Preserved! Sponsor Spotlight: LaFontsee Galleries
To celebrate 50 years of conservation in West Michigan, the Land Conservancy is collaborating with local artists to capture the places we have protected together and support continued conservation for the next 50 years and beyond.
Join us this fall for Preserved! Capturing West Michigan’s Enduring Places. The event will feature the artwork of 15 local artists who have been invited to create works “en plein air” at Land Conservancy-protected parks and preserves. Paintings, sculptures, and more will be available for sale to benefit Land Conservancy’s mission of conserving ecologically critical land. Learn more and purchase your tickets for the event here.
The event will take place October 2-3, 2026 at LaFontsee Galleries & Framing in Grand Rapids. LaFontsee Galleries & Framing has generously sponsored the cost of the venue for the weekend’s festivities.
The Land Conservancy thanks LaFontsee Galleries & Framing for their kind support! Learn more about their business and support of conservation below.
LCWM: What should people know about LaFontsee Galleries & Framing?
LaFontsee Galleries & Framing: For almost 40 years, LaFontsee Galleries & Framing has partnered with homeowners, architects, interior designers, and businesses to bring exceptional artwork and custom framing to residential, corporate, and hospitality spaces. What began as a custom framing business has grown into one of Michigan’s leading contemporary art galleries, offering original artwork, museum-quality custom framing, and full-service art consulting. We represent over 70 local, national, and international artists, with work in painting, sculpture, photography, and works on paper.
What about the Land Conservancy’s mission speaks to you?
We value the Land Conservancy’s commitment to protecting these landscapes for future generations while inviting people to experience and care for them today. Conservation is not only about safeguarding land—it is also about helping people form meaningful relationships with the natural spaces around them. By preserving trails, forests, wetlands, and other special places, the Land Conservancy makes it possible for people to connect with nature, understand its importance, and become active stewards of it. That balance between long-term protection and present-day access is especially meaningful to us.
What inspires LaFontsee’s support of Preserved! ?
What inspires LaFontsee’s support of Preserved! is our belief that art can deepen people’s connection to place. Nature and conservation are deeply important to LaFontsee owners Kate and Jason Meyer, whose work includes leadership with Blandford Nature Center, the Kent County Parks Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.
Preserved! brings together two things Kate and Jason care deeply about: art and the protection of West Michigan’s natural spaces. We are proud to support the Land Conservancy’s work, give artists an opportunity to interpret these landscapes, and encourage more people to visit, appreciate, and help protect them.
What are you most excited about this fall’s Preserved!?
We’re most excited to see how each participating artist interprets these protected places and invites us to experience them through a new perspective. We hope the exhibition encourages people who may be new to the Land Conservancy to visit, explore, and discover the beauty of these special landscapes for themselves—and inspires longtime supporters to continue investing in their protection. Art can create an emotional connection to place, and we’re excited to see how Preserved! helps build that connection.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Congratulations to the Land Conservancy on 50 years of keeping nature nearby. We’re grateful to support Preserved! and look forward to celebrating the artists and the places that inspired their work.
Preserved! takes place October 2-3, 2026. Learn more about Preserved! and purchase your tickets here.