Wrapping Up with Art & Design

This year is coming to a close and the students are reaching the end of their first year and getting ready for final critiques and exams! The 3D class is currently working on a found items and wood sculpture which focuses on the meaning of the items found and integrating that into the body of the sculpture itself. The 2D concepts class is then working on a book arts object. With Book Arts the students are challenged to think about the book as a vehicle for an art piece. They can do this by thinking of the pages more as a material and how to display an idea over the concept of time. The students also have a final coming up in their Digital Arts class. With that final they have the chance to display the skills within Photoshop and Illustrator that they learned this semester. Coming up this May 11th, the LLC students are having an installation event for the Service Learning project they had with the RRF. 

The final result of the RRF Collaboration Project

On the 22nd of April, the LLC, we took a trip down to Chicago with our stakeholders in order to see exhibitions and artwork outside of Milwaukee. The day started bright and early before 7 am in order to catch the Amtrak train, and it was many students' first experience traveling by train. We began as a group at the Chicago Cultural Center which was exhibiting a body of interactive sculptures called “Strandbeest” (Beach Beasts). These sculptures were semi-automated sculptures by artist Theo Jansen and are created with industrial materials. After this exhibition the students had the opportunity to explore the downtown area and hang out and grab a bite to eat with friends. We then later regrouped at the Art Institute of Chicago. At the Art Institute the LLC had the opportunity to explore the expansive collections ranging from Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, to East Asian art, to Contemporary Painting and Sculpture. Popular amongst the LLC were the large collections of work from impressionists such as George Seurat and Claude Monet. Equally popular were the pop artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, as well as modern painting classics by Pablo Picasso. After the Art Institute there was some more free time and the opportunity to visit the Museum of Contemporary Photography before we returned home!

A Strandbeest displayed on the beach

This has been a great year for the Art and Design LLC, and we have definitely enjoyed getting to know this group of students and look forward to where their hard work will take them!

-RA Joe and Mentor Devin