By Cathy Kimmel-Srock
Review Staff Writer
Vincent Van Gogh, George Wesley Bellows, Eberhart Keilhau and several other artists can call Lake Orion home – albeit temporarily.
Selected as one of nine communities to host the Detroit Institute of Art’s Inside|Out summer exhibit, Orion Township, through the efforts of the Orion Township Community Programs Department, is now home to seven different works of art on display.
This is the seventh year of the DIA program, which is sponsored by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and brings high-quality reproductions of masterpieces from the DIA’s collection to outdoor venues throughout metro Detroit.
According to DIA Community Relations Programs Manager Jillian Reese, Orion Township was selected after the Community Programs Department applied to bring the exhibit to their parks system.
“We choose communities based on a variety of different criteria including community size, demographics, geographic dispersion, previous participation, etc.,” said Reese.
This was not the first time the exhibit was been in the Orion area. It was also here in 2011 and focused around the downtown area.
“We love having the chance to return to the area with an exhibition that reaches a larger geographic area,” Reese explained. “Working with the Community Programs Department, we are able to highlight the fabulous outdoor recreation opportunities all around Orion Township.”
The seven pieces of art, which were installed last week, can be found in front of the Orion Center, at the entrance to the Polly Ann Trail (near the Orion Center), Orion Oaks Bark Park, Birch Grove Lodge at Camp Agawam, Friendship Park, the Orion Township Public Library and Wildwood Amphitheater.
“We have seven very diverse paintings at our seven sites,” said Orion Township Community Programs Director Lisa Sokol.
“I love van Gogh, so the painting at the Orion Center is a favorite,” she added. “I also especially like the Japanese painting at the Orion Township Public Library.”
Sokol, along with Program Supervisor Jennifer Vezina, wrote the grant and application to bring the exhibit to the area.
For Vezina, her favorite piece is “Cotopaxi” by Frederic Edwin Church, located at Camp Agawam, as it’s a sunset.
“It’s perfect for the setting and it just calls to me,” she said.
Additionally, Vezina explains, she appreciates having the art here in the community.
“I thought this would be a great way to bring the DIA to people like me who have never made the trip down there,” Vezina added. “It’s here, in our community, in locations where you would easily stumble upon them.”
In addition to being in locations where people can enjoy individually on their own time, the Community Programs Department is also hosting several events in connection with the exhibit, including a DIA Biking Tour and DIA Inside|Out Tour and Lunch.
The biking tour, which is for ages 10 and up, will be held on Aug. 19 from 1 to 3 p.m. and visit six (of the seven) exhibits.
The tour and lunch, which is for ages 50 and up, will feature a stop at the C Pub for lunch and an outdoor cultural tour of the artwork. That event will be held on Aug. 18, with the bus departing the Orion Center at 10 a.m.
Those aren’t the only events. Romeo and Oxford are also hosting paintings, according to Sokol, and they will be hosting bus trips to each of those communities, as well as two trips to the DIA for the community.
For more information on the various events in connection with the Inside|Out exhibit, including the tours of the other communities and the DIA trips, can be found on the Community Programs Department’s website under Special Events, www.oriontownship.org. They can also be reached at (248) 391-0304, ext. 305.
The artwork will be on display in Orion Township through October.

*****

Where to find the Inside|Out artwork

Wildwood Amphitheater, 2700 Joslyn Ct.
“A Day in June” by George Wesley Bellows
Orion Center, 1335 Joslyn Rd.
“Portrait of Postman Roulin” by Vincent van Gogh
Polly Ann Trail, 1335 Joslyn Rd.
“Young Girl Sleeping” by Eberhart Keilhau
Birch Grove Lodge/Camp Agawam, 1301 W. Clarkston
“Cotopaxi” by Frederic Edwin Church
Orion Oaks Bark Park, 1200 Joslyn Rd.
“Chevy” by Edwin Henry Landseer
Orion Township Public Library, 825 Joslyn Rd.
“Reed and Cranes” by Suzuki Kiitsu
Friendship Park, 3380 Clarkston Rd.
“The Wreck” by Eugene Louis Gabriel Isabey

More information about community events related to the exhibit can be found on the Community Program Department’s website, oriontownship.org.