Cranbrook Fiber

Graduation and School's out...

2010-05-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

School wrapped up with thesis documents from the eight Fiber students being turned in to the library on May 3 and a huge clean-up in the department May 3-5. On May 6 the Academy hosted Academy Awards night, a ceremony that recognizes the efforts of all of the students with awards being announced for soon to be second year students and the graduating students. Friday May 7 brought commencement ceremonies. When the weather is pleasant we have the ceremony in the Greek Theater, an outdoor theater on campus. This year the weather was not as helpful as past years so we held the ceremony in Christchurch Cranbrook. You can see a bit of the interior in the lower picture of Ema Ishii and me, as well as a bit of the exterior behind Ema, Casey Droege, me, Tricia Stackle, and Rosemary Dardick in the picture above.

Now school is out and there is some construction going on in the New Studios Building as well as all over the grounds. Best wishes to all of the graduates. It has been an honor working with you. See everyone else next year.

Harmony Hammond

2010-05-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

Fiber and Sculpture co-hosted a public lecture and critiques with Harmony Hammond, artist, writer, critic, and educator. Her very informative lecture addressed her work in sculpture and painting spanning her career. Eight fiber students met with her for individual critiques and were very energized by her insights and generosity.

Above, Ashley Allen Short and Harmony Hammond discuss Ashley's painting. Below, Ema Ishii and Harmony discuss Ema's installation.

THE DEGREE SHOW

2010-05-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

Shannon Stratton's departure was followed by what the Second Year students called Supposed Spring Break which translates to, "we have a degree show piece to complete by April 17, so vacation has to wait". And that makes it sound a little more rushed than it really was. They had started their pieces earlier in the semester and it just became clear how quickly time was passing. Of the eight people in the department about half of them decided to work in a larger scale than they had worked before, so the department was full of projects and every where you turned someone was using every nook of space available.

By April 10 they started to install their work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. (The Cranbrook Art Museum is closed this year for expansion and renovations). In addition to the eight Fiber students there were 67 students from the nine other departments, which may have been the largest group in recent memory. The installation was not without its challenges, but the students really benefited from the planning they had done and united to help each other out.

Here are some photos from the degree show opening:

Tricia Stackle on the left in her felt covered sculptural furniture with Corrie Baldauf (alum 09), Mary Smull (behind Tricia also alum 09), Annica Cuppetelli (alum 08 observing in the back) and Zachary Newport.

Casey Droege with her video and "Master Maker" rings.

Rose Pink and her text, video, and interactive touch pad work.

Rosemary Dardick and her father amongst her lace and copper ghost architecture.

Emily Nachison in front of her jewel shaped grotto and a view inside below.

Derya Hanife Altan's cake and box traps.

The outside and inside of Ema Ishii's world / circus tent.

Unfortunately I do not have photos of all of the Fiber students degree show pieces, but know there was also great work by Ashley Allen Short, to be featured in an upcoming entry.

February and March

2010-04-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Our return to Cranbrook from Vegas meant it was time to buckle down and get back to our schedule of weekly critiques and seminar discussions about professional practices. While the second year students were developing their work for the degree show first year students were preparing for second semester reviews. The reviews happened the week of February 15 and were the first major Academy goal for the first year students. Each presented their work and had discussions with four artists-in-residence during the span of one day. While the reviews are an opportunity to asses academic progress it is also a chance for the students to get information from people outside of their department which always leads to new developments in their studio work.

Soon after reviews we hosted Shannon Stratton, independent curator, critic, and the Director and Curator of Three-Walls a residency program and gallery in Chicago. Shannon lectured about Gestures of Resistance, an exhibition she co-curated with Judith Leeman. The show had opened in January at the Museum for Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon. She also met individually with all of the students in the Fiber Department for critiques. Everyone was challenged and energized by her lecture and critiques.

Catching up - the return to school in January

2010-04-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

School began in January with a department trip to Las Vegas during the second week of class. We had plans to see the Liberace Museum, Heizer's Double Negative, the art at the new City Center development and the exhibition at the Bellagio that accompanied that, the Neon Museum sign bone-yard, meet with the grads and faculty at UNLV, and meet with the head of the Arts Office for the City of Las Vegas, amongst other things. It was a great trip that allowed us to see how large public and privately commissioned projects are developed as well as questioning the relationships between, art, design, entertainment, and spectacle.

Tarissa Tiberti from the Bellagio and a Cranbrook alum from sculpture gave a great presentation about the art in the City Center development and the way that project grew. Above a photo from the show at the Bellagio and below is the Jenny Holzer piece in City Center.

Emily Kennerk a Cranbrook sculpture alum is the head of Sculpture at UNLV and she arranged a dinner event for us at their grad studios. It was a great opportunity for the two groups of students to discuss ideas and, the nature of grad school, and even plan an exchange. (this week there will be a show of work from the UNLV students at the Cranbrook Forum Gallery).
Unfortunately, Double Negative had to be canceled because it rained the most of the time we were there, which made the roads in the desert near the work dangerous.

The Neon Sign Museum was a fantastic place to visit and our tour guide Justin was excellent. We not only learned about the signs but also the history of Las Vegas.

The Liberace Museum was a wealth of embellished surfaces and fantastic costumes.

Time to Catch Up Again, Really

2010-04-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

The lack of entries on this page in recent months should not be taken as evidence for a lack of activity on the part of the students in the department or myself. The end of the fall semester is the first hint of a very intense and active spring semester. Third semester reviews are one of the major assessments of progress for students while at Cranbrook and while they occur just before winter break, they also herald the degree show to come in April.

For the first year students we ended the semester with critiques of their work and research presentations. Their presentations were to address a show they would curate using any artists living or dead, to form a group show based on a theme of interest to them. Each semester there are research assignments that are intended to help compliment studio activity and prepare people for their thesis document.

Photo from a critique in Heidi's studio.

And as the top picture indicates we have some fun. Our holiday picture was taken after our pre-clean-up holiday brunch at the end of the first semester. There had been an incident with the stove and some bacon that triggered our image theme!

Time to Catch up 2

2009-11-13T07:44:00.000-08:00

Kate Bonansinga, the Director and Curator form the Rubin Center at the University of Texas, El Paso was our first visiting critic for the semester. Her visit was part of the Academy's Critical Studies Program which worked collaboratively with the Ceramics, Fiber, Metals, and Photo Departments. She was here for a week and worked with us in various ways. The first component was a public lecture titled "Making it Relevant: The University Art Museum in the 21st Century". Each morning that Kate was here she also led a seminar about the theatricality of art museum exhibitions for selected students from the sponsoring departments. The last day of the seminar they visited the Detroit Institute of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit to see how these institutions demonstrated the topics of the seminar. Each afternoon she spent with one of the sponsoring departments meeting with students and critiquing work.

The next week brought Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, the collaborative installation and architecture team called Lead Pencil Studio. Fiber collaborated with Architecture to host LPS and after they presented their lecture they met individually with students from each department to critique work. Architecture and Fiber have had student collaborations in each of the past two years and this was a great opportunity to make that connection on another level.

Most recently we have been fortunate to have Jane Lackey and Anne Wilson presenting solo shows in the area. On Saturday November 7 Jane Lackey presented a gallery talk at Lemberg Gallery and on Sunday the 8th Anne Wilson spoke about her work at Paul Kotula Projects. On the following Monday and Tuesday we were glad to host Jane Lackey for individual meetings with each Fiber student and a follow- up discussion before she left.

The next few weeks bring a more focused studio work schedule with weekly critiques and individual meetings between each student and me as we work towards Third Semester Reviews and final critiques.

Time to catch up 1

2009-11-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

As the last post suggests we were about to enter into a very busy time for the Fiber Department.
We had just finished the Academy's annual fundraiser, this year called Studio (formerly called Fanfare). Studio opens the usually closed departmental studio doors to people from the community who are interested in what we do and generally support Cranbrook. The students and the Artists in Residence welcome our guests and talk about the work we do as artists and teachers. The money raised from this event is used for scholarships for Academy students.

The photos are of some of the Fiber students getting ready for Studio. Above includes from left: Front: Tiana Roebuck, Emily Nachison, Celia Butler, Casey Droege, Caroline Byrne, Ema Ishii. Back: Rosemary Dardick and Ashley Allen Short.

Below left to right: Caroline, Celia, Derya Hanife Altan, Emily and Casey.

Fiber Arts Student Showcase

2009-10-12T06:40:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to see the work of Rosemary Dardick (Fiber) and the collaborative structure by Tricia Stackle (Fiber) and Andrew Kline (Architecture), all second year students at Cranbrook, as well as work by students from other great fiber programs.

http://www.fiberarts.com/back_issues/November-December-2009/2009-student-showcase.asp

EXTRA curricular activities

2009-10-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

In the Fiber Department we have been moving through our first round of critiques, meeting weekly to critique the work of each student. These discussions last for approximately one hour per student and we are routinely joined by students from other departments. Next week we will host our first guest - Kate Bonansinga, the curator for this years Renwick Invitational and the Director of the Rubin Center at University of Texas, El Paso. She will be joining our department for critiques on Wednesday and she will also be leading a seminar of Fiber, Photo, Ceramics, and Metals students to discuss the relationship of theater and the museum.

The early part of the semester also brings activities that help connect the community of students. Two such traditions are Second Year Student Presentations and the Raft Regatta. At the S.Y. Presentations each of the second year students presents a 5 minute talk about their work and background. For the Raft Regatta, each department builds a raft that they will navigate around one of the lakes on campus. The department that won the regatta in the previous year sets the rules for the race.

Here are some photos from this years regatta.

Tiana working on the raft.

The raft.

The competition!

Back in action

2009-09-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

The fall semester is two weeks old and I am finally getting back to the blog, which is a reflection of a busy semester.
We started with the usual introductions, meetings and studio selection process for the first year students. And to complete the first week we had a bbq on the terrace, which is what the photos are from.
The general plan for the semester is regular critiques for all of the students, complimented by individual meetings with me and a seminar. In the seminar we started with a discussion of Rebecca Solnit's Elements of a New Landscape from her book, As Eve Said to the Serpent. We also had a hearty discussion about critique formats and goals to set the stage for upcoming critiques. Future seminar sessions will alternate between readings provided by second year students and discussion of the book The Artificial Kingdom by Celeste Olalquiaga.
Most weeks we will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday so if you are interested in the program and want to visit the department these are great days to see us in action.

The degree show

2009-04-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

The second year students are all busily and intensely installing and completing their degree show work this week. Installation started last week. The show is in the Cranbrook Art Museum and all of the approximately 75 second year students have space in the museum for a piece. It is an incredibly exciting time, watching the pieces grow and the museum fill. This year it seems that many of the students have taken the degree show as a challenge to make a statement through scale and other means.
The work of the six Fiber students in the show includes conceptual needlework, large scale sculptural knit forms,installations that ooze and spew substances from two by fours, video performance work, text based work that references the production of culture, and an installation that frames how we perceive the world around us.
I am looking forward to seeing all of the completed work when the show opens on Saturday at 6PM.

Cleveland Rocks

2009-03-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

March 5-7 the department set forth on our pilgrimage to Cleveland. The mission to see art, learn about various aspects of the Cleveland art scene, and eat. We started the trip with a tour of the Museum of Contemporary Art which had a group exhibition Superlight, and a solo exhibition of Christian Wulffen's work on view. We then visited the offices of Cleveland Public Art where we learned a great deal about their programming and some great advice for approaching public art projects. Next on our itinerary was a visit to the Cleveland Institute of Art where Deborah Carlson, co-chair of the Fiber Department and Cranbrook Alum gave us a great tour of their spaces and student work. And we concluded the day with a wonderful dinner with Deborah at a local Thai restaurant.

Friday started with a tour of the textile conservation and storage labs at the Cleveland Museum of Art. In the lab they were working a Native American feather cape from the Midwest, a Great Plains beaded shirt, and some contemporary pieces. It was extremely hard to keep hands off when so close to such amazing objects. The group then went on a tour of the Progressive Insurance Company's art collection, and a visit to Melt for some more good food. After Progressive we had some free time to search for public art, rest, and walk by the lake before we enjoyed the evening.

On Saturday morning we visited SPACES a 30 year old alternative gallery for a tour of the shows and a talk about their various exhibition, residency, and community programs. We followed this with a visit to the Sculpture Center and then had to head back home.
Once back at Cranbrook we resumed seminar and critique activities. The second year students patiently waited to find out what space in the museum they would have for their degree show work, and now we are all on Spring Break.

Reviews and guests

2009-03-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

After Jon Haddock's visit we continued our professional practices discussions focusing on contracts, budgets, and financial issues as well as grants, residencies, and jobs. The interesting thing about addressing these topics with graduate students is they already have a level of experience with some of these things so we can really discuss how to approach applying for a grant, or how to understand a contract in depth, and from a variety of personal experiences.

February 16-20 brought Second Semester Reviews. During the week all of the first year students in each of the departments meet with four of the Artists-in-Residence from the Academy. The students meet individually with the Artists-in-Residence for approximately 30 minutes and use the information from those conversations to evaluate their work and what directions they will pursue. Fiber went on the Friday of that week which made for a long and stressful week, but I think all of them would tell you the discussions were very helpful.

We were very fortunate to host St. Louis based artists, Kim Humphries and Sarah Colby on February 23. Kim is the Director of Exhibitions at Laumeier Sculpture Park and Sara works in community arts education. They presented lectures about the development of their individual work, collaborative work, and what they do in their day jobs. One of the exciting things about their lectures was the connections they revealed to ways that people in the department are working. So when they met individually with students there was a great deal of excitement.

Today we will be meeting to critique the work of two Fiber students, Ema Ishii and Mary Smull, as well as the work of two Print Media students, Carrie Ida Edinger and Terry Conrad, who are taking electives in Fiber this semester. It should be a good day.

A busy couple of weeks

2009-02-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

For a place with no institutionally determined schedule, we sure can keep ourselves busy. The last week is a case in point. After my last post we started discussions on professional practices topics - starting with goal setting and time management. We also started our group critiques with the work of four students on January 28. And then on January 29 things started to get interesting.
We hosted Sue Taylor, art historian at Portland State University, critic, and author of numerous reviews, articles, and the book, "Hans Bellmer: The Anxiety of Anatomy. Before arriving at Cranbrook Taylor lectured at Wayne State University in Detroit on the work of the art critic. On the 30th she presented a lecture titled, "Feminism and Femmage since 1970" at Cranbrook. That was followed by a very intense afternoon of critiques in the Fiber Department. We finished the day with a dinner in Sue's honor.
Saturday brought the opening of my Artist in Residence show at the Cranbrook Art Museum.
On Sunday the museum hosted a lecture titled "Cartoon Violence" by Phoenix based, mixed media artist Jon Haddock. You can see his work at whitelead.com Jon spent the day on Monday meeting individually with Fiber Students and the evening brought a dinner in Jon's honor with the Fiber and Photo departments.
After a rest day on Tuesday we returned to departmental critiques on Wednesday with the work of four more students. Most of the critiques were of the work of second year students who are all starting to develop their Degree Exhibition projects in various ways.

The second semester has started

2009-01-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

Actually it started last week, and while things are relatively quiet next week brings a lot of activity. Before that, today, we have presentations by the second years. They will each make 30 minute presentations about the development of their work.
Next week we have our first day of critiques and our first visiting critic. Sue Taylor from Portland State University, Portland, OR will visit the department on January 30. In the morning she will present a lecture entitled, "Feminism and Femmage since the 1970s". In the afternoon she will lead a group critique with the students. Sue uses psychology to interpret artwork and her insights and comments about the work should be very interesting.
On Sunday February 1 mixed media artist Jon Haddock will present his lecture entitled "Cartoon Violence," at the museum. On the second he will meet individually with students in Fiber.
Never a dull moment around here.

Some images from first year final critiques

2008-12-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

Derya Hanife Altan presenting her work.

Ema Ishii with part of her installation.

Rosemary Dardick with her work on the window.

Emily Nachison with her sculpture / installation.

Casey Droege with her prints.

Ashley Allen Short's work.

Rose Pink's critique of her sound piece.

Tricia Stackle with her work.

Third Semester Reviews

2008-12-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

December 8-12 brought us Third Semester Reviews which are the old fourth semester reviews moved from February to December. I think I wrote about these last year, but just in case, the reviews are meetings between each student and five Artists in Residence (AIRs). Each student meets with their assigned AIRs throughout the day. They meet and share discussions about the work the students have been doing and how they might move forward. It is a very exciting time because all of the work that has been done by the second year students is on view so the whole community gets to see what is going on and because the students are interested in hearing feedback from the AIRs from other departments. Fiber and Sculpture presented on Thursday and all six of the second year students did very well. I think they also gathered new insights and questions that will propel their work in interesting directions for their degree show and future beyond Cranbrook.

above from Amy DiPlacido's review.

from JaYoung Yoon's review.

Emily's new work

2008-12-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

Emily Nachison is one of the first year students and these are images of one of her sculptures and a drawing from a recent critique.

Collaboration at Cranbrook

2008-12-03T06:28:00.000-08:00

The intimate size and nature of the Academy and campus helps foster a sense of community and active dialogue between departments within the Academy and projects that connect us to the other parts of the educational community(as evident in the two prior posts). On occasion students discover similar concerns and goals with students from other departments and set about to make work together. Last month Tricia Stackle (Fiber) and Andrew Kline (Architecture) began such a venture that resulted in a large scale project being installed temporarily on the campus. Below are a couple of photos of their nest made of red hand made felt.

To see more images you can check out Andrew's website:

http://web.me.com/andrewkline/Andrew_Kline.com/Work/Pages/Nest.html

Insert Color Here

2008-12-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

On November 20 the Fiber Department opened a show of work at the Kingswood Gallery on the Cranbrook campus. The show, "Insert Color Here," is part of the exchange between the Academy Fiber Department and the Weaving Studio at Kingswood mentioned in the earlier post about workshops the Academy students are teaching.
Here are some photos from the opening.

Workshops at Kingswood

2008-11-29T07:08:00.000-08:00

One of the exciting elements of working at Cranbrook is the history of textile work evident in the surroundings. At the girl's high school on campus - Kingswood- there is a weaving studio with approximately 65 looms and a full time artist in residence- Lynn Bennett-Carpenter- teaching weaving as well as other fiber processes. Lynn proposed that the students in the Academy Fiber Department have a show of their work in Kingswood's gallery in exchange the Academy students would provide workshops to the Kingswood students. Earlier this semester my students made proposals to Lynn for workshops and Lynn chose several technical workshops and individual lecturers to present to the Kingswood students. The first workshop happened at the end of October and was presented by Casey Droege and Amy DiPlacido. It introduced the students to silk screen printing and sewing as tools to transform the common t-shirt. Here are some photos from Amy and Casey's workshop.

Rosemary Dardick presented a workshop on embroidery and Mary Smull lectured earlier this month. Next semester Megan Heeres has a sewing workshop scheduled and Rose Pink, Emily Nachison, and Tricia Stackle are slated to co-teach a felting workshop.

A Visit From Amy Honchell

2008-11-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

We were lucky to have Amy Honchell pay the Fiber Department a visit for a few days in October. Amy is an artist and teacher based in Chicago at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She creates site-specific installations using stretch fabric, found objects and sound and has exhibited in many venues around the country. She spent two full days in the department giving individual critiques and candid advice about being an installation artist out in the "real world". She was extremely honest and approachable with a great sense of humor about life, art and herself. She provided us with thoughtful insight into our work, materials and processes. Amy also gave an artist talk in the Media Center at Cranbrook to the Fiber Department, as well as students from Sculpture, Architecture, and Print Media. We then hosted a dinner for her and her husband in the department. It was a casual evening in which we shared stories and experiences about a life in the arts. Amy wrapped up her visit with a question and answer session in which she encouraged us to continually pursue opportunities for showing and teaching. Having graduated with an MFA relatively recently, she offered very useful, pertinent advice. Amy was generous with all of her insight into and knowledge of her own practice, as well as our own individual artistic practices.

Almost everyone before Fanfare

2008-11-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

As the headline says, here is a photo of most of the department just before Fanfare. Fanfare is an annual fundraising event at the Academy. Patrons visit each of the normally private studios at the Academy, speak with the students, and eat dinner with the Artist in residence and second year students from the department.

They are seated front: JaYoung Yoon. Standing first row left to right: Derya Hanife Altan, Mary Smull, Amy Diplacido. And the back row: Tricia Stackle, Ema Ishii, Souk Jin Park, Rose Pink, Megan Heeres, Rosemary Dardick, Corrie Baldauf, and Casey Droege. Missing are Emily Nachison and Ashley Allen Short.

Berlin in October

2008-11-02T07:35:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, many things have been happening in and out of the studio. One of the most exciting developments of October was the opportunity for me to travel to Berlin for the opening reception of Forwards 08, and exhibition at Daimler Contemporary. Daimler Contemporary is the gallery run by Daimler Financial, one of Cranbrook's major benefactors, and the sponsors of the annual Emerging Artist Award. In May Annica Cuppetelli was chosen as the winner of the Emerging Artist Award. Annica was a student in the Fiber Department starting with Jane Lackey and then working with me last year.

On October 10 I was in Berlin to introduce Annica at the opening and represent Cranbrook at the ceremony. The show which looked fantastic, included several of Annica's work. She will be in Berlin for a couple of months with the support of Daimler, researching fashion in the city. You can see more about the show, Annica, and Daimler Contemporary at:

http://www.sammlung.daimlerchrysler.com/contemporary/08_09_forwards08/forwards08_index_emergingartist_e.htm

Catching Up

2008-10-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

As befits the beginning of the semester a great deal has been going on in and outside of the studios. The last post, provided by T.A. and second year student, Meg Heeres, includes images from the first round of critiques in the Fiber Department. These critiques happened after two weeks of school and in them we addressed the works in progress each student had developed in that brief time. We moved through the students in 30 minute intervals, discussing the artist's intentions, results, and possible directions of growth for the work.

I required that the works be in process in order to get people working, and because I feel strongly that everyone needs to have strong research and development skills for their work. Sharing that process allows each member of the group to understand how their colleagues think through their work and hopefully develop strong lines of communication in the department. As you can see from the informal photos in the previous post the work is in a broad range of states and approaches diverse concepts.

Some of the other activities keeping us busy include seminar discussions in response to readings about the responsibility of the artist in society. These readings were also linked to discussions that have been taking place Academy wide due to the new format for our annual Artist in Residence (AIRs) talks. In those talks, three or four AIRs presented short talks - 20 minutes- about the thinking behind their work. Reed Kroloff then moderated a discussion between the AIRs and students. These discussions focused primarily on the relationship between artists, designers and the larger society. These lively and contentious discussions led to even further discussions in our department and led to a day of conversation in seminar.

Now we are into our second round of critiques, each approximately an hour long. In this round one student writes and presents a review of the work being presented by another student. In another entry we will share reviews and photos of the work with you.

Our First In-Process Critiques

2008-09-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ema Ishi

Emily Nachison

Mary Smull

Jayoung Yoon

Derya Hanife Altan

Casey Droege

Tricia Stackle

Ashley Allen Short

Souk Jin Park

Glenn Adamson

2008-09-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

The first week of school started with studio selection, individual meetings with me, and ended with a lecture and seminar discussion with Glenn Adamson, curator, writer, and Director of Research from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He presented a lecture entitled "Modern Craft: What Next?" on Sunday the 14th. Following the lecture the Ceramics, Fiber, and Metals Departments hosted a potluck dinner in Glenn's honor.

On Monday the 15th Glenn met with each of the Departments for question and answer sessions about his lecture as well as his book Thinking Through Craft, and his research. The discussion in fiber was lively and thoughtful. Glenn certainly raised many questions for the students and was a lively and challenging person to start the semester with.

The rest of the week was full of Academy events including our introduction to all of the staff, faculty and department philosophies, called Academy Day. This event is part welcome, part pull back the curtain and see who we all are, and is followed by a lunch outside the museum by the reflecting pools.

The other events that followed that are the Artist-in-Residence lectures. Last year these were 45 minute lectures by each of the 10 AIRs. This year they have become 3 or 4 shorter lectures followed by a discussion session moderated by Reed. Thus far these have been very engaging and provocative sessions that have us all talking for days after.

Coming up this week, in process critiques.

Welcome Back

2008-09-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of school here at Cranbrook, and the studio that looked like the above image for the last few months is now filling up as the second year students return and move in. Tomorrow the department will meet and start the work of the semester with introductions, discussion of studio activities and policies, our first department potluck, and selection of first year studio spaces.

This also means the Cranbrook Fiber blog will awaken and follow the activities of the students. In addition to my posts, students will also make posts, and we will include some of the work being done here in the studio and academically. So keep watching the site.

Graduation and other celebrations

2008-05-16T06:47:00.001-07:00

Last week was the final week of school, culminating with Academy Awards Night on Thursday evening and Commencement on Friday afternoon.

Academy Awards Night is a new tradition that is starting this year. It takes something that was called scholarship night and expands upon it. The evening included speeches by Reed Kroloff, the Director of the Academy and several graduating students including Fiber's very own Rachel Hunt. Several prominent scholarships were awarded to members of the graduating class including the Daimler Financial Emerging Artist Award. This award is given to one graduating student based on his or her piece in the Degree Exhibition, interview with a committee of prominent art professionals, and a review of the students' portfolios. This year the award was given to Annica Cuppetelli, a Fiber student. It was the first time a Fiber student had received the award. Annica will accompany her work to Germany in the fall where it will be included in an exhibition of emerging artists from Cranbrook, Japan, South Africa, and Germany.

Friday's commencement activities started with a brunch for the graduates and their families. The actual ceremony started at 2 PM on a beautiful sunny day, which was important because it was held outside in Cranbrook's Greek Theater. Ceremonies started as most do with words from the Director. But he was interrupted by the noise of a small airplane flying overhead. Reed and all of the graduates and guests looked to the sky to find a banner congratulating one of the grads from photo flying behind the small plane. Reed then continued to speak about transitions and firsts. He was followed by a terrific speech by ID magazine editor Julie Lasky, and Aaron Peterman a graduate who welcomed his colleagues to their status as "Masters" of Fine Art and Architecture. One of the recent graduation traditions is closing the ceremony with a musical tribute to the students, faculty, and staff by musician Robert Jones. He penned the "Cranbrook Blues" a country blues tune including many references to the students work in the degree show. It was hysterical and fitting. While this would usually be the closing of the ceremony, we still had one last activity. Two of the graduates from Architecture shared their marriage vows with the assembled group, providing us with one more first and another significant moment to celebrate. It was a very special day.

Amy's work

2008-05-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

Here are images of work by Amy DiPlacido.

Above are four set of her paint chip series:(L-R) Only the Lonely, Snug as a Rug, Monday Monday, and The Primacy.

Below is Eternity. All are dye and silkscreen on cotton.

Photographs from critiques with Jane Lackey

2008-05-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

Jane Lackey (on left) shares her insights about Rachel Hunt's work in the thesis exhibition. Ja Young Yoon looks on at right.

Jane talks to the group about Wei-Hui Hsu's work.

Jane discusses Haewon Yoo's video in the thesis show.

Pictures from the opening of the thesis show

2008-05-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Annica Cuppetelli's work is on the right side of the image.

Rod Klingelhofer's work towers over guests at the opening.

Guests examine Carrie Dickason's piece.

Wei-Hui Hsu's photographs are in the background.

Thesis show reviews with Jane Lackey

2008-04-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

The thesis show did indeed open on Friday April 18 with great fanfare and celebration. Seven students from the Fiber Department have their work included in the show. They are: Annica Cuppetelli, Carrie Dickason, Rachel Hunt, Wei-Hui Hsu, Roderick Klingelhofer, Haewon Yoo, and Jasmine Valandani. In their pieces we have work that addresses the relationship of fashion and art, representations of the natural world and what defines that world, interventions in the body, the cultural other or alien, the growth and decay of the city as a system, violence and forgiveness, and experiential presence. They all worked very hard and made tremendous developments in their work. More importantly they have provided a foundation of questioning and thinking that will continue in their work outside of the Academy.

The opening on the 18th was very well attended by current students, alumni, their families, and local supporters of the Academy. It was a beautiful evening that allowed people to see the pieces in the museum and those works on the grounds of the Academy.

On the following Monday we were fortunate to have Jane Lackey join us to review the work in the thesis exhibition. She had worked with these students in their first year, so this provided a reconnection for each of them. Jane spent time over the weekend with each of the pieces, thinking about the work each student had done during her time with them, the connections the work has to the work of other artists, and evaluating the formal and material usage in each piece. The entire department was present as Jane shared these insights about each of the pieces made by the seven Fiber students. That evening we celebrated Jane's visit with a dinner at a local alum's home which gave us a great time to chat with Jane informally.

On Tuesday we followed a similar program in the department as Jane shared thoughts about the work of the six first year students. Each day was thought provoking and exciting and we thank Jane for her generosity.

No calm before the storm

2008-04-14T10:56:00.001-07:00

So what could be left to do after fourth and second semester reviews and a visiting artist? Only the thesis show. The second year students are all completing and installing their pieces for the show. Installation started last Thursday, April 10, in the Cranbrook Art Museum. People are working day and night and work is growing all about the department and campus. Most of the work will be inside the museum, but several pieces are on the grounds of the campus. I will put some pictures on the blog after the show opens. The thesis show will open on Friday April 18.

And the first years are not just sitting on their laurels and watching the hectic activities of the second year students. All of the students in the department will have critiques with our final guest, Jane Lackey, next Monday and Tuesday. So they are working on final projects as well as research presentations and papers that are due as the semester winds down.

Mary working in the studio and...

2008-04-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

Mary, a first year student, working in the studio and

her T.V. needlepoint pillow from her most recent critique.

Second Semester Reviews

2008-03-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was the start of second semester reviews. The six first year students in Fiber installed their work in various places throughout the new studios building. Each one of the students worked very hard to complete new pieces and on selecting and installing their work for the reviews. On Thursday each of them met individually with four artists in residence for 30 - 45 minutes. The discussions give the students a chance to see how people outside of fiber relate to their work and the artists in residence evaluate the development of the first year class throughout the campus. This evaluation can lead to a student being asked to leave Cranbrook, if it is determined that they are not performing at a high enough level.
One of the wonderful traditions of the Fiber department is that after the reviews the second year students make dinner for the first years to celebrate the end of the review process. (After fourth semester reviews, which I wrote about earlier, the first years make dinner for the second years.)

More images from the studio

2008-03-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

Images from Corrie Baldauf's installation.

Images from the studio

2008-03-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

A view inside the studio of Jayoung Yoon.

And some pieces by Jayoung in the critique space.

The week before Spring Break

2008-03-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

This is the week of Spring Break so there is a quiet intensity to the studios. People are working on their thesis projects and preparing for second semester reviews, but we are not meeting officially this week.

Last week was one of the busiest we have had this year. It started on Monday with critiques of three first year students.

On Tuesday Liz Cohen, an artist from Phoenix, joined us for a couple of days of critiques and a lecture. Liz is working on a project called Body Work and the Trabantimino, which you can check out in person at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in a show called Car Culture. You can also find more information on the internet at her My Space page or on You Tube. Her visit started with individual meetings with each of the fiber students. Wednesday afternoon she joined a group critique with students in the Photography Department and in the evening the two departments came together for a dinner in Liz's honor. Thursday afternoon she lectured on the issues of gender, subculture, and politics in her work. It was very exciting to have her join us in the department and share her insights.

Friday brought another round of critiques to finish the first year group. It is very clear that everyone in the department is working hard and thinking deeply about their work. Everyday when I walk through the studios I see the evidence of their commitment to their work and it is very exciting to be able to share those developments with them.

March 12

2008-03-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

The work in the photos is a piece by Megan Heeres that we discussed in critique earlier this week

March 11

2008-03-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

So blogging may not be my specialty...but I will try to do better about keeping this up to date.

In the last month we have had one round of critiques with all of the students. On each of the critique days we had a guest from the local arts community join us to add their insights to the discussion. The four guests were: Vince Carducci, art critic and philosopher; Paul Kotula, artist, teacher, and gallerist; Susan Aaron-Taylor, artist and professor at College for Creative Studies, and Jacque Liu, artist. Each brought an interesting point of view to the discussions and some very relevant information to help each student's work.

The other major event since my first posting was our fourth semester reviews. This was a very intense time for everyone involved. All of the Artists in Residence visit several students, but none from our own department, each day for five days. We discuss their work with them in a one on one meeting. This is one of the two times during each student's tenure at Cranbrook where they are being evaluated on their progress in an official, school wide capacity. All of the second year Fiber students successfully passed their reviews and are now developing their projects for the thesis exhibition. (More on that later in the semester.)

January 21, 2008

2008-01-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to the blog of the Cranbrook Academy of Art Fiber Department.

In the coming months the students and Artist in Residence will share their insights, inviting you inside our seminar discussions, critiques, and other departmental activities.

Our first post coincides with the beginning of the second semester of the 2007 / 2008 academic year. This semester all of the students will have reviews of their work with Artists in Residence from some of the other departments at the Academy, as well as their usual group and individual critiques in the Fiber Department. As a group we will be discussing "Thinking Through Craft" by Glenn Adamson. The first year students will be presenting research into current critical issues that are relevant to their studio work. The second year students will be developing their thesis document and the work for their thesis exhibition.

Liz Cohen and Jane Lackey will be visiting the department later in the semester. Liz will speak about her work and have individual critiques with each of the students. Jane will be our final guest of the year and she will be here to critique the work in the thesis show and the final projects by the first year students.

We look forward to sharing our work with you.