Lowell couple enter ArtPrize: “Flight”

“I retired in 2021, walked into the gallery, and fell in love with it,” Sharon said. First, she began volunteering - she would watch the gallery on Saturdays, for example - before she joined the gallery committee, and finally, she was invited to join the Board of Directors.

By Justin Tiemeyer - Contributing writer

9/21/2024

Sharon and Chuck Oleniczak have chosen to represent the community of Lowell at ArtPrize 2024. Their collaboration, titled “Flight”, is on display in downtown Grand Rapids through Saturday, September 28, 2024, the last day of the ArtPrize 2024 event. What began as a number of sketches, evolved into a series of nine bent metal wall sculptures.

“This is the first time we’ve entered Art Prize,” Sharon said. “It’s been fun.”

The opening weekend of ArtPrize, from Friday, September 13 through Sunday, September 15, was a busy one for the Oleniczaks. Sharon is a member of the Board of Directors for Lowell Arts, and from Saturday, September 14 through Sunday, September 15, everyone at Lowell Arts was busy making sure the Fallasburg Arts Festival remained one of the best events in Kent County. Chuck also volunteers with Lowell Arts.

The story of Sharon and Chuck Oleniczak is a testament to the power of art.

Sharon received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with emphasis in painting and drawing, from Aquinas College, and she put herself through school by working for an ad agency. This prompted her to transition into graphic design. During the last eight years of her career, Sharon served as the Senior Manager of Design Communications at Newell Brands in Kalamazoo. It was not until she retired that she became involved in Lowell Arts.

“I retired in 2021, walked into the gallery, and fell in love with it,” Sharon said. First, she began volunteering - she would watch the gallery on Saturdays, for example - before she joined the gallery committee, and finally, she was invited to join the Board of Directors.

Chuck’s original educational plan was to take two years of architectural drafting, followed by two years of residential construction, and see what kind of work he could find that married those two different skillsets. That plan ran out of steam when Chuck ran out of money for college. He needed a job to keep going, so he started working for a printer in Grand Rapids. After about a year, he was offered a different position with Carpenter Paper Company, which led to a 42-year career selling fine-printing grade paper and art paper. On the side, Chuck builds bamboo fly rods and stick bows for archery.

“That melted the hours away,” Chuck, a strong proponent of participating in a satisfying hobby, said. “Individuals who have stunning careers but have no hobbies, I think, are really missing out, because the bottom line is, as far as work is concerned, I don’t believe you are what you do. I think you are what you do as a complete human being 24/7, and it can’t just be your job.”

Chuck’s sales job allowed him to meet a number of talented artists and designers during his long career, among them, his wife Sharon.

“I walked through her door 40 years ago, and she was working for a company called Image Works at the time,” Chuck said, “and that was the beginning of a lifelong collaboration.”

“Flight” is merely one of the many fruits of the Oleniczaks’ “lifelong collaboration.” At the height of the COVID pandemic, when everyone was quarantined, the two collaborators started birdwatching. This prompted the fine artist in Sharon to surface, and she began doing sketches of the birds that they saw. Even while doing her paper study, Sharon was envisioning a final product crafted in metal, so the Oleniczaks met with some friends who are fabricators, and that was when Chuck got looped into the process. Seeing as Chuck is such a talented craftsman, he decided to take on the metal part.

The initial project was a huge 36-inch by 36-inch painted Masonite piece, but the Oleniczaks were introduced to a machine called a metal brake that provided a different size constraint. Using the brake, they produced nine 12-inch by 16-inch painted aluminum sculptures, each wrapped around a rectangular shadow box. The Oleniczaks were impressed with the results.

Those looking for “Flight” can find it at DeVos Place, in one of the most coveted exhibit spaces in the city. If you climb upstairs to the skywalk, it is on the north wall, overlooking the main exhibit space. “We were taken aback by what a lovely space it is,” Sharon said. “Kurt Vonnegut would say it’s a wonderful waste of space,” Chuck added.

Voting for ArtPrize is already live via the Flockx app, but it concludes on Thursday, September 26, two days before the end of ArtPrize 2024. If you are interested in voting for “Flight,” it’s Voting ID number is 93422.