2023–24 Lectures and Events
Lectures are free for Art League members, $10 for KIA members, $12 for public.
Non-members can pay at the door.
October 11, 2023
Charles Burke: Tales of a Maestro CEO
7:00 Lecture | KIA Auditorium
Reception following Lecture
Charles Burke will speak about his journey as an arts administrator, arts educator and his vision for the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. In February 2023, Charles Burke became the new President and CEO of Meijer Gardens succeeding David Hooker, who announced his retirement in 2022. Burke brings years of experience in arts and culture to his new role, having served as president and CEO of The War Memorial Association in Grosse Pointe Farms for the past nine years. Previously, Burke spent a significant portion of his career as both an executive and orchestral conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO).
“I am honored to be selected as the next president and CEO of such a world-renowned and beloved cultural institution,” Burke said. “I am eager to work with the talented team at Meijer Gardens.” Burke is a graduate of Leadership Detroit XXXV and holds degrees from George Mason University and West Virginia University, executive leadership training at the Harvard Business School and Columbia College and as a Creative Alliances Fellow and Emerging Nonprofit Leaders Fellow for National Arts Strategies.
He is active in the nonprofit sector, volunteering in several roles including board director for Jefferson East, TechTown Detroit, community advisory board for Beaumont Health Grosse Pointe, editorial board of the Grosse Pointe News, executive producer for Live Inspired Productions and Michigan Youth Arts Festival.
November 8, 2023
Nayda Collazo-Llorens: unmappings
10:00 am | KIA Auditorium
Reception following Lecture
Nayda Collazo-Llorens will speak about her life as an interdisciplinary artist from Puerto Rico. She earned an MFA degree from New York University and a BFA degree from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited at El Museo del Barrio in New York City, The Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami, Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, Museo de 3 Arte Contemporáneo in San Juan, Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City, and The Dowse Art Museum in New Zealand, among others.
She has received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Oolite Arts, and Beta-Local, among others, and is a former Visiting Fellow at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Her work is featured in the book Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago, published by Duke University Press; A to Z of Caribbean Art, published by Robert & Christopher in Trinidad and Tobago; and The Dark Would: Language Art Anthology, published by Apple Pie in the UK. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Art News, Art Net, Art Nexus, Hyperallergic, Arte al Día International, BOMB, and Newcity, among others.
She currently lives and works in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
December 13, 2023
Members Holiday Luncheon at the Park Club
Join other Art League members for docent tour at the KIA at 11 am, followed by a festive luncheon at the Park Club. Look for more details soon!
March 13, 2024
Laura De Becker: Wish You Were Here
10:00 am | KIA Auditorium
Reception following Lecture
Laura De Becker, Interim Chief Curator and the Helmut and Candis Stern Curator of African Art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA).
Many of the works De Becker oversees were donated from the late Helmut Stern’s collection of Central African art, widely viewed as one of the finest private collections in the world. She will discuss the complex issues of repatriation, provenance, and collaboration which are among the pressing issues facing museums with collections of African objects.
April 10, 2024
Tuliza Fleming: Building the Collection
10:00 am | KIA Auditorium
Reception following Lecture
Tuliza Fleming will speak on Visual Art and The Americal Experience: A Journey into the Era of Reckoning. Dr. Fleming is the Curator of American Art at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), Smithsonian Institution. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in American art history from the University of Maryland, College Park (1997 and 2007), and her B.A. from Spelman College (1994).
During her tenure at the NMAAHC, she worked to build the museum’s foundational American art collection, supervised the creation of a collection-based multi-media interactive, co-curated the traveling exhibition, Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment, and served as the lead curator for the museum’s inaugural exhibition, Visual Art and the American Experience.
Formerly, Dr. Fleming served in the position of Associate Curator of the American Art at The Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio.
May 8, 2024
Craig McDonald: Alden B. Dow: A Way of Life
10:00 am | KIA Auditorium
Reception following Lecture
Craig McDonald is the Director of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, the Dow Home and Studio continues to engage the imagination and elicits an emotional response in all who experience this powerful statement of Mid-Twentieth Century Modern architecture. Planted into an encompassing pond, the Home and Studio is alive with reflective light, soaring rooflines, diverging angles, brilliant color and the perfect balance of enticement and tranquility. It truly is an “oasis of architecture and inspiration.” McDonald will delve into Dow’s extensive career, which includes designing several buildings in Kalamazoo.