have the public to enjoy it.”

The remaining pieces of art are scheduled to be installed on 11 Mile Road in the near future.

The other locations are as follows:

• Bennett’s “Pella-Dar,” to be located at 1006 E. 11 Mile Road
• Beltchenko’s “X’s and O’s,” to be located at 1528 E. 11 Mile Road
• Kulak’s “Red Chakra,” to be located at 1207 E. 11 Mile Road
• Zacharias’ “Flipbook, Volume IV,” which will be installed in various locations on East Fourth Street (city officials had difficulty finding a suitable space for the series on 11 Mile Road).

In addition to this project, the Royal Oak Commission for the Arts has authority over the temporary display of public art in downtown Royal Oak known as Art Explored.

Proposals are currently being accepted for the fourth wave of Art Explored, which will be installed June 2016. More information is found here.

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