Squirrel art and poetry exhibition turns out to be (not so nutty) food for thought

LEFT: Mary Stebbins Taitt created art as well as poetry for “Squirrel Shenanigans,” including “Angel of Death Revisited,” a pen and ink drawing with watercolor. CENTER: One of Lori Zurvalec’s artworks in the exhibition is this delicate ink drawing, “Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed.” RIGHT: Nobuko Yamasaki stands next to her black and white Japanese woodblock print, “Treasure.”

Photos by K. Michelle Moran

While not in the book, artist Jackie Rybinski’s oil painting, “Lost and Pilfered,” is part of the “Squirrel Shenanigans” exhibition.

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — An art and poetry exhibition centered on squirrels might sound like mere fluff, but there’s more to “Squirrel Shenanigans: Poetry and Art” than cute critters with wide eyes and bushy tails.

“If you pay attention to these poems, you’ll see these are not frivolous poems,” said Mary Stebbins Taitt, of Grosse Pointe Farms, who has poetry as well as artwork in the show, on display now in the art gallery at Grosse Pointe Congregational Church in the Farms. “If you put together any group of artists, you’re not going to get frivolity — you’re going to get serious work.”

That’s not to say there isn’t a playful quality to some of the pieces.

“Some of the poems are funny, but we need humor,” Taitt said. “They’re about life.”

A public reception for the exhibition, which will include a poetry reading and refreshments, will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 2.

“Squirrel Shenanigans” was organized by artist and poet Lori Zurvalec, of Grosse Pointe City. Zurvalec was part of the Detroit Poetry Salon, a group of writers who started meeting and sharing their work via Zoom during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In January 2023, Zurvalec wrote and shared a poem about squirrels that ended up inspiring other writers to pen their own squirrel poems. Within a matter of months, Zurvalec said there were enough poems to warrant a poetry reading, which took place in November 2023 at the Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale.

“It just kind of snowballed,” Zurvalec said.

Most of the artworks and poems were created independent of each other, but there were enough thematic similarities that Zurvalec was able to hang the exhibition in a way that the artworks reflected the writings, and vice versa. The exhibition has an accompanying book.

“There’s a whole range of squirrel experiences in this book,” Zurvalec said. “Although (some of it) is sweet and light, there is some darkness in this exhibition.”

Nobuko Yamasaki’s woodblock print, “Treasure,” shows a squirrel gripping an acorn in its front paws. The Grosse Pointe Shores artist said she based the print off a photo she found; it’s not of one of the many squirrels that can be found scampering in her own backyard.

“The background is bushes and trees,” Yamasaki said of the black and white print. “It was fun to make it.”

Yamasaki’s print became the cover of the accompanying book. A limited number of books, which contain poems and reproductions of artwork from the exhibition, are available for sale and can be purchased for $6.50 at the exhibition.

In some instances, poems and artworks were made as companion pieces, as was the case for Taitt’s poem, “The Empty Nest,” and her white line woodblock print, “At the Feeder, Keith with Squirrels.” Taitt said these works were inspired by the experience she and her husband, Keith, had with raising an abandoned baby squirrel and eventually releasing the animal back into the wild. She remembers feeding the tiny creature using a doll bottle.

“When he was younger, he used to ride around in Keith’s (shirt) pocket,” Taitt said.

Other artists and poets with work in the book and exhibition are Nina Goebel and Jackie Rybinski, of Grosse Pointe Farms; Alinda Wasner, of Beverly Hills; John Diephouse and Kathy Zurvalec, of Lansing; Nancy Shattuck, of Taylor; Michelle Morouse, of Macomb Township; Candace Law, of Berkley; Alexander Payne Morgan, of Birmingham; Deborah Hochberg, of Oak Park; Nancy Squires, of Rochester Hills; Patricia Barnes, of Wyandotte; and Detroiters James Macmillen, Dwight Stackhouse and Elaine Elizabeth Belz.

The exhibition speaks to the interconnectedness of humans and nature.

“We are all in this world together,” Zurvalec said. “When we are facing climate change, we have to be cognizant of those relationships.”

“Squirrel Shenanigans” is on display through Jan. 5. Besides the Nov. 2 reception, the exhibition is open to the public between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sundays, or by appointment. To make an appointment to see it, call the church office at (313) 884-3075.

Grosse Pointe Congregational Church is located at 240 Chalfonte Road in Grosse Pointe Farms. For more information, contact Lori Zurvalec at arts@gpcong.org.