Michigan Fine Arts Competition presents 85 works at Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center – Press and Guide

Carole Morisseau of Detroit won a grand prize for her work “Offering to the Sea” at the 43rd annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition, which runs through August 15 at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center. (Photo courtesy of Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center)

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center director Annie VanGelderen says the group’s annual art exhibition “continues to delight and surprise her.”

Enter Dorothy Jett-Carter, a West Bloomfield artist whose currently exhibited works support VanGelderen’s words.

Among the 85 works in the exhibition is Jett-Carter’s imaginative “Dandelion,” a framed, African-inspired work that includes textiles, ink print on linen, and embroidery. The mischievous piece depicts a sweet boy giving the dandelion plant to his mother.

With elegant simplicity, Jett-Carter said, “To a child, weeds are a beautiful thing.”

The playful image caught the attention of the exhibition’s judges, who entered the piece into the Birmingham Bloomfield exhibition’s 43rd annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition.

The show, located at 1516 S. Cranbrook Road, Birmingham, is open to the public through August 15 and can be viewed Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

From more than 600 submissions, a Texas-based jury selected the exhibition’s 85 works, which cover four gallery areas.

“I was immediately delighted to discover that so many of the artworks were born out of talent and serious engagement with an artistic practice,” said juror Danette Dufilho, who works as director and curator of the project space at Conduit Galley in the Dallas Design District.

Dufilho praised the show for its range of “clever compositions and color choices and the variety of materials and media.”

The artist selections come from artists in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Among the show’s nine competition winners, seven were from Michigan: Carole Morisseau, Detroit; Doug Cannell, West Bloomfield; Craig Paul Nowak, Farmington Hills; Carolyn Reed Barritt, Ann Arbor; Suzanne Hochberg, Beverly Hills; Philip Ruehle, Owosso; and Mark Hunter, Northville.

For Jett-Carter, a West Bloomfield resident and experienced jewelry and wearable art lover who is currently expanding her skills to include creative mixed media framed art, being selected for the show was a great joy.

“I was surprised and honored to be given a piece,” she said. “It’s an extraordinary show.”

Being among the selected artists “is a real confidence boost,” she said, noting that she is still “figuring out” her new, detailed technique for framed art.

Not that Jett-Carter is new to the art world. The Detroit native has been making wearable textile art for half a century. Her designs have been exhibited and sold in venues ranging from the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington DC to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.

Jett-Carter’s passion for art developed over decades as she pursued a career as a human resources executive at Chrysler Corp. and was deeply involved in joint company-UAW programs. After retiring in 2008, she had more time for her artistic pursuits.

A writer and maker of art jewelry, she said much of her work combines “traditional beliefs and values” from her time in Africa. Much of it is inspiration, she said.

Her experiences include time spent with women from the West Village in Senegal, West Africa, where she says she was “inspired by their impeccable fashion sense, their intricate beading techniques, and their unusual weaves.”

These elements are reflected in her African-influenced works, which range from youthful and stylish to sophisticated haute couture.

For more information, visit bbartcenter.org/2024-mfac-exhibiting-artists.