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Jenzen is artist-in-residency at Porkies

From the Michigan Department of Natural Resources

ONTONAGON — The Friends of the Porkies has announced that Mark Jenzen, creator of the world’s first-ever high-resolution LED Virtual Sky, will arrive in mid-month for a two-week artist’s residency at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

Mark Jenzen lives in Plymouth with his fiance, Katie McKernan, and their two young boys, Kolsen and Kamden. Jenzen is the first artist-in-residency recipient announced for the 2017-18 season at the park. Earlier this year, applications were solicited for the 2017 spring, summer and fall and 2018 winter residencies.

The Artist-in-Residence Program is open to artists and artisans whose work can be influenced by the unique northern wilderness setting of Michigan’s largest state park.

Born in Dearborn, Jenzen attended Lawrence Technological University where he studied mechanical engineering. He also served in the U.S. Navy from 1997-2001 as a search and rescue swimmer on the USS Nashville LPD-13, assigned to special warfare. He is a service-connected disabled veteran.

Sherrie McCabe, program director for the Friends of the Porkies, said Jenzen’s LED Virtual Sky helps to re-calibrate the human circadian system.

“Virtual Sky recreates actual moving clouds, birds flying overhead and sunrise and sunset effects in otherwise windowless environments,” McCabe said in a news release.

Jenzen’s clients have ranged from healthcare giants like the U.S. Veteran Affairs Department, Johns Hopkins Suburban Hospital and the University of Michigan Medical School to small family physicians located around the world

At 6 p.m. June 22, Jenzen will present a free one-hour program presented to the public at the park’s Wilderness Visitor Center.

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