Multiple Cranbrook Alumni Featured in Walker Art Center's Idea House 3
Idea House 3, 2023. Photo: Neal Reiter. Courtesy Walker Art Center.
On November 16, the Walker Art Center launched a new 1,500 sq. ft. retail space called Idea House 3 featuring the work of fifty leading and emerging international designers, celebrating experimentation and innovation.
Idea House 3 is a new interation in a series of Walker Art Center public exhibitions staged within homes, Idea Houses 1 and 2 were installed in 1941 and 1947, respectively, during the early years of the Walker’s development. Works by Academy instructor Charles Eames and alumna Ray (Kaiser) Eames were among the designs featured in these iterations. For more background and archival photos of the Idea House Projects of the 1940s, check out this article from Docomomo US/MN.
Participating Academy alumni in the Idea House 3 inaugural Guest Room presentation, Midwest Design Here & Now are Ayako Aratani (MFA 3D Design 2016), Ebitenyefa Baralaye (MFA Ceramics 2016), Aaron Blendowski (MFA 3D Design 2006), Jack Craig (MFA 3D Design 2012), Evan Fay (MFA 3D Design 2016), Seth Keller (MFA 3D Design 2011), Jonathan Muecke (MFA 3D Design 2010), Cody Norman (MFA 3D Design 2020), Hayden Allison Richér (MFA Ceramics 2018), and Chris Schanck (MFA 3D Design 2011).
The Walker has a curated online series House of Ideas which currently includes an interview with Academy alumna Ayako Aratani, based in Pontiac, MI. Several works by Aratani are featured in Idea House 3, including the latest iteration of her Hideaway Chair, a design she also explored during her time at Cranbrook.
Ayako Aratani in Michigan studio, 2023. Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
Artist-Designer Cody Norman in Chicago studio, 2023. Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
Learn more:
Walker Art Center opens new collectible design shop – Wallpaper
Walker Art Center Revives Museum Shop with Idea House Concept
