Time truly has flown by since Mackerel Sky opened its doors on August 6, 1990. The 200 block of Ann Street was being bricked over into the Ann Street Plaza ( making our location difficult to find using the address) and there were a sizeable number of varied retail stores in the downtown including the wonderful independent bookstore, Jocundry's. We were proud and happy to join the mix. We have many thanks to make for the friends and family who made it possible for us to open initially: Linda's parents, Herb and Jackie Cromwell, who were titled " Fabulous Unpaid Employees" (and when they wanted to retire to Florida caused a panic here inciting the dictum: "Unpaid employees must give 2 years notice."); Leslie Charles, Rob Carr, Kim Kauffman, and Ed Bonnen who enthusiastically encouraged us to take the plunge; Ben Graham our graphic designer, Sheila Conboy-Miller, and all of the people who have worked here. Our present staff is so fantastic, as each group has been. We thank you all. Thanks to Mar Sibley, our manager, who has been with Mackerel Sky for 11 and a half years, and Betty Lounsbery who has helped us out for close to eleven years. Thanks to all of you who patronize this establishment. Our first 15 years have given us the opportunity to meet thousands of wonderfully interesting people. We watched babies enter families, children grow up and graduate from high school, people pass away. The Gallery has even been mentioned in at least two eulogies. We appreciate that you support what we are about, in contributing toward improving the quality of life in this community. This is such an enjoyable job all in all. It's getting a little lonely in East Lansing without many retail neighbors, but our commitment to being located in a downtown holds firm. We thought at this juncture we would take time to celebrate and reiterate what we're all about since this is a suitable occasion to take stock. Our mission statement: We offer useful, functional products that are beautiful, well designed, well-made, and long lasting to make the best use of the earth's limited resources, while enriching one's everyday activities, bringing art to articles of everyday life. We truly believe that one’s awareness and appreciation of living is enhanced when surrounded by beauty-hence the desire to flock to stunning scenic places, for example. Drinking your tea or coffee from a beautifully well made mug in the morning can bring a thoughtful start to a day. We are committed to craftspeople in general, but attempt to focus on artists in the U.S. and Canada and choose the highest quality goods for the most reasonable price offering what might be of interest to the Lansing area community. It is exciting to have regular customers that travel from afar to visit us as well. We also support community organizations that we believe in, generally by donating items for raffles or silent auctions. A retail store is usually cash poor, but inventory rich. Unfortunately we are not able to donate to everyone who requests it, but following are some of the organizations we've helped support in the past year: Eve's House (formerly the Council Against Domestic Assault), Women's Caring Program, Kresge Art Museum Twilight in the Garden fundraiser for the new museum, MSU Museum Chocolate Party Benefit, St. John Student Parish, Peace Education Center, Sistrum Lansing Women's Chorus, Montessori Center of East Lansing, East Lansing Educational Foundation, Art Scholarship Alert of the Lansing Art Gallery, Bailey Community Association, Lansing Civic Players Guild, Summer Solstice Jazz Festival, East Lansing Art Festival Galleries Award, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Junior League of Lansing, Planned Parenthood Mid-Michigan Alliance, Masterworks Chorale, Adopt a River, Community Relations Coalition, Lansing Association for Human Rights, Bob's Run for the Listening Ear, Educational Child Care Center of Lansing, Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Blind Children's Fund, Advent House Ministries, Icarus Falling, Michigan Peace Team, Mid-Michigan Art Guild, Tri-County Office on Aging, Lansing Art Gallery, Angel House, Craft Emergency Relief Fund, Zonta International's Annual Fundraiser, Tomorrow's Child/Michigan SIDS, Urban Options, Children's Ballet Theatres, WKAR Radio and TV (which we began underwriting even before our doors opened.). We are also proud to have been voted one of the Top 100 Craft Galleries in the Country for the past 10 years, the only Gallery in Michigan to receive this honor in every year that it has been awarded. We have been nominated again this year but won't have word of the outcome before this newsletter is printed. Special Celebration for Mackerel Sky's First Fifteen Years In celebration of Mackerel Sky's First Fifteen Years and in appreciation of your loyal patronage, we are discounting the work of our 15 favorite artists by 15% for the first 15 days of August. Following are the artists we've chosen: Janna Ugone lamps and mirrors Greg Aanes rocking chairs Josh Simpson glass Studio Paran glass Arlee Kasselman jewelry Jane Bartholemy jewelry Ala Jaron jewelry Terri Logan jewelry Fitz and Fitz jewelry Bill Campbell pottery Loren Lukens pottery Sunset Canyon pottery Peter Karner pottery Jemerick pottery Royce Yoder pottery From August 1 through August 15, any purchase you make from the artists listed above will be discounted by 15%. Please treat yourself. With six exhibits each year, Mackerel Sky has mounted more than 90 shows in its exhibit space. It is the tradition now to take photographs of the opening events and we went through those photos to share some with you. We were disappointed that the tradition hadn’t started diligently earlier on, and that much that is a wonderful memory was not captured on film. It was also interesting to find many of the same faces at many openings. Charlie Finkel (the woodworker who made our jewelry display cases and most of our displays) and Deb McMartin Finkel have attended almost every single one of our openings, as has Lou Snow. Thank you all for taking time out of your lives to meet our exhibiting artists and support their efforts, and celebrate with us. We’ve missed many, many faces in our photos of the folks who visit us often but just don’t happen to attend Sunday events. If we snap a photo during a future shopping visit, don’t be startled. Several of our artists are in, what we euphemistically call, “our stable” of artists, in that they exhibit every 2 years or so. Was fun to see the progression of work and their children grow up. Thank you all for contributing to Mackerel Sky’s longevity, including the talented artists who provide us with the beautiful work we present you. We plan to be in this location for at least another five years and looking forward to more after that. Following are some “snaps” (These pages contain lots of photos and will take some time to load if your connection is dial up. Please be patient - they are worth the wait): Staff Fun Through the Years Artists and Supporters Artists and Families