The painting “When You’re Back” by Aimee Tomlinson is one of the nearly 40 works from local artists featured in the Anton Art Center exhibition “Heartwork.”
By: Dean Vaglia | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published January 25, 2026
MOUNT CLEMENS — Local talent takes center stage at the Anton Art Center this winter as two exhibits show off top works from the metro area and across the state.
From Saturday, Jan. 31 until Saturday, Feb. 28, the Michigan Annual LIII will run in the First Floor Gallery featuring over 50 works from 35 artists from across the Great Lakes State.
This year’s Michigan Annual, the 53rd edition of the center’s tent pole fine arts exhibition, continues a recent tradition of the show receiving more entrants than the year before. With 390 works having been submitted, the Michigan Annual LIII is the most competitive the exhibition has ever been.
“We’re excited to see this show continue to grow,” said Matt Mathews, Anton Art Center executive director. “It’s a testament to the work that Stephanie (Hazzard, exhibitions manager at the Anton Art Center) is doing and the work that we’re doing to attract new artists and returning artists to the show. It’s a reflection of the work that the team does to curate beautiful exhibitions.”
Jurying the Michigan Annual LIII is Grace Serra, who curates art at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan’s North Campus Research Complex. Serra’s art coordination skills have been utilized by the Detroit People Mover, Detroit Receiving Hospital and Children’s Hospital.
The opening reception and awards ceremony for the Michigan Annual LIII will take place at the Anton Art Center’s 125 Macomb Place location on Saturday, Jan. 31 from 1-3 p.m.
Running alongside the Michigan Annual LIII is “Heartwork,” this year’s themed show featuring nearly 40 works from 30 local artists.
“Heartwork” is one of two annual shows the Anton Art Center hosts for the members of five regional artists groups: the Lakeside Palette Club of St. Clair Shores, Mount Clemens Artist Association, Romeo Guild of Art, Shelby Township Fine Art Society and the Warren Tri-County Fine Arts. Artists have taken the theme of “Heartwork” and created an abundance of interpretations upon it.
“We let the artists interpret the theme however they like in whatever media that they like for the juror then to review,” Hazzard said. “The artists take the theme and interpret in their own style in their own way … (the show has) a mix of media spanning from two-dimensional to three-dimensional works in ceramics, metal, fiber, photography, oil paint, acrylic and mixed media.”
Jurying “Heartwork” is Darcel Deneau, a 2021 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellow and a graduate of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Deneau is a mosaic artist whose work was recently awarded second-place by both the jurors and the public at an international mosaic biennale in Chartres, France. She serves as president of the CCS Alumni Council and is an honorary board member of the Detroit Artists Market.
“Heartwork” runs until Saturday, Feb. 28 in the Second Floor Gallery.
The Anton Art Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.