Lee Ann Frame, a longtime Muskegon Community College art faculty member, has received a $5,000 cash prize as one of two 2021 winners in the prestigious Ray and Nancy Loeschner Art Competition sponsored by the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids.
The award recipients were announced on Feb. 8. Frame won in the two-dimension category for her work titled “Spring.” Grand Rapids-based painter and photographer Lynn Strough received the photography award for her entry titled “The Conversation.” Both submissions now become part of the Meijer Gardens permanent collection.
Since 2002, the Loeschner Art Completion has sought outstanding artwork from across the globe inspired by Meijer Gardens, with the objective of collecting high-quality work that celebrates the beauty and inspiration Meijer Gardens provides.
Every year, the selection of the Loeschner Award winners goes through a two-step process. All submissions are first reviewed by a team of staff members who choose three top choices in each category. In a second and final round, members of the Sculpture Advisory Committee select the winners. For more information and to view past winners, visit MeijerGardens.org/award.
“Intaglio is an age-old process that I find to be an engaging and creative process,” said Frame, who has taught printmaking and ceramics at MCC for 16 years. “I use two copper plates, altering the surface with aquatint and an etched line. For this print, I was engaged with the view of the stone sculpture and bridge from across the waters as they emerge from the surrounding deciduous greens and the steady rocks that sat at the edge of the water creating dynamic textures and composition.”
“Spring” by Lee Ann Frame
Her work has been included in many regional and national juried competitions. She has exhibited in group exhibitions such as Boston Printmakers Members Exhibition, Society of Graphic Artists and Southwest Michigan Printmakers. Her professional career includes several printmaking residencies, nationally and internationally.
Frame holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Grand Valley State University and an associate degree from Muskegon Community College. She also earned a certificate in theology from Aquinas College.
“Being an artist working at home in your studio alone, you create a lot of work in the hopes that it will be appreciated by someone and seen by someone,” said the Muskegon native. “To have it recognized with this prestigious award is really confirming that I am doing what I should be doing. I am hoping that it opens up some doors for me and keeps printmaking in the eyes of the public.”
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, one of the world’s most significant botanic and sculpture experiences, was recently listed in the Top 100 most visited museums in the world and the 30 most visited museums in the U.S. by The Art Newspaper, the leading global art news publication. Education programs welcome 80,000 students and guests each year.
The 158-acre main campus features Michigan’s largest tropical conservatory; one of the country’s largest interactive children’s gardens; arid and Victorian gardens with bronze sculptures by Edgar Degas and Auguste Rodin; a carnivorous plant house; outdoor gardens, including a replica 1930s-era farm garden; an eight-acre Japanese garden featuring contemporary sculpture; and a 1,900-seat outdoor amphitheater garden, showcasing an eclectic mix of world-renowned touring musicians each summer.
The permanent collection highlights hundreds of sculptures from internationally acclaimed artists Magdalena Abakanowicz, El Anatsui, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero, Marshall Fredericks, Henry Moore, Michele Oka Donor, Beverly Pepper, Jaume Plensa, Auguste Rodin, Richard Serra, Yinka Shonibare CBE and Ai Weiwei, among others. Indoor galleries with changing sculpture exhibitions have hosted shows by Jonathan Borofsky, Edgar Degas, Jim Dine, Laura Ford, Richard Hunt, Rebecca Louise Law, Pablo Picasso, George Segal and others