ARTS&LIFE
ART

M

ichelle Sider, an avid 
recreational biker 
around Michigan, 
unsurprisingly has encountered 
many deteriorating roads. As a 
result, she relates to current talk 
about state and national initia-
tives regarding infrastructure in 
general and “fixing the damn 
roads” in particular.
Sider, also an avid profes-
sional artist, came to take an 
additional direction in infra-
structure activity and thought. 
She fixated on creative possibil-
ities applying techniques of her 
current preferred medium — 
mosaics — as a result of what 
she experienced.
In 2018, when potholes 
and enlarging cracks regularly 
forced her to slow and stop on 
whichever bike route she ped-

aled, this Huntington Woods 
resident moved away from 
bemoaning the obstacles to 
focusing on colors and patterns 
formed by those obstacles — 
whether pavement or associat-
ed vegetation and debris. 
A particularly difficult sec-
tion at Kensington Metropark 
in Milford — since fixed — 
became Sider’s inspiration for 
a semi-abstract mosaic series 
titled “On the Side of the 
Road,
” which has her color-
fully reimagining crevices and 
strands along public pathways.
“
At Kensington, I instantly 
decided to turn my unique 
experiences into artistic 
statements,
” said Sider, 61, 
whose interest in art started 
in preschool, was encouraged 
at Groves High School, con-

tinued through studies at the 
University of Michigan and was 
passed along during a teaching 
position at the Frankel Jewish 
Academy and independent 
projects that have brought 
much recognition.

IN SEARCH OF PATTERNS
“Instead of just riding my bike, 
I went in search of the patterns 
created by crumbling pave-
ment, asphalt, tar, strewn rocks, 
debris, grasses and other mate-
rials. What I found in the midst 
of the unfortunate state of our 
roads was a start for developing 
semi-abstract beauty as derived 
from my imperfect surround-
ings,
” Sider said.
Sider, who worked on paint-
ings before prioritizing mosa-
ics, labors in a home studio 

Inspired by 

potholes, this 

artist created a 

semi-abstract 

mosaic series.

Road Art

SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

50 | SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 

Michelle Sider

ELI SIDER

Images from Michelle Sider’s
“On the Side of the Road”

