The Northville Art House opened its annual Off-Center juried exhibition Friday, Oct. 2, with works by dozens of artists from eight states on display through Oct. 31.

A public reception is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 215 W. Cady St., where visitors can meet the artists and view the full collection.

The show spans media. The Northville Art House's exhibition page lists pieces in oil painting, photography, mixed-media collage, ceramics, encaustic, fused glass, woodblock print and kinetic sculpture.

Haydar Alyasiry contributed "The specter of death: the (COVID) virus" in oil on canvas. Samuel Helmbreck's "Earth Day (2072)" is a 36-by-36-inch oil painting. Charlyn Milkowski's "Say it three times…I dare ya'" is built from a deconstructed lightbulb, preserved beetles, snake skin and moss. Jim Wolnosky's "I Mean You" is a kinetic piece in wood and concrete.

A juror who knows the show from the inside

The 2026 juror is Jean-Paul Aboudib, an artist, lecturer and instructor who holds a Master of Fine Arts from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Aboudib is no stranger to Off-Center. He won the Best in Show Award in 2022 and the People's Choice Award in 2025 for his figurative oil painting "A Tear from Eve."

"I was truly in awe at the exemplary art that I reviewed," Aboudib wrote in his juror's statement on the Art House website. "It was both reviving and yet at times even daunting to jury these striking pieces into the finished visual ensemble."

The Art House describes the exhibition's range as stretching from playful and fantastical pieces to works confronting identity, memory, mortality and environmental change.

What else is happening Oct. 9

The reception overlaps with the Northville Art House and Northville Historical Society's "If Stones Could Talk" Oakwood Cemetery Tours, as we reported Oct. 1. A "Boo Bar" at the Art House will serve youth and adult drinks that evening.

The Art House website dates the Off-Center series to 2008. The gallery's next show, the Small Works Exhibition featuring more than 125 pieces all 16 inches or smaller, opens Nov. 13.