PEACH WEEKENDER

A sure sign of spring: Gallery Loop is returning

News of Art: 4-10

‘High Level, 1932,’ color photograph by Ben Morales, is part of the latest Group of Nine show at the Hudson Gallery. A reception will be 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the gallery, 5645 N. Main St., Sylvania.

The Gallery Loop returns for the season from 3 to 8 p.m. April 19. More than 30 galleries, studios, and eateries will be open and free bus transportation will ferry people to venues near downtown. To see a map and read more, check the Arts Commission’s website, theartscommission.org, or call 419-254-2787.

At the Toledo Museum of Art

● Laurie Olin, recipient of a 2012 National Medal of Arts for his skillful landscape architecture, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Little Theater. He was honored for a sense of harmony and balance between nature and design, for shaping iconic spaces around the world, and for educating new leaders in his field. He’ll discuss the enduring influence of Andre LeNotre, who designed gardens at the Tuileries in Paris and at Versailles hundreds of years ago. Olin designed the Toledo museum’s sculpture garden, the Washington Monument Grounds in Washington, and Bryant Park in New York City. In 2013, he received the 2013 Thomas Jefferson Medal in architecture.

● Also Friday from 1 to 1:45 p.m. with a second program from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m., A Brush with Art will be held for people who have mild memory loss and their families. Register at 419-537-1999.

● Saturday is Slow Art Day, a volunteer movement that’s been around a few years. It encourages people to look slowly at a piece of art and is a good fit with the museum’s emphasis on teaching visual literacy — the ability to construct meaning from what one sees. As will happen at more than 200 museums and galleries Saturday, visitors will look at a handful of art for 10 minutes each and then discuss the experience over lunch. People can bring or buy lunch in the Museum Cafe and attend a noon discussion in the Green Room. It’s free and people are asked to register at http://bit.ly/SlowArtDayatTMA.

● A 30-minute baby tour will be at 6 p.m. April 18. Meet in the Family Center.

● At 2 p.m. Sunday, the Naturalists Camera Club of Toledo will host a talk on How to Choose Cameras and Lenses for Nature Photography in Swan Creek Preserve Metropark. A representative from Kohne Camera will share tips.

For more information: NaturalistCameraClub.org.

Another photography session will be at 6 p.m. April 17, when Art Weber leads a walk to shoot spring wildflowers.

Meet in the Mallard Lake parking lot at Oak Openings Preserve Metropark. Fee: $15. Registration required at metroparkstoledo.com.

● A reception for the latest Group of Nine show will be 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday in the Hudson Gallery, 5645 N. Main St., Sylvania. It features painting, printmaking, photography, assemblage, sculpture, jewelry, and glass by Ben Morales, Dani Herrera, Temo Perez, Matt Wolcott, Stacey Arnold, Melanie Harries, Chelsey Hammersmith, Patrick Dubreuil, and Robin Schultes. Information: 419-885-8381.

● An American QuiltToonist: Telling the Story with Fabric and Thread, the work of Judy Paschalis, will be on view through May 31 in Starbucks at Levis Commons, 3145 Levis Commons Blvd., Perrysburg.

Paschalis fashions wall quilts that suggest a story or include political satire in a cartoonish style. She prints photographs on fabric, embroiders, and appliques. The show is presented by Prizm Creative Community.

● The Mazza Museum’s annual auction of 64 original, matted works by artists of children’s books such as Jan Brett, Wendy Watson, Richard Cowdrey, and Kevin Henkes, will be at 6 p.m. April 26 in the museum on the University of Findlay campus. Absentee bids will be accepted. Work is appraised at prices ranging from $125 to $3,000. There will be silent and live auctions at this free event. Reservations are required by contacting teeple@findlay.edu. Work can be seen at mazzamuseum.org. Information: 419-434-4560.

● An arts and crafts fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in Capricorn Banquet Hall, 6182 Summit St. in Point Place.

Goods will include pottery, fused glass, photographs, jewelry, candles, soaps, gourmet treats, and more. Details at DKTreasures@bex.net.

● ReedRead is a show of art tied to the use of text, books, and interactive communication at LeSo Gallery, 1527 Starr Ave. At Saturday's 7 to 9 p.m. reception, Jamie Leigh Sampson will release her book, Contemporary Techniques for the Bassoon: Multiphonics, and there will be musical performances. Participating artists will speak about their creations at a closing reception, 7 to 9 p.m. April 26. The gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information: www.LeSoGallery.com and their Facebook page.

● Watercolor workshops for beginner and intermediate painters will be taught by John Trumbell, Hector Ramirez, and Art Mancini on weekdays and weekends in the Way Public Library, 101 E. Indiana Ave. in Perrysburg. There are fees. It’s organized by Prizm Creative Community.

Information: myprizm.com (click on the “Registration” tab) and 419-931-8732.

Calls for artists:

● Toledo School for the Arts seeks 100 artists to each paint a 12-inch-by-12-inch panel for its June fund-raiser, Undisclosed. Information: burbanski@ts4arts.org, 419-246-8732 ext. 256, or Art Supply Depo, 29 S. St. Clair St.

● A juried contest, The Art of High-Chair Fine Dining, that will showcase the best contemporary dinnerware in all media for babies and small children, has a deadline of June 23.

Apply through CaFÉ at www.callforentry.org. Michigan ceramicist Marie Woo will select the items that will be exhibited in September at the Dinnerware Museum in Ann Arbor. Information: 607-382-1415 and www.dinnerwaremuseum.org.

Contact Tahree Lane at: tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.