Casteras Speaks in Rome + DC
Art History Professor Susan Casteras traveled to Rome in July to give a presentation at “Transforming Henry James,” the Fifth International Conference of the Henry James Society. Her paper, part of the “Teaching James” session, was titled “Expatriate Perspectives: Contemporary Victorian Art Criticism vs. Jamesian Commentary.” In late October, Casteras will travel to Washington, DC, for a symposium titled “Palaces of Art: Whistler and the Art Worlds of Aestheticism,” which is being sponsored by the Lunder Consortium for Whistler Studies based at the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries. Her paper is titled “Aesthetes on Display: Not Masculine and Progressive but Reclusive and Retrospective.” Casteras recently became Chair of the Art History Division.
Frances Tung @IDSA Scholarship
An industrial design student in the School of Art, Frances Tung has been awarded the 2011 Undergraduate Design Foundation Scholarship. The Industrial Designers Society of American (IDSA) announced the award in mid-July. This is a very competitive scholarship, with the application including a letter explaining the student’s career aspirations and goals as well as 20 visual examples of the student’s work.
Faculty + Alums @TacomaArtMuseum
Collecting for the Future: The Safeco Gift and New Acquisitions opened in late June at the Tacoma Art Museum and will remain up into January 2012. The exhibition includes work by two current faculty–Professors Layne Goldsmith and Jamie Walker–and several former faculty: Frances Celentano, Boyer Gonzales, Walter Isaacs, and Robert Sperry. Numerous alumni from a 4+ decade timespan also have artworks in the show:
Tram Bui (MFA 2001)
Lauri Chambers (BFA 1986)
Colleen Chartier (BFA 1975, MFA 1978)
Carl T. Chew (MFA 1975)
Fay Chong (BA 1968)
Paul Dahlquist (MFA 1958)
Laurie Hall (MAT 1973)
Eirik Johnson (BFA 1997)
Isaac Layman (BFA 2003)
Sherry Markovitz (MFA 1975)
Saya Moriyasu (BA/BFA 1991)
Barbara Robertson (MFA 1979)
Norie Sato (MFA 1974)
Photomedia Alums Head for Grad School
Several Photomedia Program alumni will be starting graduate school in the autumn:
Leif Anderson (BFA 2011), MFA program at Portland State University
A’Alia Brown (BFA 2011), MFA program at University of Chicago
Chris Engman (BFA 2003), MFA program at University of California / Los Angeles
Derrick Jefferies (BFA 2007), MFA program at Goldsmiths in London
Justan Ulmer (BFA 2011), graduate program at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Samaritaine Transformation
Art History Professor Meredith Clausen has long had a research interest in Parisian architecture, writing her dissertation about La Samaritaine Department Store and publishing a book on that subject in 1987. This month, she participated in a 2-day conference about the famous building, its history and future. Her paper was titled “La Samaritaine et le palimpseste parisien.” In preparation for the building’s conversion to a mixed use development by SANAA, parts of La Samaritaine are currently encased in construction wrapping, which includes quotes about the building. One of the quotes is from an article Clausen published about La Samaritaine in 1976.
Garvens + Alums @ SOIL + Project Room
Photomedia Professor Ellen Garvens and Derrick Jefferies (BFA 2007) are two of the three artists in Defornament, the current show at SOIL Gallery in Seattle, which remains up through 30 July 2011. The artists from this show have been invited by Mandy Greer (MFA 1999) to join her at The Project Room from 6-9pm on Friday, 22 July 2011, as part of her Solstenen project. Solstenen started on 14 July 2011 and runs through 01 September 2011.
Inneract Alive and Well
Maurice Woods (BFA 1995, MFA 2005) studied Visual Communication Design and has become a successful designer in San Francisco, first working for Pentagram and now for Studio Hinrichs. An idea hatched for an MFA class assignment became the Inneract Project in Seattle. In more recent years, Woods has redeveloped the Inneract Project for the Bay Area. A video posted on YouTube features Woods and Kit Hinrichs; it is also available on the Ideas that Matter website. You can learn more about Woods in an AIGA Design Journeys profile and about the Inneract Project in a Visual Culture interview.
Addition: Woods and the Inneract Project were featured in The Daily on 22 November 2011.
Livingston Installation @welcometolace
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) each year commissions a Wall Work for its front gallery. Margie Livingston (MFA 1999) recently debuted Twenty Gallons as the piece “designed to activate LACE’s monumental archway” and greet visitors. The artwork, which used twenty gallons of acrylic paint, will remain in place until 25 March 2012. Images of the piece can be seen on a blog titled “Notes on Looking: Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.”
Lecture: Momoko + Tetsuya Otani
Come to the 3D4M (CMA) Building at 5pm on Thursday, 21 July 2011, for a lecture by Momoko and Tetsuya Otani. They are visiting artists from Shigaraki, Japan, who make functional pottery that is exhibited throughout their country. Momoko is known for her simple forms that pair delicate floral drawings within bold compositions. Tetsuya works with porcelain in a spare, minimalist style, and his pots have a more sculptural presence. This event is a collaborative effort between Art History Associate Professor Cynthea Bogel, 3D4M Professor Jamie Walker, and the Japan Studies Program in the Jackson School of International Studies.
IVA Alumna Wins First Prize @iheartSAM
Rebecca Nickels (BA 2005) has been a graphic designer for the Seattle Art Museum since 2008. Her poster for the 2010 exhibit about Kurt Cobain recently won first prize in the poster category of the American Association of Museums (AAM) Publications Design Competition. She was also lead designer for two other projects that received honorable mention in the AAM competition and for the Warhol exhibit graphics that received notice in the Communication Arts 2010 Design Annual. Links and more information can be found in a Seattle Art Museum blog post.
