Blog
Finding Inspiration from Nature: GVSUs Ravines
March 01, 2025
Christopher Michael Scamehorn, The Breakdown and the
Transition, ceramic, shale, ravine clay, and colored grouts,
2006, Gift of James and Marsha Scamehorn, 2006.493.1a.
Dellas Henke, The Pipes, photograph, 2004, GVSU Art Museum
Collection, 2005.043.1.
Stanley Krohmer, Vernal Pool, photograph, 2006, GVSU Art
Museum Collection, 2008.203.1b.
Jennifer Pope, Erosion- Tree Roots Exposed, woodcut, 2004,
Gift of the artist, 2006.028.1.
Mariel Versluis, Ravines, oil pastel, ca. 1995, GVSU Art
Museum Collection, 1998.358.1.
Meghan Kelly, Ravine Clay Bottle #3, clay and wood, 2009,
GVSU Art Museum Collection, 2009.105.3.
For as long as humans have been creating art, there has been a fascination with capturing the beauty of nature. Through the hands of artists, art and science can meet to create materials like clay, natural dyes or, realistic depictions of landscapes, flora and fauna, Other artists choose to represent nature as they see it through their own eyes, giving us a glimpse into someone else’s perspective. Many artists in the GVSU Art Museum collection have captured Michigan landscapes over the years, some have even found inspiration here at GVSU.
GVSU’s Allendale campus is built on a system of ravines cut into debris left behind by glaciers as they advanced and retreated over 10,000 years ago. At the time, the shore of what became Lake Michigan would have reached Allendale and would have been connected to a much longer version of today’s Grand River. As the water receded over time, tributaries of the Grand River cut into glacier drifts, leaving behind plateaus of land between deep ravines that define Allendale’s campus. Since campus construction first began in the 1960s, architects and scientists have had to work together to ensure the safety of both GVSU’s natural and human-made landscapes.
During the summer of 2004, several GVSU faculty, staff, and students from across different departments collected materials and data to document the history, use, and efforts to preserve the Grand Valley Ravines area. GVSU Visual & Media Arts (VMA) Professor Dellas Henke supervised students on a Student Scholars project asking them to survey faculty to determine their use of the ravines. Henke and the students spent time exploring the ravines to get a better understanding of the unique ecosystem the GVSU Allendale campus sits within. Artwork inspired by the ravines from this project was put on temporary display at the GVSU Archives and Special Collections. Later in 2011, the exhibit Ravines Revisited was hosted by the GVSU Art Museum in the Haas Center for Performing Arts Gallery. The exhibition included photographs by Henke as well as Stanley Krohmer and Anthony Thompson. Portions of these projects can still be found installed around campus and in the GVSU Art Museum’s digital collection.
As you walk through GVSU Allendale’s campus, consider how the land may have looked 10,000 years ago. Notice how you can still see remnants of what the glaciers left behind. Or if you’re not near Allendale, look at the artwork in the GVSU Art Museum’s collection and see the ways in which our local landscape and ravines have inspired artists.
Learn more about the GVSU Ravines through collections at the GVSU Archives and Special Collections.
Explore artwork inspired by the local landscape and ravines.
Christopher Michael Scamehorn’s artwork is influenced by the geology and natural curiosities that occur around him. While a student at GVSU, many of his pieces included ravine clay, local shale, and the remains of living creatures found while exploring the natural areas around him. His piece The Breakdown and the Transition was inspired by freezing a moment in time, re-creating a scene he photographed in the ravines with natural elements collected from the same location.
Explore more artwork by Christopher Michael Scamehorn.
As he spearheaded the Ravine Archive Project, Dellas Henke began to consider ways in which to spark a conversation about our relationship with the natural world around us. In seeking out nature as a place for meditation, Henke’s photographs question that if we are not the ones responsible for creating this space in nature, then who? How do we balance the need for infrastructure and growth with giving space to connect and appreciate nature?
Explore more around by Dellas Henke.
While working as faculty at GVSU, natural and social landscape photographer Stanley Krohmer created a series of images from within the GVSU Ravines. While focusing more on painting today, his images still speak to the growth and destruction of nature.
Explore more artwork by Stanley Krohmer.
Through her art, Jennifer Pope seeks to bring awareness to problems utilizing humor and visually interesting prints. While working within the GVSU Ravines, Pope recognized the need to bring awareness to animals and plants that live among us. Her images ask viewers to consider their abilities to help and protect our environment.
Explore more artwork by Jennifer Pope.
Mariel Versluis’ work often focuses on the landscape of West Michigan. Her childhood, which was spent on a farm, influences her work, whether it be in her woodblock prints, drawings, or 3-dimensional sculptures. Versluis’ images include themes of transition, transformation, and time through her symbolic use of the natural world. The ravines are a common theme found in Versluis’ images.
Explore more of Mariel Versluis’ artwork.
For artist Meghan Kelly, finding and working with local clay deposits is part of her process to feel closer to her artwork and connected to the earth and her natural surroundings. For this series of ceramic and wood bottles, Kelly descended into the ravine that flows in and around GVSU Allendale campus, searching for a deposit of clay that was bright green in color. Turing from green to yellow in the kiln, these colors come from an abundance of vegetation and tannic acid in the soil and water of the ravine.
Explore more of Meghan Kelly’s artwork.