At The Helm

New director
leads gallery.

brarid Ptdae shows a coUple

on_a Brussels street.

On The Streets from page 43

High School classmate Linda Solomon for
encouraging his sideline. After seeing some
of his work, she offered one of her cameras
for subsequent projects, and he eventually
bought it.
As Wallace's camera interests deepened,
he studied with Monte Nagler in 2002 and
later took a course at the College for Creative
Studies in Detroit, where he showed some of
his projects in student exhibits. The exhibit
at the JCC gallery came about after he sub-
mitted a portfolio of his images.
"I believe color can be distracting for the
type of work I'm doing',' says Wallace, who
refines pictures at a computer, deciding on
tones and cropping his photos to be printed
by others. "I think that black-and-white
photos provide more classic and dramatic
looks and even have a timeless quality."
Wallace has many of his pictures framed
and hangs them at his home and business,
deciding placement according to subject
matter. Photos from China generally wind
up at the office because trips to that country
have the greatest connection to his work.
Wallace, who majored in history at the
University of Michigan and earned his law
degree at the University of Miami, is sup-
ported in his hobby by his wife, Barbara, an
accountant, and their three children, college
students Rich and Adam and high-school
student Katie. He also has commitments to
activities at Congregation Shaarey Zedek of
Oakland County and the Hebrew Free Loan
Association, where he serves in officer posts.
"The photos really are about appreciating
where I am at any given time," Wallace says.
"I'm curious to see how people react to the
different pictures in the show:'

Inspired Translations
Showing simultaneously at the Janice
Charach Epstein Gallery will be the exhibit
"In Response: Artists Translate Their Israel
Experience."
Nine artists accompanied educators on a
Jewish Federation-funded mission to Israel.
The 10-day mission was a culmina-
tion of Federation's TEAM (Teacher

Education Advancement Model) program
and included workshops and activities
designed to sharpen professional skills
with the purpose of bringing Israel to life
for children through the fifth grade. The
artists were participants in Federation's
Artists in the School program, which

Judith Sare-Vine's painting of an old

Caterpillar tractor in a field is part of

a simultaneous exhibit at the Charach

that, I thought of instant messaging on the
computer and the whole process of leaving
messages.
Sare-Vine was pleased to make the
acquaintance of the artists on the trip
and Israeli artists who invited the travel-
ers into their homes. She found the entire
experience very intense.
Michael Daitch, a Macomb resident, will
show hand-woven religious pieces, includ-
ing tallitot.
"As an artist visiting for the first time,
I was struck instantly by the clarity and
starkness of the light throughout the
country',' Daitch says. "As a studio weaver, I
have always been sensitive to the way light
and colors play off different textures and
patterns. My experience in Israel inspired
me to bring a new palette of color and
light into my studio."
Mosaic artists represented in the exhibit
include Maxine Gardner of Huntington
Woods, Gail Kaplan of Farmington Hills,
Dan Katsir of West Bloomfield, Michael
Phillips of Southfield and Michelle Sider
of Huntington Woods. Also part of the
program are painter Robert Schefman of
West Bloomfield and multimedia artist
Deanna Sperka of Oak Park.

"

Epstein Gallery.

brings volunteer artists into the schools to
help students enhance their Jewish iden-
tity through art.
Judith Sare-Vine, an artist making
her second trip to Israel, kept the sights
close through memories and photos and
personalized the impact with a series
of paintings, which will be part of the
exhibit.
"One painting shows an old Caterpillar
tractor in a field, and I thought it had to
do with issues of recycling',' Sare-Vine
says. "History compounds itself over and
over, and one day that tractor might be
part of archaeology
"Another painting captures a segment
of the Western Wall. People leave pieces
of paper with messages, and when I saw

"Fragments of the Day: David
Wallace Photography" and "Artists
Translate Their Israel Experience"
will be on view July 27-Sept. 28
at the Janice Charach Epstein
Gallery at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield. Gallery
hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-
Thursdays and 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Sundays. There is an opening
reception 6 p.m. Thursday, July
27. There will be Coffee Culture
Conversation events, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 17, for "Fragments"
and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, for
"Artists." (248) 432-5448.

Terri Stearn, an artist who has
worked in commercial galleries,
has been named director of the
Janice Charach Epstein Gallery at
the Jewish Community Center and
begins her new responsibilities by
mounting two shows: "In Response:
Artists Translate Their Israel
Experience" and "Fragments of the
Day: David Wallace Photography."
Stearn, who majored in paint-
ing and minored in art history at
Eastern Michigan University, has
some clear-cut goals as she plans
out exhibits.
"My biggest objective is to get
more young people involved with
the gallery," says Stearn, 36. "I also
hope to build sales."
Stearn, who likes to use watercol-
ors for her paintings and refinishes
antique Jewelry boxes and furniture
on commission, was a teaching
assistant at Indiana University. She
worked at Gallerie Bleu in Pontiac
and the Wentworth Gallery in
Livonia.
For five years, with two brothers-
in-law, she owned and administered
ArtHouse Studios and Gallery in
Berkley, a consignment operation
featuring projects
by area artists.
Stearn, a Beverly
Hills resident mar-
ried to attorney
and radio talk-show
host Todd Stearn,
decided this was
the right time to
work; their daugh-
ter enters first
grade at Hillel Day:
School in Farmington 1illls thit fail.
The couple are members of Adat
Shalom Synagogue and founding
members of a B'nai B`rith couples
unit named after David L. Bittker.
"I'm very family-oriented, and I'm
looking forward to working at the
gallery," says Stearn, who gradu-
ated from Southfield-Lathrup High
School, attended Temple Israel as
a youngster and has been involved
with JCC activities. "I think it is very
exciting planning different kinds of
exhibits and getting to know new
artists."

- Suzanne Chessler

July 27 2006

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