WSCC gallery hosts Manistee County artist Ken Cooper. 

WSCC gallery hosts Manistee artist Ken Cooper. 

WSCC News is a presentation of West Shore Community College in partnership with Mason County Press. 

VICTORY TOWNSHIP — West Shore Community College is hosting an exhibition of Manistee County artist Ken Cooper’s work at the college’s Manierre Dawson gallery April 29 through Aug. 26, 2022.

The exhibition, titled “What Goes Around, Comes Around,” presents some of Ken Cooper’s latest works which are focused on abstraction. In these works, Cooper has abandoned subject matter in favor of dealing with expressions which can stand on their own without reference to the familiar. 

“After 50 years of creating artwork I am still searching for answers to the same questions I was when I started,” says Cooper. “What goes around, comes around.”

A reception will be held on Friday, April 29, at 5 p.m. at the gallery on the college’s main campus located in the Arts and Sciences building. 

Cooper has been showing his art throughout Michigan and the United States for five decades. He spent more than one of those decades working in England with Britain’s National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (the National Trust) where his watercolor paintings were regularly exhibited. 

In addition to his art career, for 27 years he was the art teacher at Manistee High School. He has been a faculty member for West Shore Community College’s Art Department, teaching drawing and pottery classes for the past three years. He lives in the former village of Norwalk in Manistee County’s Brown Township. 

“Ken has been very instrumental in supporting the growth of the arts community for many decades in western Michigan,” said WSCC’s Professor of Art and Curator, Eden Ünlüata-Foley. “He has a great ability to bring people together and build lasting communities. His welcoming approach to art inspires many people to try their hand in various media, often leaving with a sense of self-confidence. He has been instrumental in our efforts to grow the art department and take some of the college’s offerings into the communities we serve.  We are delighted to present Ken’s abstract works in a gallery named for one of the world’s first abstract painters.”  

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. and on Friday 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. The gallery is closed on the weekends.

Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454. 

This story is copyrighted © 2022, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.

As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.