Art Attack Launch Party: Faces of Harbor Country

Thursday, Apr. 25 | 7:00pm ET (6:00pm CT)

The Acorn celebrates the kickoff of Art Attack Weekend in Harbor Country with a unique art event featuring live portrait creation with notable Harbor Country models, appetizers, cash bar, and live music with Patti Shaffner and Buddy Pearson.

Five Harbor Country Influencers, if you will, will be sitting for portraits that will come to life before your eyes during this live portrait session held as part of the Launch Party for Art Attack Weekend! Allen and Lynn Turner, Suzanna Bierwirth, Zach Hackett, Bridget Verdun and Laura Jolly each touch our community through the work they do and the energy they bring to the region. Watch as talented artists David Baker, Eric Bradford, Lea Bult, Jessica Hightower and Zech Ray capture the spirit of these notable models. 

Portraits will be available for purchase through silent auction. Proceeds of these art sales will be shared equally between the artists and Art Attack.

You might even choose to sit for a quick sketch portrait of your own with guest caricaturist Kenjji. Your caricature experience is included in your ticket price, along with the fabulous food at this artistic social event!

Come celebrate the biggest art weekend of the year in Harbor Country, and commemorate the 30th year of Art Attack!

Seating is limited.

About the Artists:

Patti Shaffner
Patti Shaffner performs a wide variety of musical styles including Folk, Blues, Jazz, Theater and Improvisational Singing with ease. As a seasoned performer, she is dynamic and engaging on stage. Her music is thought provoking and reaches out to the heart of our longing for connection with love and hope. She puts her heart and soul into whatever she sings.

Buddy Pearson
Hailing from a very musically supportive family, Buddy Pearson was given his first upright bass at age 9 and in one way or another, has never looked back. Soon after schooling, Buddy immersed in the local and Chicago jazz scene and continues to share the stage with heavy hitter players to this day.

David Baker
David Baker is a visual artist who specializes in poetic landscape painting, much of it done en plein air. His studio pieces are often reinterpretations of paintings done outdoors. His principal media are watercolor, oil, and charcoal. David is a lifelong artist/teacher. He recently retired as art professor Emeritus from Southwestern Michigan College. He still teaches a bit at Ox-Bow School of Art and at the Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph, Michigan.

Eric Bradford
Eric Bradford has always kept a special place for portrait painting as he’s come through many phases of art and life, that include realism to cartooning, murals to digital media, philosophical to reason, all in any number of social, political, or work environments, and, amidst the great technology revolution. At this stage, Eric’s style seems to find a comfort and balance between all those mediums, phases and ideas to develop a versatility that he applies as a working artist.

Lea Bult
Lea Bult received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kendall College of Art and Design and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. She has worked with numerous arts organizations including Gallery Project - Detroit, the Ann Arbor Art Center, and the Greatmore Studios in Cape Town, South Africa. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has been the recipient of several awards including a MacDowell Fellowship. Lea was an art teacher at SMC and the Krasl Art Center for many years, and currently works as a designer for Colson Group.

Jessica Hightower
Jessica Hightower, the vibrant artist from Benton Harbor, MI, who's making waves with her vibrant and captivating portraits! With a passion for celebrating the beauty and diversity of people of color, Jessica's artwork is all about making a statement. Inspired by everything from African textiles to comic books, her paintings burst with energy and personality. But what really sets Jessica apart is her knack for playing with colors in a way that grabs your attention and pulls you into the story behind each face. Through every brushstroke and expression, she's inviting you to join in the conversation, to see yourself reflected in her art, and maybe even discover something new about yourself along the way.

Zech Ray
Zech Ray is a realist artist living in Southwest Michigan. Zech works in oils and watercolors, primarily focused on his life experiences and the people and places around which he lives. His work is executed in a primarily impressionistic and brushwork-forward style that he hopes challenges the viewer to see both the subject and the brushwork simultaneously. In the past, Zech has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine’s ‘21 Under 31’ issue in September 2018. He also placed 1st in the watercolor category of the Box Factory for the Arts 2021 MAAC show.

Kenjji
Kenjji is an award-winning artist who has created comics and caricatures independently for more than 20 years. His illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, Orlando Wired magazine, and other publications. As a freelance artist he has a client list that includes MTV, Absolut Vodka, The Detroit Lions, and Michigan National Bank.

About Our Models:

Allen and Lynn Turner
Lynn Turner is an active volunteer focusing on socially important causes. She has served on the Boards of Directors of the Aids Foundation of Chicago, and Child Abuse Prevention Services and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Metropolitan Family Services. Lynn was a member of the Board of Directors of Hubbard Street Dance and Facets Multimedia. In addition, she has served on the Women’s Board of the Goodman Theater and is currently a member of the Women's Board of the University of Chicago. Allen Turner is a Three Oaks resident and the former Board Chair at The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Goodman Theatre and Columbia College. He is also a playwright, musician and author of the Three Oaks sesquicentennial play, Three Oaks Against The World.

Suzanna Bierwirth
Suzanna Bierwirth is the owner of Goods & Heroes, a lifestyle store in Three Oaks. She grew up in Germany, is a photographer and designer by training and spent years working as a Creative Director in the Advertising and Marketing Industry living in Chicago, Detroit, LA and NYC. Today she calls Three Oaks her home, where she lives with her partner, her cats and her poodle. 

Zach Hackett
Zach Hackett is the owner of the Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks, MI. Originally from Florida, Zach and his wife Christina, along with their two children, now consider Harbor Country to be home. As a family, they are proud to continue the tradition of bringing film, music and art to the community. 

 

Bridget Verdun
Raised by a professional clown/performance artist mother and a blue collar, city of Chicago pipefitting father Bridget learned both to juggle and to fix things at an early age which has served her well. Having come from hardworking and highly creative roots, Bridget developed an unwavering desire to succeed at all that she set out to do. People energize her so it’s not surprising that Bridget’s work centers around creating meaningful connections. Whether that’s been her work professionally in staffing and search, through her art gallery in Three Oaks where she connected buyers with artists for 15 years, or through Occasionally Speaking, her line of greeting cards that have connected more than 750,000 people by sending words of encouragement, comfort, inspiration, and joy, Bridget is a connector at heart.

Laura Jolly
Laura Jolly represents the 100+ faces of The Acorn's volunteers and board members who generously give their time and talents to our special theater here in Three Oaks. Having moved to Southwest Michigan just seven years ago, both Laura and her husband Fred have been unwavering in their enthusiasm for Community and The Arts here in Harbor Country. Their dedication and commitment to the growth and future of The Acorn is celebrated.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is hosting a Community Book Drive in celebration of the life and legacy of Dolly Parton! Bring a book to The Acorn throughout the month of April and receive a Dolly Parton themed gift. Bring a book to The Acorn the night of The Music of Dolly Parton on April 27 for $3 off our specialty drink for the night - the Wine to 5! Books should be new and chosen for children of any age - infants through teens! Books will be distributed to River Valley Schools.