Overbrook Gallery: “Hope: Works by Valerie Allen and Armin Mersmann”

“Hope: Works by Valerie Allen and Armin Mersmann” will be on exhibit in Muskegon Community College’s Overbrook Gallery from Sept. 30 through Oct. 31.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Overbrook Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday-Friday with special weekend and evening hours during performances and concerts in the adjacent Overbrook Theater. Call the MCC Arts and Humanities Department at (231) 777-0324 for more information.

The work of the husband-and-wife artists from Midland, MI, reflects unique connections to “Hope,” this year’s theme of ahFest, the Muskegon Area Arts and Humanities Festival.

Allen’s mixed media abstractions draw on fragmented images of civilization and cultural icons from across the centuries. Mersmann’s hyper-realist drawings comment on both the frailty and strength found in commonplace objects. Both artists address the notion of endurance and resolve – a kind of hope – against the passage of time.

Allen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati and pursued graduate studies in the Humanities at Central Michigan University. She has shown extensively throughout the Midwest and eastern states.

Born in Germany, Mersmann immigrated to the U.S. in 1962. After six years of college, he began a successful career in Chicago working as a portrait artist. He has since gone on to exhibit widely throughout the country.