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Stamelos Gallery

Frames of Reference, Past and Present: Selected Works by Anita Bates

Thursday, Sep. 03, 2026 - Sunday, Dec. 13, 2026

This exhibition explores my aesthetic choices over the last 20 plus years. Not truly a retrospective because the scope is limited, the work is more of a survey; selected paintings which represent the various bodies of work undertaken over more than two decades.

Our experiences help us construct meaning, respond to others and define our cultural frame of reference. Similarly, the artist impacts their audience through the construction of images based on their connections, sensibilities and experiences. This is what I term as an aesthetic frame of reference, hence the title of this exhibition.

The works from 2020 through 2026 are heavily influenced by my childhood; exposure to the aesthetic choices made by a father who was an eccentric and complicated person, unable to fully be himself and thus, chose to transform our living spaces to communicate his vision of the world.

The paintings from 2003 to 2014 explore abstraction of the landscape; translating the physical attributes of land (and sky) as if I were zooming in on a particular surface or what a cross section of a surface might look like. As well, they highlight use of disparate materials and chemicals to create visually textured surfaces.

As the viewer, I ask you to take in my work with the understanding that while the genre of abstraction depends a great deal on spontaneity, this does not necessarily mean the act of creating is a thoughtless endeavor, where visual aesthetics are ruled by happenstance.

— Anita Bates PhD, MFA

Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Sep. 03, 2026, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Staff Explorer Pass | Guided Tour: Frames of Reference, Past and Present: Selected Works by Anita Bates

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

This event is free and available to all staff members from any of the three UM campuses. There are only 30 spots available for this free tour. Please register before the tour.

The Art Collections and Exhibitions Department for the U-M Dearborn campus is proud to offer a special staff-only tour given by renowned artist Anita Bates of her exhibition, Frames of Reference, Past and Present: Selected Works By Anita Bates.

Immediately following the exhibition tour curator Laura Cotton will offer a brief tour of select pieces from the permanent collection displayed in the Library.

Seeking Light: Mixed Media Works by Michelle Sider

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - Sunday, Aug. 09, 2026

Michigan Mosaic Artist Michelle Sider will present more than 40 original works she created between 2009 and 2026 for her largest solo exhibition to date.

This exhibition unfolds in three sections: Leaving Darkness, Celebrating Radiance, and Light Endures, each offering a unique perspective on light as a metaphor for memory, spiritual reflection, and resilience. As you move through the exhibition, colors shift, surfaces breathe, and textures animate scenes drawn from nature, history, and personal experience. This work is meant to be experienced slowly, attentively, and with openness.

Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Wednesday, May 20, 2026, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided. Due to a generous donation, the wine as well as a selection of the hor d'oeuvres will be Kosher.

Infinite Variety: Selections from the UM-Dearborn Glass Collection

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 - Sunday, Apr. 26, 2026

This exhibition celebrates the infinite variety of art glass from the collection of UM-Dearborn, located an hour from where the American Studio Glass movement was born in 1962. However, the pieces included in this exhibition represent more than this movement; they reach back in time to the early 20th century and across oceans to Europe and Asia. The exhibition is organized into five themes that highlight key qualities of glass to showcase how artists play upon and confound our expectations of this medium. These themes are Ancient and Modern, Light, Nature, Prism, and Art.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Special Guest Speakers at 6:00 pm:

Kim Harty, Associate Professor and Section Lead of Glass,
College for Creative Studies

Sarah Kohn, Director and Curator of Collections and Exhibitions,
Flint Institute of Arts

Reception is free to the public. Complimentary beverages and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Guest Lecture by Herb Babcock:
American Studio Glass and Reflection on International Influence

Friday, Mar. 20, 2026, 2:00pm - 3:00pm

UM-Dearborn-Mardigian Library, first floor next to Stamelos Gallery

Event is free to the public and light refreshments provided.

In the early 1960’s, Harvey Littleton set out to make glass blowing a creative experience for craftspeople and artists in a small studio environment. This was the beginning of the American Studio Glass Movement that transformed glass from a factory-made product into an independent art form created in private studios. Glass is a medium of transitions.Most American participants were working in another medium before coming to work in glass as a primary material, many times, adding it to the repertory of their total art expression. As the movement grew, reaching out for international influence also assisted the artists’ endeavors... View More

Nanci LaBret Einstein: From Then 'Til Now

Thursday, Sep. 04, 2025 - Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025

Local artist Nanci LaBret Einstein is proud to bring From Then 'Til Now, a survey of her past and present artwork, to the University of Michigan-Dearborn Stamelos Gallery Center. On display is an exhibition exploring the relationship of her dynamic drawings, photographs and sculptures to each other. This remarkable collection of works not only illustrates how the various mediums relate to each other, but also the relationship between the latest work and earlier pieces. LaBret Einstein creates art in various mediums that reflect and dance with each other, breathing in a unified front of color, space and line. The university is proud to present this fascinating body of work together in a space celebrating a recital of exploration.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Sep. 04, 2025, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Laura Cavanagh: Perchance to Dream

Thursday, May 08, 2025 - Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025

Laura Cavanagh: Perchance to Dream features two bodies of work; one consisting of imagined, collaged portraits of women who never existed. This collection of works is influenced heavily by portraiture from the Renaissance Era. The other collection consists of simple, imagined interior and exterior spaces inspired by the mid-20th century and personal memories.

Looking at these bodies of work, one might think they were created by the hands of two different artists, since, visually, they appear so strikingly dissimilar. However, Cavanagh has always been a curious person. As such, she has never stuck to just one "type" of artwork or worked in only one medium. She is constantly seeking out new materials to work with as well as ways to incorporate them. Cavanagh began her portrait series over a decade ago, when, at the time, they were merely pen and ink drawings. Those evolved into more elaborate drawings, which then progressed into even more intricate and ornate scenes incorporating fiber and paper elements.

Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, May 08, 2025, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Best Kept Secret: UMD Student, Faculty, and Alumni Art Show

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025 - Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025

Want to know a secret? Here it is: Applied Art—animation, design, digital photography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, mixed media, painting, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor—has always been a hub of authentic, human-driven creativity on the UM- Dearborn campus. The Stamelos Gallery Center is proud to present Best Kept Secret: UMD Student, Faculty, and Alumni Art Show, showcasing the incredible talents of our university's arts community and the marriage of talent, vision, skill, and persistence that lies at the foundation of artmaking. The works encompass a variety of media from traditional to digital and embody the unique and diverse perspectives of the campus community.

Applied Art is one of the smallest programs on our campus, but its students are majors in a variety of fields, including Art History, Biology, Business, Communications, Education, Engineering, Journalism, Media Production, and Psychology.... to name just a few. In the Art Studio and Digital Arts Lab, students from all disciplines gather to make art, to train their eyes and their hands to be sharper and more dexterous than before, to let the left and right brains make their own connections, and to critique their works together. They seek out Applied Art courses to train their intellects to be observant and flexible, to express their own ideas and perspectives, and to assert their humanity in a process of slow and practical honing of skills that runs counter to the prevailing social and economic imperatives of speed, ease, and automation. At the same time, the practice of art depends on the evolution of science and technology. Art and science mirror each other in hypothesizing new ideas, in empirical methods of trial and error, and in breaking boundaries of what was and is, to open the doors to what could or could never be.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary drinks and hors d'oeuvres provided.

FOUR: Lester Johnson's Selected Works

Thursday, Sep. 12, 2024 - Sunday, Dec. 08, 2024

The Stamelos Gallery Center is proud to present FOUR: Lester Johnson's Selected Works, an extensive collection of pieces created by renowned Detroit artist Lester Johnson.

The works displayed in this exhibition span almost six decades of the artist’s remarkable career and include paintings, collages, mixed media, lithographs, totemic sculpture, textiles, and three-dimensional handmade paper. Highlights of the show are pieces borrowed from the Flint Institute of Arts, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and Wayne State University.

To make his art, Johnson has drawn deeply on the shared humanity of world cultures, the music of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, the paintings of Alma Thomas, the poetry of Dudley Randall, and the prose of Richard Wright. The artist is an avid lover of music, and it gives him inspiration and direction throughout his creative process. The exhibition title is inspired by the song Four written by Miles Davis and John Hendricks. The song, a collaboration between two gifted artists, is written about four cherished things in life: truth, honor, happiness, and love. Artistic collaboration, storytelling, and tributes are some of the other major themes illustrated in Johnson’s fascinating work.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Sep. 12, 2024, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Piece by Piece: Recent Work from Regional Fiber Artists

Thursday, May 16, 2024 - Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024

Guest Curator:Yeager Edwards

The Stamelos Gallery Center is proud to share Piece by Piece: Recent Work from Regional Fiber Artists with the campus and greater community. This exhibition highlights the work of eleven local artists exploring the possibilities of fiber craft in fine art. The exhibiting artists, including Yeager Edwards, Taylor Jenkins, Shaina Kasztelan, Bella Kiser, Kit Parks, Kayla Powers, Jessie Rice, Leslie Rogers, Katie Shulman, Melissa Webb, and Maggie Wiebe, represent only a small snapshot of the fiber community and work being created in Metro Detroit.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, May 16, 2024, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist talk at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Andy T's Urban Vision, 2001-2024

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024 - Sunday, Apr. 21, 2024

Andy T's Urban Vision, 2001-2024 is the first mid-career retrospective of Detroit-based installation artist Andrew W. Thompson, popularly known as “Andy T.” As a sculptor, Thompson gives new life to discarded objects such as tires, grocery bags, plastic bottles, and mailing envelopes, thereby integrating questions of environmental, social, and economic sustainability into the context of art. Treating art as a “fundamental life-organizing principle,” the artist observes, researches, and interprets how everyday items circulate, shape, and express social beliefs and cultural customs. Over the past two decades, Kansas City and Detroit have stimulated an artistic investigation of sociocultural topics such as electoral mapping, fluctuations in money’s value, urban planning methods, waste management tactics, food sourcing policies, body image and clothing choices, and the effects of information storage on knowledge growth.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist Andrew W. Thompson will speak at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary beverages and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Exhibition Event

Thursday, Mar. 21, 2024, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Help complete the collaborative flag Home of the Brave! Bring in a small personal item of choice that shows how participating in a local community brings you strength... View More

Respond/ Resist/ Rethink: An Exhibition of Student Art for Change

Friday, Nov. 03, 2023 - Friday, Dec. 08, 2023

Join us for a celebration of Respond/ Resist/ Rethink: An Exhibition of Student Art for Change at Stamelos Gallery Center, U-M Dearborn. The exhibition features work by U-M students from across all three campuses.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception (Stamelos)

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Student artists will speak at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary beverages and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Opening Reception (Other Campuses)

Friday, Nov. 03, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Stamps Gallery, Ann Arbor

Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Riverbank Arts, Flint

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Duderstadt Gallery, Ann Arbor

Doug Cannell: Learning Curves

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 - Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023

Learning Curves is an expansive collection of works by Detroit-based sculptor Doug Cannell. Though his work has been shown widely, this is the most comprehensive exhibition of his sculpture to date, with a diverse collection of pieces created over the past ten years. The exhibition is anchored by two new series of work rooted in calligraphy, brushwork, and the written word. Many of these unique and adeptly constructed works are inspired by Japanese sumi-e calligraphy, in particular the Zen practice of the enso, an ink circle drawn briefly and in one stroke. Others are deconstructed and reimagined letterforms from the Thai, Armenian, Korean and other alphabets. But all are meticulously fabricated from bent, laminated plywood, in a process that interprets loose, inky brushstrokes and typography into three dimensions.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist Doug Cannell will speak at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Michigan Water Color Society Signature Exhibition

Thursday, Jul. 13, 2023 - Sunday, Sep. 24, 2023

The Stamelos Gallery Center is proud to share the inaugural Michigan Water Color Society Signature Exhibition, guest curated by Rocco Pisto, with the campus and greater community. Forty-two exceptional artists have qualified for their Signature status with MWCS by being juried into at least four annual exhibitions over the last ten to twelve years. Signature members that have also completed a three-year term on the board received a Great Lakes Fellow designation to honor their volunteer service. There are thirteen Great Lakes Fellows exhibiting.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Jul. 13, 2023, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Guest Curator Rocco Pisto will speak at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Reparations of the Heart: Recent Work by Kristin Anahit Cass

Thursday, Apr. 13, 2023 - Sunday, Jun. 25, 2023

This exhibition features more than one hundred pieces created by the talented artist Kristin Anahit Cass. Cass began the project in 2012 in contemplation of the 2015 centennial remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. As a descendant of genocide survivors, her family faced the conflicts of living in diaspora and wondering what their lives would have been if indigenous Armenian and other minority populations had not been subjected to genocide and exile. The artworks displayed in this exhibition take a futurist perspective centering identity, community, healing, and hope. Cass works in photography, video, sculpture, and other media. Her art imagines the future, touches the past, and envisions a better world. In addition to her arts education, Cass has worked with women and minority owned businesses, artists, and nonprofits in her career as a lawyer. She is one of the founders of the LGBTQ platform Entanik (Family) where she is active in supporting creatives in the global community. Cass is a graduate of the University of Chicago. She lives and works in Chicago.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Apr. 13, 2023, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist Kristin Anahit Cass will speak at 6:00 pm. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.

Christina Haylett: Revelations in Paint

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023 - Sunday, Mar. 26, 2023

This exhibition features a large collection of mixed-media, non-representational artworks, landscapes and portraits created by Detroit-area artist Christina Haylett between 2009 and 2022. Haylett's work is an exploration of shape, pattern, line, texture and color and their impact on each other. Her pieces start out as marks on a board, paper or canvas, and the act of working leads her through the artistic process with no idea where it will end up, or what will be revealed.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist Christina Haylett will speak at 6:00 pm. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served. This exhibition reception will be the first, public, Zero Waste Event to be held at UM- Dearborn.

David Rubello: Color, Space, Continuum

Thursday, Sep. 08, 2022 - Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022

This retrospective exhibition features works spanning six decades of Detroit artist David Rubello's remarkable career. Displayed works highlight his fascinating evolution of art discovery and transitions: from drawing to painting, photography to printmaking, reliefs to sculpture, representational to abstract, and continuing... a continuum.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Sep. 08, 2022, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Program begins at 5:00 p.m. with Star String Quartet followed by David Rubello speaking at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Conversations in Glass: Selected Works by JB Wood

Thursday, Apr. 28, 2022 - Friday, Aug. 12, 2022

When have you last had a good, or even great, conversation? Was it with an old friend, colleague at work, or in a spirited debate with a stranger (soon perhaps, to be a friend) where you were challenged by someone or some idea that you had never considered? For me, the best conversations - where the resulting insights "stick" - are those which have depth and humor. Those where at the end I have had to conclude that my way of looking at the world has changed - when some new learning, some new joy from the experience, or appreciation of the subject at hand, was the result. Over the last (large!) number of years, my best and longest-lasting conversational partner has been with Glass, and the process of making sculpture.

—JB Wood

Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Aug. 04, 2022, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Artist JB Wood will speak at 6:00 pm. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres will e served.

Picturing Places and Spaces

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 - Friday, Apr. 01, 2022

The Stamelos Gallery Center and the Art History Department are together very pleased to present to the University of Michigan- Dearborn campus community, Picturing Places and Spaces: Works of Art from the Stamelos Gallery Center and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
Exhibition Details  

Innovation and Inspiration: The Art of Paper Engineering

Thursday, Sep. 09, 2021 - Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021

Guest Curator:Karen Imarisio

Innovation and Inspiration: The Art of Paper Engineering was created to introduce the Valerio and Karen Imarisio Pop-Up Book Collection to students and the greater community and to inspire ideas through the innovative work of professional paper engineers and artists on display.
Exhibition Details  

Halal Metropolis

Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 - Friday, Apr. 03, 2020

Guest Curator:Osman Khan, Razi Jafri, Sally Howell

Halal Metropolis is a travelling series of exhibitions by artist Osman Khan, photographer Razi Jafri, and historian Sally Howell, that explores the facts, fictions and imaginaries of the Muslim population(s) in Detroit and Southeast Michigan as viewed through historical/archival research, documentation of current conditions, and explorations of future desires. The UM- Dearborn installation in the Stamelos Gallery Center will highlight the role that food, fashion, and holiday celebrations have played in augmenting Muslim visbility in the region.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Reception is free to the public. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and refreshments provided. Performance by Maples Drum Ensemble from Maples Elementary.

Educational Lectures

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, 6:00pm - Thursday, Mar. 26, 2020, 8:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

All lectures are free to the public. Complimentary refreshments will be provided... View More

Michigan Watercolor Society: 72nd Annual Award Recipients Exhibition

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 - Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019

This exhibition features the thirty award winning watercolor paintings from the Michigan Watercolor Society’s 72nd Annual Exhibition. Juror, Chris Krupinski, made exhibition choices based on a variety of considerations. He chose pieces with a broad selection of subject matter, genre and approach, as well as successful composition and design elements, and those that convey strong personal expressions of one kind or another.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, 5:00pm - 6:30pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Event is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Electra and Bill: Honoring an Immeasurable Contribution

Thursday, Sep. 12, 2019 - Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019

This exhibition honors the significant contributions to the university by William and Electra Stamelos over the last forty years. Electra Stamelos (1927-2007) was a beloved UM-Dearborn art lecturer from 1980 to 1994 and an accomplished artist. She also held the position of Director of Art Acquisitions and Exhibitions for UM-Dearborn for many years and taught on the Ann Arbor campus. William Stamelos (1928-2017) was a devoted and generous university donor and gallery volunteer for many years, which included acting as honorary curator for a period of time. Electra and Bill contributed greatly to the university's art collection for decades including donating the majority of Electra's body of work and many other art pieces that they collected throughout their years together. The title of this exhibition refers to the fact that they were true, informal, warm and familiar friends to many people on this campus and they were simply thought of as "Electra and Bill" by many here for decades.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Sep. 12, 2019, 5:30pm - 8:30pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Program to begin at 6:30 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres provided.

The Art of the Everyday: Objects from Ancient Daily Life

Friday, Apr. 26, 2019 - Friday, Jul. 05, 2019

This exhibition explores the society, culture, religion, and technology of the ancient Mediterranean by examining the things used by ordinary people in their daily lives such as coins, ceramics, figurines, and glass vessels.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Friday, Apr. 26, 2019, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Featured Speaker: Elaine K. Gazda, Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology, Curator of Hellenistic and Roman Collections, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 6:00 p.m.

Global Glass: A Survey of Form and Function

Thursday, Feb. 07, 2019 - Friday, Sep. 20, 2019

Guest Curator:Don Desmett

Global Glass: A Survey of Form and Function is a remarkable exhibition drawn from the extensive glass collection owned by the University of Michigan- Dearborn. The exhibition, which was featured at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts from June until October of 2018, surveys important artists and works created from the mid-1960s to the present. Global Glass examines both functional glass objects and pure sculptural forms that have often taken cues from other fine arts media and movements in the U.S. and internationally. Among the 56 artists represented are glass giants Harvey Littleton, Howard Ben Tré, Dale Chihuly, Ann Robinson, and Kate Vogel. The exhibition has been curated by Don Desmett, independent curator and critic.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Feb. 07, 2019, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Don Desmett, Independent Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art will speak at 6:00 p.m. Event is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Deliberate Misunderstandings: Embroidered Found Photographs

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 - Friday, Jan. 11, 2019

Jane Waggoner Deschner grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, moving to Montana in 1977. She earned degrees in geography at the University of Kansas and, later, in art at Montana State University–Billings (BA) and Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA). She was invited to create a portrait of a progressive female candidate for the exhibition “In Her Hands,” at Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea, NYC in the summer of 2018. She has been awarded residencies and fellowships across the US and in Canada. In conjunction with being an artist, she works as an exhibition installer, graphic designer, photographer, instructor, curator and picture framer.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Jane Waggoner Deschner will speak at 6:00 p.m. Event is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Open Competition 2018

Thursday, Aug. 02, 2018 - Thursday, Oct. 04, 2018

The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is proud to host its annual open competition. This exhibition showcases and celebrates Michigan artists and promotes the resources of the University of Michigan-Dearborn to diverse audiences. The competition is open to all media and artistic styles.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Aug. 02, 2018, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Juror Jan Brown to speak and present awards at 6:00 p.m. Event is free to the public. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and beverages provided.

Watercolor, Expression, Application: Rocco Pisto Paintings

Thursday, Apr. 26, 2018 - Friday, Jul. 13, 2018

The remarkable collection of work presented in this show will range from abstract, mixed media watercolor paintings to somewhat impressionistic landscapes. The exhibited paintings will vary in size from 15"x13" to eight feet long.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Apr. 26, 2018, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Rocco Pisto will speak at 6:00 p.m. Event is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.

Zap! Pow! Bam!: The Art of the Comic Book Cover

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 - Saturday, Apr. 07, 2018

Guest Curator:Corey Gross

The exhibition features the best of Mr. Gross's remarkable collection and focuses on the idea of the printed comic book cover as an art object. The exhibition displays around 250 comic books that showcase themes prevalent throughout the history of the art form including a large selection of Iron Man comics that illustrate the evolution of comics over the last fifty years. The exhibition also features several pieces of original artwork, on loan courtesy of Western Michigan University Art Collection, that were used to print comic book covers, and that provide viewers with a greater understanding of how comic books are produced.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Professional comic book artist Jerzy Drozd will begin speaking at 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres provided.

Comic Book Making Workshop

Thursday, Mar. 15, 2018, 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Individual instruction inside the art gallery on how to create mini-comics by professional comic book artist Matt Feazell for 6th grade to college level students. Workshop is free to the public, however, space is limited. Reservations are highly recommended.

Dearborn Gallery Rally

Saturday, Apr. 07, 2018, 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Come view the exhibition again on its closing day and see professional comic book artist Dave Acosta demonstrate comic book, super hero drawings! Event is free to the public.

Golden Legacy: Original Art from 75 Years of Golden Books

Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 - Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017

The exhibition and events are part of the university’s 2017 Young Authors’ Festival that promotes literacy for children and their families. For more information about the 2017 festival, visit library.umd.umich.edu/yaf.
Exhibition Details  
Exhibition Reception

Friday, Nov. 03, 2017, 5:00pm - 7:30pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Diane Muldrow, editor of Little Golden Books and author of the "Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book" series, will present from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Book signing to follow. A selection of books will be available for purchase or attendees may bring their own copies.

Little Golden Books Family Afternoon

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Children in grades K-2 and their families are invited to an afternoon of reading, arts & crafts, and light refreshments as we celebrate 75 years of Little Golden Books in the Stamelos Gallery Center. While you're here, peruse the exhibition of original artwork on display as part of the Golden Legacy exhibition, and enter to win door prizes featuring Little Golden Books merchandise. The event is free and open to the public; no registration is required... View More

Open Competition 2017

Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 - Thursday, Oct. 05, 2017

The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is proud to host its annual open competition. This exhibition showcases and celebrates Michigan artists and promotes the resources of the University of Michigan-Dearborn to diverse audiences. The competition is open to all media and artistic styles.
Exhibition Details  

One House, Two Voices: Recent Glass Works by Christina Bothwell and Robert Bender

Friday, May 05, 2017 - Friday, Jul. 14, 2017

One House, Two Voices highlights a remarkable selection of recent mixed media works by married couple Christina Bothwell and Robert Bender. The exhibition includes both individual and collaborative works. These imaginative pieces are primarily cast glass with stunning added ceramic and painted details.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Friday, May 05, 2017, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Featured Guest Speakers: Christina Bothwell and Robert Bender will speak at 6:00 p.m.

A Collector's Living Room: Honoring Richard and Louise Abrahams

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 - Thursday, Jun. 15, 2017

The University of Michigan-Dearborn is fortunate to be located within one of the most important regions in the country for glass art. The high concentration of glass studios, galleries, museums, and artists in the area is reflected in the university’s prized permanent glass collection.
Exhibition Details  

Art In an Age Of Transition: Northern European Prints from the Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 - Friday, Apr. 07, 2017

Guest Curator:Stanley E. Weed

The prints in this exhibition were produced at a time when the medium first emerged as a distinguished art form. Bracketed by two of the most famous graphic artists of their day, Albrecht Dürer (d. 1528) and Rembrandt van Rijn (d. 1669), the twenty-four prints on display illustrate the vast array of styles, techniques, and uses of prints during the Renaissance and early modern eras.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Featured Guest Speaker: Guest curator, Stanley E. Weed, 6:00 p.m. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres provided.

Forbidden Art: Illegal Works by Concentration Camp Prisoners

Sunday, Sep. 18, 2016 - Friday, Dec. 23, 2016

Forbidden Art tells the emotional story of the illegal artwork created by concentration camp prisoners during WWII. The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is honored to bring this powerful exhibition, organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and The Polish Mission of the Orchard Lake Schools, to the Dearborn community.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Sunday, Sep. 18, 2016, 2:00pm - 6:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Featured Guest Speaker: Teresa Wontor-Cichy, Research Center at Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum, will begin at 2:15 p.m. All guests should proceed to the 2nd floor of the Mardigian Library at 2:00 p.m. to hear the featured guest speaker before viewing the exhibition in the gallery. Reception is free to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres provided.

Open Competition 2016

Friday, Jul. 08, 2016 - Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016

The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is proud to host its annual open competition. This exhibition showcases and celebrates Michigan artists and promotes the resources of the University of Michigan-Dearborn to diverse audiences. The competition is open to all media and artistic styles.
Exhibition Details  

A True Impact: Celebrating the Stamelos Legacy

Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 - Friday, Jan. 15, 2016

This exhibition honors the significant contributions to the university by William and Electra Stamelos over the last thirty-five years. Electra Stamelos (1927-2008) was a beloved UM-Dearborn art lecturer from 1980 to 1994 and an accomplished artist. She also held the position of Director of Art Acquisitions and Exhibitions for UM-Dearborn for many years and taught on the Ann Arbor campus. Bill has been a devoted university donor and gallery volunteer for many years, which included acting as honorary curator for a period of time, and he continues to be a generous donor to the department. Electra and Bill contributed greatly to the university's art collection for decades including donating the majority of Electra's body of work and many other art pieces that they collected throughout their years together.
Exhibition Details  

Open Competition 2025

Friday, May 15, 2015 - Saturday, Aug. 01, 2015

The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery is proud to host its annual open competition. This exhibition showcases and celebrates Michigan artists and promotes the resources of the University of Michigan-Dearborn to diverse audiences. The competition is open to all media and artistic styles.
Exhibition Details  

Crossing Borders--Blurring Borders through the works of Ursula Hübner

Friday, Mar. 27, 2015 - Friday, Apr. 24, 2015

The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery at the University of Michigan-Dearborn is proud to present a fascinating collection of mixed media works and paintings by the Austrian artist Ursula Hübner. The exhibition consists of collages and paintings from the series The World of Interiors, photographs of her installation the Art Arch of Triumph, and select stage designs. Hübner began working on The World of Interiors in 1996 after she discovered wood as a painting surface during a trip to Japan and she saw the small wooden paintings of Fr. Angelico at the Vatican Museum. In this series of small collages and paintings, Hübner fragments poses found in familiar works of old masters and in popular fashion and film magazines and presents permeable bodies and identities.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Friday, Mar. 27, 2015, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

At the opening reception Hübner will present a lecture at 6:00 p.m. entitled "Bodily Obsessions: The History of Austrian Painting via Egon Schiele, Maria Lassnig, Ursula Hübner, and Other Affinities".

Cardiovista: Detroit Street Photography

Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 - Friday, Mar. 13, 2015

Cardiovista: Detroit Street Photography presents ten photo-essays by local photographers Brian Day, Carlos Diaz, Bruce Harkness, and Tom Stoye. The series, shot over the past five decades, focuses on the photographers' journeys across diverse neighborhoods, from midtown to downtown, from Hamtramck's Poletown to Southwest Detroit's Mexicantown.
Exhibition Details  
Opening Reception

Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, 5:00pm - 7:30pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

Red Rock & Rust Belt

Monday, Oct. 27, 2014 - Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014

Photographer Susan Webb's exhibit "Red Rock and Rust Belt" shows the connections between two cities that are separated by thousands of miles and many centuries: the ancient site of Petra established around 312 B.C. in what is now Jordan -- and Detroit, especially the Detroit of the industrial 20th century.
Exhibition Details  

Impress(ed)

Friday, Sep. 05, 2014 - Friday, Sep. 26, 2014

Showcasing prints and the print making process from artist and educators around the United States
Exhibition Details  
Closing Reception

Friday, Sep. 26, 2014, 5:00pm - Thursday, Sep. 26, 2024, 8:00pm

Stamelos Gallery Center

The Stamelos Gallery Center is located on the first floor of the Mardigian Library at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. For more information, see below for contact information. Anyone requiring accommodations under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact (313)593-5087.

Bill and Electra Stamelos


Electra was a remarkably gifted painter and Bill was an avid photographer. The couple loved to travel, and they acquired artwork from all over the world for their collection. Bill and Electra contributed greatly to the university's art collection for decades including donating the majority of Electra's body of work and many other art pieces that they collected throughout their years together. The couple also contributed a sizeable, and very generous, gift which, along with the support of other donors, will allow for the creation of the new Stamelos Gallery.

Bill and Electra Stamelos

Featured University Art Collection Piece

A dynamic construction scene, a recurring theme in his celebrated
Builders No. 3,

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), Serigraph print, 1974
Gift of Gilbert M. Frimet,
Collection of UM-Dearborn (1980.065)
Photographed by Tim Thayer

This powerful serigraph print from the permanent collection was created by Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), one of this century's most widely acclaimed artists.

Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but moved to Harlem, New York, at 13. He is among the few painters of his generation who grew up in a Black community, received instruction primarily from Black artists, and was influenced by the experiences of Black individuals.

Lawrence's artwork portrays the lives and struggles of the Black community, capturing their experiences through several series focused on figures such as Toussaint L'Ouverture, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman, as well as themes related to life in Harlem and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. His style is characterized by vibrant colors and abstract forms.

In the 1940s, during a time of widespread segregation, Lawrence broke racial barriers by becoming the first Black artist whose work was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

He stated, "If at times my productions do not express the conventionally beautiful, there is always an effort to express the universal beauty of man's continuous struggle to lift his social position and to add dimension to his spiritual being."

Researched and written by:
Julianna Collins, Stamelos Gallery Center former intern, UM-Dearborn art history/museum studies graduate, Class of 2025

Contact Us

  • Stamelos Gallery Center
  • 1st Floor, Mardigian Library, UM-Dearborn
  • 4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128
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