Industrial Nature: Works by Michelle Stitzlein
Jan 21-May 28, 2017
Michelle Stitzlein creates large scale sculpture from recycled materials. She works in a large studio converted from a former grange hall in Baltimore, Ohio.
Her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in galleries and museums nationwide, including the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY; Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL; Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Mt. Vernon, IL; Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KS; Warm Springs Gallery, Charlottesville, VA; Carnegie Mellon University / Miller Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA; COSI, Columbus, OH; and the Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, OH.
During her travels she has met artists in countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Guatemala, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia and India, and has been inspired by their resourcefulness & ingenuity with found materials.
A graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design, Stitzlein has also taught workshops, as an artist-in-residence, at elementary schools, art camps, and arts festivals.
Using the humble plastic bottle cap as her medium, she encourages recycling through the means of art making. She has assisted children all over the US to make colorful murals, and whimsical outdoor sculptures utilizing thousands of bottle caps that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
She published the how-to books “Bottlecap Little Bottlecap” and “Cool Caps!,” as resources for parents and teachers. Projects from both books have been represented in Ranger Rick magazine as well as on HGTV.