Events & Lecture Series Events & Lecture Series

Fall 2009
College of Design events

Exhibitions

Goldstein Museum Gallery (GMD) -- McNeal Hall

Intersections: Where Art and Fashion Meet
Through November 1, 2009
Curators: Barbara Heinemann and Mark Schultz

Many fashion designers with fine arts backgrounds collaborate with artists and many artists who make art to wear or wearable art began their careers in fashion. This exhibition, which demonstrates how artists and fashion designers have influenced each other, was inspired by Margot Siegel's life and passion for both art and fashion.

Related event:
Collection Close-Up -- "Intersections: Patterned Apparel and Pop Art
Jean McElvain, GMD assistant curator, will reveal powerful patterns in apparel and accessories from the collection of the Goldstein Museum of Design, and 20th century art historian Rosalye Ultan will discuss the importance of patterns and repetitive imagery in Pop Art. Ultan is a faculty member of the U of M's Master of Liberal Studies program and Hamline University's Graduate Liberal Studies program.

Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller
November 21-January 17, 2010
Opening event, November 20, 6-8 p.m., GMD McNeal gallery
Curators: John R. Berry, author of Herman Miller: the Purpose of Design and Timothy Chester, director emeritus, Grand Rapids Public Museum

Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller explores the collaborative problem-solving design process employed at the world-renowned furniture company, Herman Miller, Inc. Organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art in collaboration with The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan, the exhibition draws upon that institution's Herman Miller Design Collection -- a comprehensive archive of the company's innovative processes and products.

Related event:
Good Design Stories
December 3, 6:30-8:00 p.m., 33 McNeal Hall
Dean Tom Fisher and three top design thinkers discuss questions related to the design process and the ability of design to address the social problems of today's consumers.

HGA Gallery -- Rapson Hall

Contemporary Architecture in Warsaw
Through October 26, 2009
Organized by the Department of the Chief City Architect of Warsaw City Hall, Poland
Cosponsored by the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota

These 20 works of recently built architecture -- public, commercial, and residential -- offer confirmation of Warsaw's European aspirations. Reaction to these buildings ranges from respect and admiration to controversy and stormy debate.

Design Indaba 10x10 Low Cost Housing "The Sandbag House"
September 8-October 26, 2009
Organized by MMA Architects (Luyanda Mpahlwa, principal), Cape Town, South Africa

MMA Architects and nine other firms were commissioned by Design Indaba to design low-cost houses for the families in the Freedom Park community in the township of Mitchells Plein, Cape Town. MMA's contribution was the 10x10 Low Cost House, constructed with an Ecobeam timber frame structure, filled with sandbags, and plastered over.

Noguchi: The Sets for Martha Graham
November 9-December 20, 2009
Organized with assistance and generosity of the Noguchi Museum

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), Japanese-American artist and landscape architect, designed over 20 innovative sets for original Martha Graham (1894-1991) dance productions. A groundbreaking dancer and choreographer, Graham defined the modern dance movement. This exhibition showcases more than 30 years of collaboration and is presented in conjunction with Northrop Dance Series' November 12 restaging of Graham's Greek psychodrama Clytemnestra, a masterpiece of 20th century American modernist dance.

Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library -- Rapson Hall

Travel Sketches: An Architect's Recordings of Natural and Human Landscapes
September 25-December 27, 2009
Dewey Thorbeck's sketches of rural, urban, and natural environments record places from his recent travels throughout Europe that inspire a connection between people and environments.