Myrtle Hall modeling for Painting students, 1940. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research

Maija Grotell (Artist-in-Residence, Department of Ceramics, 1938 –1966, standing) with her students, including Harry Weese (Architecture, 1939) in the foreground, March 1939. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Center for Collections and Research (4855). Photo: Richard G. Askew

Zoltan Sepeshy (Artist-in-Residence, Department of Painting, 1931 –1966, Educational Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1944 –1946, Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1946 –1959, President, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1959 –1966, far right) in a critique with Painting students, May 1942. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research. Photo: Harvey Croze

Summer Workshops

Summer Workshops: July 12 - 18, 2021

This summer, Cranbrook Academy of Art will offer four virtual workshops for adults, held in conjunction with the With Eyes Opened: Cranbrook Academy of Art Since 1932 exhibition at Cranbrook Art Museum. All workshops will be held the week of July 12–18. We will contact you to arrange local pick-up time or delivery of workshop materials to you in advance. There will be five days of virtual programming, with an optional in-person critique of work at the end of the week, along with guided demos, conversations, and making! The workshops will all be taught by Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni and will align with themes from the With Eyes Opened exhibition.

Workshop days (Monday through Friday) will have morning sessions via zoom from 10am – 11/11:30am, which will include making prompts and zoom demos, followed by independent studio time (at home) for making and afternoon sessions via zoom from 4pm-5/5:30pm which will encompass artist talks, presentations, and group conversations. The week will culminate in an optional in-person critique and cross section discussions on the Academy campus.

Cost: $550 for ArtMembers; $600 for non-members (cost includes a one-year membership to Cranbrook Art Museum). Each class is limited to 12 people.

J. Fred Woell (MFA Sculpture, 1969) Commuter Pass, 2005. Photo: Murray Riss; courtesy of Patricia Wheeler in memory of J. Fred Woell

Iris Eichenberg. Image courtesy of the artist.

Zahra Almajidi. Image courtesy of the artist.

Zahra Almajidi. Detail, image courtesy of the artist.

Object Islands: Jewelry

Iris Eichenberg , Artist-in-Residence, Metalsmithing, Zahra Almajidi (Metalsmithing ’21) + Aaron Patrick Decker (Metalsmithing ’15)

This workshop will look at the objects we gather, keep, collect and are drawn to. In the context of contemporary jewelry, we will talk about collections, and how the things with which we wear and surround ourselves with are not just a portrait of us and our loved ones but tell a story.

Over the course of one-week students will have a short graduate school experience; each student will be shipped findings and materials that will engage their own personal collections – you will create new heirlooms for generations to come.

Ed Fella (MFA Design 1987) History, Commercial Art, Art, and the American Vernacular (Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center)

Kimmie Parker. Image courtesy of the artist.

Paper Trail: Graphic Design

Kimmie Parker (2D Design ’16)

This workshop will focus on works on paper including collage and the experimental creative processes of both print and poster design that remain dominant forms of expression for Cranbrook artists and designers. Students will learn fundamentals of principles graphic design through hands on making and critical looks at the work in the exhibition “With Eyes Opened.” They will use both analog and digital processes to marry type and image.

Donald Willett (MFA Painting, 1957) Untitled, 1966, oil on canvas. Photo: R.H. Hensleigh

Sylvain Malfroy-Camine, Landscape. Image courtesy of the artist.

Sylvain Malfroy-Camine, Rock. Image courtesy of the Artist

Salon Abstraction: Painting

Sylvian Malfroy-Camine (Painting ’21)

Over the course of one week, students will make drawings and paintings on paper in conversation with the Salon Abstraction gallery in the “With Eyes Opened” exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum. Independent painting sessions with be complimented with presentations and discussions about the exhibition, painting histories, and demonstrations of techniques & materials. Each student will be shipped materials and supplies. The course concludes with a virtual or optional in-person critique of selected work done during the class.

Mary Walker Phillips (Weaving & Textile Design, 1946-1947, BFA Weaving, 1962, MFA Weaving & Textile Design 1963) The Kings, 1966. Photo: PD Rearick.

Margaret Hull. Cottagecorps (installation) handmade, digitally printed cotton blouses and blouse mask, vinyl fabric, 2021 Documentation: Clare Gatto

Margaret Hull. Detail, Cottagecorps (installation) handmade, digitally printed cotton blouses and blouse mask, vinyl fabric, 2021 Documentation: Clare Gatto

Weaving

Margaret Hull (Fiber ’16)

This workshop will introduce technical and conceptual approaches to weaving with the goal of understanding the historical and contemporary relevance of this practice. We will incorporate loom and off-loom techniques in addition to other fiber-based processes using traditional and non-traditional materials. Guest lectures, in-class demonstrations, and discussions will focus on the social, political, and material implications of weaving-based work.