From the GI series, Carl Butler

http://www.flatlandersculpture.com/Slipperyweasels.htm

Slippery Weasels on the Flatlanders website. See you Saturday, July 14th from 11 am - 3 pm for Weasel Camp!

THE SLIPPERY WEASEL SOCIETY

AT FLATLANDERS

BLISSFIELD, MICHIGAN

May 29 - September 8, 2012

The Slippery Weasel Society has landed at Flatlanders Sculpture Supply and Art Galleries in Blissfield, Michigan. http://www.flatlandersculpture.com/ The gallery show will be up through September 8th, 2012. We'll be doing a Weasel Camp on Saturday, July 14th, 11 am - 3 pm. If you find yourself in the Adrian/Blissfield/Toledo area, take a minute to stop by and see the show and give a little love to Ken Thompson and his Flat people. They're the busiest sculpture installers we've ever seen. Thank you, Ken Thompson, for the use of your hideout during our sojourn among your people.

You may not know this but the Slippery Weasel Society originated from a band of renegade Boy Scouts from Lucas County, Ohio. The elusive Slippery Weasel badge, involving one-handed neckerchief tying, is still one of the most coveted merit badges a scout can attain.

Andrew Krieger, The Drink - installation view

Andrew Krieger - The Drink (detail)

Alison Wong - Little Piggies and Purebred

Alison Wong

Carl Butler - GI series

Carl Butler

Faina Lerman - Untitled

Jeanne Bieri

Matthew Hanna - Peanut and Shark

Matthew Hanna

Mary Fortuna - wall of snakes

Mary Fortuna - Black Bird Girl (detail)

Alison Wong & Carl Butler (installation view)

Faina Lerman and Andrew Krieger (installation view)

Jeanne Bieri (installation view)

Mary Fortuna and Carl Butler (installation view)

Matthew Hanna (installation view)

Mary Fortuna - Dolls (installation view)

Detroit News Review

http://detroitnews.com/article/20111215/ENT01/112150317/1033/-Off-Walls-Seven-exhibits-offbeat-spirited

Many thanks to Michael Hodges for his review of the Slippery Weasel Society: Seven exhibit at the Cass Cafe, in the Detroit News.

Pork & Mead Review

The intrepid Jimmy Doom, a born weasel if ever I met one, weaseled his way into writing a Slippery Weasel story for newish hipster mag Pork & Mead. They only had to pay him seven bucks. As soon as I have Jimmy's permission, I'm going to post the letter he wrote in response to Pork & Mead's Craigslist ad seeking writers to work for free.

Click your way through to Page 45 for the Slippery Weasel story. There's also a nice spread on Glen Barr, and some interesting looking reviews of other artists' works that I'll look at when I'm through gazing at my own name. I'll even make a sincere effort to stop referring to this publication as Pork & Beans, though I can't make any promises.

I don't know about you, but I think this is worth at least seven bucks. Thanks, Doom. You're a gentleman and a scholar. Hee.

http://porkandmead.com/november-issue

Weasel at Small

Our heartfelt congratulations to Graem Whyte and Faina Lerman on the birth of Isadora Lyuba Whyte. Hotcha.

Weasels in the News

http://detroit.metromix.com/events/article/slippery-weasel-at-cass/2901173/content

Robert del Valle did a lovely write up on our exhibit for Metromix Detroit. Thank you, Mr. del Valle. You are too kind.

Weasels at Large

Several distinguished members of the Slippery Weasel Society appear to have met with a gruesome fate of unknown origin. Either that, or they've gone underground, preferring to putter in their dens, inscribing tortured manifestos upon the raw lumber walls rather than reveal their latest Projects to their adoring fans. Perhaps they have come to believe they are too good to associate in public with their Weasel brethren. Could this be a splinter group of some kind, a faction preparing to bail on their brothers and strike out on their own? No matter. We shall spit bile upon the ground as we curse their names, even as we toast their memories with strong liquor and pine deep in our scurvy hearts for their company and, dare I say it, their approval.

Among the missing:

Todd Erickson

Jerome Ferretti

Arturo Rodriguez

Alison Wong

Graem Whyte

Recent Updates

Recent updates regarding the Slippery Weasel Society are sketchy at best. The minutes from the last meeting, furiously scribbled on telephone book pages, are blowing around the Sonoran Desert even as we speak. The fear is that a peyote fueled vision of an apocalyptic nature is to blame. We are still waiting for the report from the toxicologist. Thank you for your continued interest in the Slippery Weasel Society. Sapiri!

Contrary to Popular Belief

Contrary to popular belief, slippery weasel is an old circus term. The "slippery weasel" was the first clown to go into Cole's tiny car and the last to get out. Behind the grease paint, the rubber nose and the squirty flower beats the heart of a warrior. In the tradition of the zanni of Commedia dell'Arte, the slippery weasel carries on the tradition of the noble fool, entertaining for the edification of the audience. So the next time you see a slippery weasel, be sure to say, "Thank you, you clown."

Artist's Statement - Matthew Hanna

Matthew Hanna
Journal 50, 1998-2011

I make art the way some people devour books; it is a self educating process both as a person and as a practicing artist. Paintings are my “words,” the best way I know how to communicate with others about myself, what I understand of the world we share and the things I’ve experienced in my life. This exploration has continued over two decades, learning new methods and techniques, sifting through the detritus, the everyday images and information-saturated world; considering simple, ordinary things that fill everyday life. As the work is refined and re-defined over the years, with images traveling back and forth over time and between media, I’ve found that art is the best way to express one self, especially when images seem to say what words I can’t.

The content of my work is additive. It unfolds gradually, revealing visual puns and symbols. The paintings are loaded with images that are potent in meaning, often to the point of inspiring a poetic interpretation. Driven by history, faith and fantasy, what engages me is a spiritual devotion to the ritual of art making itself; pounding images into the surface with common tools and vernacular materials. Working repetitively until the material and process become the content which records a dense diagram of layered pictorial references, a visual history that is meant to be can be navigated at different levels of engagement. By creating such ever expanding visual journals, I pay tribute to folklore demigods, world book heroes and personal histories that have touched my own life and, I hope, will translate and speak to the viewer’s experience. By appropriating and adopting elements from the prevalent images of modern culture I am also critiquing and exploring a path of learning about what makes up our culture; the everyday pieces that shape our lives and our thinking. In other words, the small things that defines us.

My influences are grounded in, but not limited to, the tradition initiated in Detroit’s Cass Corridor, an aesthetic fueled by an elevated level of seriousness and experimentation that created Detroit’s first true avant-garde. Taken to another level the work is evidently autobiographical. I am essentially a visual thinker who would rather express myself with images than with words. However, the paintings are not representation but, rather, anchored in realism with an essentially abstract approach. Broken down the paintings are basic studies of color, form and texture in the form of landscapes from my mind’s eye.

The work exhibited here is from a series of mixed media collages started in 1998 and continues today.

Weasel Projects

Because that's what weasels do. They make projects.



Carl Butler - The Seven Stages of Anger



Carl Butler - Untitled (Summer 2011)



Carl Butler - Untitled (Summer 2011)




Carl Butler - Untitled (Summer 2011)

The Truth of the Matter - Origins

The truth of the matter is that the “slippery weasels” were a rival faction to the notorious Purple Gang that terrorized Detroit during the prohibition era. Rum running characters and wiseacres such as Gus “Curly Top” Skinner, Marty “Pars Fortuna” Brent, and Charlie “Two Chins” Abbelskeevers headed the “vermin ermine” as they were collectively known in the local press. These generals organized a crime wave that was utterly disastrous in terms of crimes committed and subsequent time served for felonies both real and imagined. One singular problem was the insistence on the part of the criminals to use stockings in the execution of their criminal behavior. Hosiery was not put over their heads to thwart identification, but rather worn on their legs to aid with swift and deliberate escape from the scene of the crime (not to mention the intention of making a fashionable exit).
The Slippery Weasel Society became a loosely organized collection of gangster groupies; it was a big draw for curious thrill seekers, who were motivated in large part by the societies “clothing optional” Tuesday night meetings. It should be noted that Society members then and now demonstrate a noticeable lack of social propriety when it comes to liquor, improvisational music and anyone with a reasonably charming smile.



A vintage photograph of some original society members.

Slippery Weasel Society - Seven

Slippery Weasel Society Exhibition
SEVEN
Jeanne Bieri
Carl G. Butler
Treena Flannery Ericson
Mary Fortuna
Matthew Hanna
Andrew Krieger
Faina Lerman

Cass Cafe
4620 Cass Avenue
Detroit MI 48201
313-831-1400
www.casscafe.com

November 5, 2011-January 7, 2012

Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 5th 7-10pm
Music by Ben Teague, Andrew Thompson and Nate Brent

The Slippery Weasel Society is preparing to occupy the Cass Cafe. We're moving in with a new gallery show called Seven. Why Seven? Because that's how high we can count. And there are seven of us weasels participating in this show. And that was a pretty good flick that featured some fairly creepy serial killer artwork and some fine performances by the likes of Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey. Not that we're creepy, or serial killers, or Morgan Freeman. We're weasels. And we're slippery. And for this show at least, there are seven of us.

You have been warned.

p.s. There will be some tasty music provided by Andrew Thompson/He Bops; Nate Brent; and Ben Teague. Again... you have been warned.

Cass Cafe Show

The Slippery Weasel Society will have a show of their work at The Cass Cafe November 5, 2011 - January 7, 2012. I can't speak for the rest of the weasels, but I'm working on... a contraption. Thank you, Dave Roberts and Cass Cafe.

Friends of the Weasels

Here's a shout out to some Friends of the Weasels who have provided support and sustenance in the form of musical interludes at some of our events.

Benjamin Teague

Andrew Thompson

Nate Brent

Space Band

Mick Vranich and K-9

A History of the Slippery Weasel Society

Though the origins of this secretive fraternal organization are shrouded in mystery, its antecedents can be found in several Native American Medicine Societies of certain Great Lakes tribes. The first mention of the society can be found in H.R. Schoolcraft’s “Algic Researches” of 1839, where in Pauppukeewiss, a “crazy brain”, likens the slippery weasels in his lodge to a “sack of fish” and wishes them good luck in surviving the harsh winter. (La Poudre, Historical and Statistical Information Respecting...the Indian Tribes of the United States. Mentor L. Williams, Editor.)

The society not only managed to survive, but thrived. During the war years it claimed the largest number of furniture movers among its ranks of any other civic organization of its kind in North America. Though interest waned at times, the society has enjoyed something of a renaissance during the ferret boom of the mid 1990’s. Today Slippery Weasels are everywhere. Membership is up, and council meetings are more egalitarian. Due to multiple lawsuits in the early part of this decade the Society has been forced to open its doors to women, dancing bears, and the Irish.

Tale of the Weasel

A Weasel Tale by Alison Wong

I once heard an old folklore about one particular slippery weasel that mysteriously went missing and was never to be seen again.
It was in a spooky old building way out east. The weasel was minding his own business, just trying to set up camp. Just as he was getting the lay of the land, he got too curious and went a little too far.
All of a sudden… VOOOM!
He fell hundreds of feet down a tiny black hole. He tried desperately to find his way out, wiggling, squirming, and rolling all over through the narrow, dusty and cobweb ridden spaces. The poor weasel tried for many days and nights to get out. The rest of the weasels stayed at that camp for about a month, hoping and praying the little one would find his way back until the pack had no choice but to pack up and leave.
We suspect that little weasel wiggled himself to death. He sacrificed his life but the rest of the weasels lived happily at camp for one long beautiful month.

Weasel Mating Dance

Weasel Mating Dance

Weaselographer Mary Fortuna recently captured extremely rare footage of a solitary weasel engaged in the rarely seen Slippery Weasel Mating Dance. This elaborate ritual is most often performed under the full moon in May, by both male and female lone weasels1 longing for a mate. It is thought that secretions from a musk gland beneath the tail are deposited on the ground during the execution of the dance, in hopes of attracting a weasel of the opposite sex. Slippery Weasels are notoriously difficult to live with, and generally copulate briefly if ferociously before biting one another behind the ears and going on about their solitary business. In the photos above, note the subtle cock of the head and the open position of the forearms. The weasel maintains this posture while moving slowly – almost imperceptibly – around in the circle. Time elapsed in the above photos, in which the subject advanced from Position A to Position C, is approximately 7 hours 13 minutes.

1. Lone Weasel – see Oswald, Lee Harvey

Jeanne Bieri

Jeanne Bieri
jeannebieri@biericompany.com

Education
1993 – Master of Fine Art, Painting – Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
1971 – Bachelor of Science – Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Past Employment
1995-2005 - Adjunct Professor, Painting, Drawing – University of Michigan, Dearborn, Michigan
Adjunct Professor, Painting - Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan - Design - Henry Ford Community College,
1986 – Present - Maintained a studio

Professional Contributions
Board of Visitors - Wayne State University
M.A.C. - Committee Member
Slippery Weasel Society

Awards
2000 – Creative Artists Grant Recipient - Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
Ewald Library Installation, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan (Juried, Permanent) Grosse Pointe Artists Annual Exhibition (Best of Show, twice) – Grosse Pointe, Mi.
Gold Medal Award, Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan - 2007

One Person Exhibitions
Affirmations Gallery, Ferndale, Michigan - 2009
University Liggett School, Grosse Pointe, Michigan - 2008
Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, Michigan - 2006
Solo Exhibition, Port Huron Museum, Port Huron, Michigan - 2000
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Kansas - 1998
2 Person Exhibitions
Marygrove College, Detroit, Michigan
Sisson Gallery, HFCC, Dearborn, Michigan
Mask Gallery, Hamtramck, Michigan

Selected Group Exhibitions
University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
Harvest Gold - Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, Michigan
Anton Center for the Arts, Mt. Clemens, Michigan
Michigan Fine Arts Competition, BBAC, Birmingham, Michigan
Issues of Containment, Downriver Council for the Arts, Taylor, Michigan
On, In, Up, Of - Four Installations, A.C.,T. Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
Creative Artists Grant Exhibition, Padzieski Art Gallery, Dearborn,Mi
Plaiedes Gallery, New York, New York (juried)
Fourteenth Annual Michigan Biennial - Kresge Museum, Lansing, Michigan
By a Thread - Buckham Gallery, Flint, Michigan
Undefining Painting – Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, Michigan
Detroit - Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois

Publications:
Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Ann Arbor, Lansing Journal, Kansas City Star, Real Detroit, Detroit Home, Grosse Pointe News, Hastings Banner, Barry County Reminder, Port Huron News

Collections
Pfizer Corporation , State of Michigan, Museum of New Art, Gyro Design, Grosse Pointe Park Fouindation, Rose DeSloover, Jack White, Robert Bielat, Skip Davis, Judith Solomon , Kenneth Dzubia, Louis Redstone Collection, Richard Rollins, Christine Biegas, Christine Hagedorn, William Zeising, Christine Zantop, Peter Williams, Dan Haddad, Jim Lucky


Art-making is visual problem solving. Its language is image and material. The materials are finite, the solutions infinite. The process juggles a finite set of materials with an infinite assortment of solutions in reaching a plausible conclusion. Relationships are the focus of this process and time figures prominently because the process centers on time-based seeing.

Art making asks, how do you take the mundane and create a truth? How do you create this truth over space, distance and time? It records a series of visions, one overlaying the other to depict a particular truth. How do you sift the visual through personality, style and perception? And finally, communication, how do you tap the viewer to become engaged?

The particular truth, that is my truth, is grounded in my experience and personality. It is a document of my response to a particular experience. The problem posed is framed and explained by the art-making and through the interaction of material, experience past and experience present, the finished work documents the journey. Its authenticity is based on my fidelity to those experiences along the way. Truthfulness is the essential.

Art making studies the here and now and at the same time taps into history. It takes multiple dimensions and condenses them into their most essential elements. My interest is in discovering a story that although unfamiliar engages me. The final work reflects this meditative journey of discovery and combines the real with the intuitive; it mixes the realities of the world with the intuitive suggested by reality. The problem tackled is how are these elements recorded and all but the essentials eliminated?

Art making is a task that recognizes conscious insights that tap the intuitive sub layer of my experience and weaves a composite of visual information that asks the viewer to become engaged with my particular point of view. It is my vision presented to the viewer, with just enough information to engage them, to give nod to their own set of observations drawn on their set of experiences.

It is visual problem solving that prioritizes relationship formed by experience, memory and intuition. The art work is bracketed by technical skill and reflects the decisions made to create a visual diary.

Carl Butler

The body of work in this exhibit is the culmination of days and nights spent on the journey. The geography of the land, the corners of the mind, and the vagaries of the human heart are my source material. Just follow the signs and you’ll get to where you’re going.

“Painting is like making love to a Frenchman, too much technique and you make a bore of it.”

Carl Butler



Carl G. Butler
313-886-6542
e-mail: cgpb2003@yahoo.com

Education

Wayne State University, Bachelor of Fine Arts

Exhibitions

Detroit Sampler Nick Cindric Contemporary Ft Lauderdale, FL (2003)
Actual Size Detroit Contemporary Gallery Detroit, MI (2001)
Heat: Butler, Lucero and Ohara Grey Gallery Detroit, MI (2001)
Independence Show Om Café Ferndale, MI (2001)
Birds and Water Alley Culture Detroit, MI (2001)
Paintings and Drawings, Solo exhibition
University Liggett School Grosse Pointe Woods, MI (2000)
Canvas: Ann Mikolowski memorial show Alley Culture. Detroit, MI (2000)
Junior League of Detroit: Designers Show House Grosse Pointe Park, MI (1998).
Honor the Earth Biennial Willis Gallery Detroit, MI (1995).
Black and White Biegas Gallery Detroit, MI (1995).
Face to Face - Vis a Vis Detroit Focus Gallery Detroit, MI (1995).
Lost in Nebraska Hanna and Butler Mask Gallery Hamtramck, MI (1994).
Once upon a time...Happily ever after Benefit for the Michigan Opera
Theater, Galeria Officentre Southfield, MI (1994)
Creating the Temple of the Goddess Argo Gallery Detroit, MI (1994)
K.A.C.A. Argo Gallery Detroit, MI (1994)
Ofrenda Butler and Butler de Alvarado Willis Gallery Detroit, MI (1993)
Whitney Garden Art Party Whitney Restaurant Detroit, MI (1992)
Buy Art Willis Gallery Detroit, MI (1992)
Solo Exhibition Urban Park Gallery, Trappers Alley Detroit, MI (1992)
XIII International Art Invitational Swords into Plowshares Gallery
Detroit, MI (1991)
Butler, Breneau, and Moore-White Union Street Gallery Detroit, MI (1990)
All Media Exhibit Detroit Artist Market Detroit, MI (1989)
Student Exhibitions Wayne State University Detroit, MI (1987-90)
Drawing Exhibit Marygrove College Detroit, MI (1985)

Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson
32218 Hull Ave.
Farmington Hills. MI 48336
248.471-0472

Todd Erickson received his undergraduate degree from Hope College and his Masters of Fine Art at Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has been making and exhibiting his sculpture for over 25 years and has been an employee of the College for Creative Studies since 1983. During his tenure at CCS, Todd has taught in the Sculpture Section of the Fine Arts Department, managed the college shops and has held positions as Director of Academic Facilities, Assistant Dean and currently Director of Exhibit Services.

His career has included guest teaching, consulting, commission work and exhibiting. Erickson’s work is cast and fabricated in bronze, iron, aluminum, steel, stone, wood and glass. His work delves into issues regarding the self, faith, shelter and personal history.

EDUCATION
1984-1986 Master of Fine Arts (Sculpture), Cranbrook Academy of Art – Bloomfield Hills, MI

1977-1981 Bachelor of Arts (Biology, Art), Hope College – Holland, MI

EMPLOYMENT
2004- Director of Exhibit Services, College for Creative Studies
Responsibilities:
Coordination and implementation of a broad range of exhibitions staged both on and off campus
Creating and maintaining permanent collection exhibition
Initiating and implementing a permanent student exhibition
Special projects liaison to galleries and museums

Key Accomplishments:
Project Managing preliminary design phase for the CCS exhibit at the 2005 Detroit North American International Auto Show
Assimilation of exhibits and art collections currently prepared and housed in departmental and administrative centers


2000 -2004 Assistant Dean, College for Creative Studies
Responsibilities:
Preparation of gallery spaces and hanging of 3600 pieces of student artwork annually
Health & safety program, maintaining MSDS Library and Student Competency Program in college shops
MIOSHA Compliance Program Liaison and on-campus Safety Inspector
Curriculum inventory for internal use and NCA/NASAD accrediting organizations
Research, quotes and contracts for capital allocations of equipment, machinery, audio visual, carpet, furniture and remodeling
Supervisor of College Shops including Wood Shop, Metal Shop and Foundry.

Key Accomplishments:
Reconfiguring and remodeling educational spaces to increase space utilization by 30%
Relocating college departments into new facilities to accommodate new technologies
Directed fabrication of large-scale steel bridge, educational and studio components for a program called “Connections,” with High School students from Detroit and Windsor for the celebration of the Detroit’s 300th anniversary
Designed, produced and operated mobile exhibits and functioning studios for Eye on Design Toledo Art Museum and the NASSA annual meeting in Detroit, MI.
Project Managing of CCS exhibit at the 2004 Detroit North American International Auto Show

Authored:
“Campus Occupancy Analysis” – Statistical and quantitave analyis of space usage in Walter B Ford II building
Portions of “Health and Safety Manual” for United Educators, an insurance company specializing in colleges and universities.

1998 - 2000 Director of Academic Facilities,
Center for Creative Studies-College of Art and Design
Responsibilities:
Manage educational facility
Oversight of renovations including creation of library, galleries, computer labs, studios and shops

Key Accomplishments:
Implemented safety protocol and competency training in all shops and curriculums
Assisted in programming 100,000 sq. ft. art and technology building, helping create classrooms, offices, studios, labs and shops for students studying design and animation
Assisted in implementation of solvent and hazardous waste recycling program
Led health and safety audit of classrooms, offices, studios, labs and shops
Assisted in upgrading 25-year-old facility including: HVAC, data and communication cabling, acoustics, lighting, floor, wall and window treatments, furniture and audiovisual equipment

1996 - 1998 Director of Metal Shop and Foundry Operations,
Center for Creative Studies-College of Art and Design
Implemented and managed new equipment and processes to improve student learning and health and safety.
Ceramic Shell Casting
Sand Casting, TIG and MIG welding
Gas and plasma cutting
Complete metal shop and chasing studio
Ventilation systems for silica dust, wax smoke and metal fumes
In-ground melting furnace
Iron casting- cupola style

Developed competency program providing training for students in:
Hand tools
Metal shop equipment
Gas/TIG/MIG and ARC welding
Gas and plasma cutting

Authored successful grant proposal to The Detroit Edison Foundation for foundry improvements enabling students’ greater scope and better results.
Guidelines for studio work in Foundry and Metal Work, from beginning to advanced level.
Competency Tests for metalworking, welding and foundry practices.

1983-2000 Instructor/Assistant Professor,
Center for Creative Studies-College of Art and Design
Courses taught to Degree Students:
Foundry,
Intro. To Fine Arts
Basic Sculpture
Sculpture 1
Sculpture 2
Sculpture 3
Senior Studio

Courses taught to Continuing Education students:
Foundry Workshop
Welding for Artists
Basic Sculpture
Pewter Workshop

Workshops taught to community artists and guest students:
“Gypsy” Iron, Bronze and Aluminum pours
Pewter casting
Mold making
Waxwork
Patina

1995-1998 Visiting Artist,
Ox Bow Summer Art Community, Douglas, MI
Led workshops in:
Pewter casting
Patina
Studio techniques

Assisted in:
Direct Metal studio work
Iron casting
Glass studio

1984 – 1998 Director,
Center for Creative Studies Bi-annual Iron Casting Workshops
Coordinated multi-institution Iron Pours including students and faculty from Wayne State University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Cranbrook Academy of Art and Port Huron Community College.
Led volunteers and students through three week prep period and final choreography required for a safe and successful Iron pour.
Served as Media Liaison and Safety engineer for Bi-annual Iron Pours

1992 - 1993 Visiting Artist,
Oakland Community College, Farmington Hills, MI
Implemented bronze pouring equipment and program
Taught Lost Wax Casting
Designed, purchased and constructed foundry equipment, tools and supplies.

Other professional experience includes:
Owner, antique restoration company -1976-1982
Elementary Education, Ceramics Teacher- 1980
Holland Sentinel Newspaper, Press room/circulation- 1980-1981
Youth Social Work and Crisis Intervention Worker -1982-1984
Foundry Consultant 1983-2000
Owner, private casting and fabricating business-1983-


PROJECTS AND COMMISSIONS
2000-2004 Chair of Neighbors Committee for Komen Detroit Race For the Cure®
2000-2004 Produced Trophies for the J.P. McCarthy PAL Tournament
2001 Designed and produced model for a successful plastic dog bone called “Texas-T bone” a plastic dog bone produced by Phydeaux.
1998 Installed large steel sculpture at the Congregational Church, Birmingham, MI
1998 Fabricated in steel a one-third scale early 1900’s GMC Truck for College for Creative Studies Wine Auction
1997 - 1999 Designed and produced the prestigious Alpha Award for General Motors Corporation
1997 Supervised, cast and assembled life size “Newsboy Monument” for Belle Isle, Detroit, MI
1996 Molded, cast, finished, patinated and installed William Burroughs statue for Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI at the Henry Ford Estate “Grotto”
1996 Designed and produced trophy for Binson’s Home Health Care Centers fundraiser for Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
1995 - 2001 Annual Donations of cast bronze sculpture to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
1995 Selected artist for “Interventions” Exhibit DIA, where Erickson’s work was juxtaposed with master’s works at the
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
1993 – 1998



1992 Mentor for Art on the Move, Detroit, MI Led corporative sculpture fabricating with college and local high school students. Taught basic construction, metal work, mold work, cement and plaster casting, fabrication techniques,
Principles of public sculpture, team building, moving and rigging sculpture and public exhibition

Birmingham Public Sculpture, Birmingham, MI
1986
1986 Assisted in restoration of “Mining Thoughts” by Dennis Oppenheim at Cranbrook Academy of Art
Assisted Mark Di Suvero in dismantling “La Petite Clef” at Cranbrook Academy of Art
1985 Assisted in moving “Orpheus Fountain” figures by Carl Milles at Cranbrook Art Museum
1985 - 1986 Director of Cass Corridor’s Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI, maintained gallery, helped install shows, curated gallery
Schedule and exhibitions
1985 Assistant to Michael Hall, Sculptor, Detroit, MI - making large public pieces from wood, cardboard, aluminum and steel
1983 - 1984 Assistant to Jay Holland, Sculptor, Detroit, MI – Molding, wax work, bronze casting, assembly and installation of larger than life scale
1983 Directed Summer Camp Tuition Program, benefiting needy youth, for Birmingham Youth Assistance

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2006 Public Art Installation- Brighton, MI
2005 The Seventh Show- 101up Gallery, Detroit
2004 Actual Size – CAID, Detroit
2003 Functional Sculpture-Detroit Contemporary Gallery
2002 Detroit Sampler-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
2000 Faculty Show-CCS, Detroit, MI
1998 Undefining Sculpture- Detroit Artist’s Market
1995 Interventions-Detroit Institute of Art
1994 Alumni Invitational-Hope College, Holland MI
1991 - 1992 Monumental Steel public sculpture, Downtown Birmingham
1989 Michigan Outdoor Sculpture Show, Southfield Civic Center
1987 Collection of Kemp Hogan at Meadow brook Art Gallery, Oakland University
1986 Group Show Detroit Institute of Arts
1985 Solo Sculpture Exhibition- Willis Gallery-Detroit
1984 Bronze Sculpture Invitational, Millersville University
1983 Painting and Drawing-Focus Gallery, Detroit MI