Category Archives: General Interest

Alumna Introduces Chinese to Fine Arts Curriculum

This spring the Kansas City Art Institute will introduce a Chinese language and culture course into its curriculum. The course will provide an introduction to Chinese characters, and students will focus on daily conversational skills, including speaking, listening, reading and writing standard Mandarin Chinese. The course also incorporates relevant topics related to Chinese arts and culture from the past to the present.

Art Center Illustration alumna Valda Hsu, born and raised in Taiwan, will teach the course. Hsu came to the U.S. in 1983 to attend Art Center. Prior to her journey, she received advanced training in traditional Chinese brush painting with landscape master Yu Wei.She teaches Chinese brush painting for adults at KCAI, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Confucius Institute at the University of Kansas, where she is also special programs instructor for Chinese language and culture. 

Hsu said her frequent visits to China and Taiwan have inspired her to teach Chinese to visual artists “in order to promote the understanding of its culture and its timeless, authentic art form through the language.”

Haring Tribute Tonight

Don’t miss tonight’s Keith Haring tribute reception at 6 pm at Art Center’s James Lemont Fogg Memorial Library at Hillside Campus.

In 1989, prolific artist and social activist Keith Haring visited Art Center to paint an interior mural which still hangs at Hillside Campus. Painted over the course of two days, the mural was intended to be a “permanent memorial to members of the art community who have died of AIDS, and also serve as a symbol of hope and compassion.” Haring passed away two months later from AIDS-related complications.

In recognition of Haring’s lasting contribution to the College, and in celebration of World AIDS Day, faculty member Ramone Muñoz asked students to take visual themes from the mural and use them in creating educational about safe sex and the tragic loss of life due to this disease. The posters will be exhibited on campus beginning the week of Nov. 30 with a reception honoring Haring and celebrating World AIDS Day.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, read the press release or call 626.396.2338.

Exploring Bauhaus

There’s no question that Art Center was profoundly influenced by Bauhaus. That’s why this recent New York Times article on the movement and the new MoMA show, Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, caught our eye.

Nicolai Ouroussoff writes: “A big surprise is how much of the school’s mission still feels relevant, from the effort to come to terms with mind-bending technological advances to the desire to serve an audience beyond the usual cultural elites. It’s true this mission was pursued with an optimism that would be hard to conjure today, but if the show has a message, it’s that a little naiveté can be productive.”

Read more about it: Finding a Bit of Animal House in the Bauhaus.

Schwab Poster Earns Accolades

You might have already noticed the striking image used for the Campaign for Art Center, created by acclaimed graphic designer and alumnus Michael Schwab. We’re happy to report that the poster has won a second gold award in the international design publication Graphis, and will be featured in the Graphis Poster Annual 2010. Earlier this year, it was added to the permanent collection of San Francisco’s Legion of Honor fine arts museum. Schwab’s donation of time, vision and talent underscores the lasting impact that an Art Center education has had on his life and creative career. Congratulations, Michael!

Read more about the poster and the genesis of the Art Center pencil in this intersting article at @Issue.

Just What Is this Design Thinking Stuff?

The idea of design thinking is one that has been up for a ton of discussion recently. But what exactly is it?

“Design thinking, as a concept, has been slowly evolving and coalescing over the past decade. One popular definition is that design thinking means thinking as a designer would, which is about as circular as a definition can be,” writes Roger Martin.

Read an excerpt from his book, The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage—and the colorful commentary that follows—at Design Observer.

Through the Eyes of an Alumnus

The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) presents Population: Portraits by Ray Turner, an exhibition of 150 portraits by the Art Center alumnus and former faculty member.

Turner ILLU ’58 fashions a uniquely seductive and engaging fusion of lyrical realism and abstraction in portraiture. A prescient interpreter, Population features intimate portraits of Pasadena residents.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 31. Read more about the exhibit at artdaily.org.

Under Canstruction

It’s that time of year again—canned food drive time. You’ve seen them and donated to them, too. But you’ve probably never seen a canned food drive quite like this one.

The fourth annual Canstruction LA will be held from Oct. 30 through Nov. 15 at 5900 Wilshire Blvd., located across the street from LACMA. Organized by a collaboration of design industry leaders and AIA Los Angeles, Canstruction LA invites teams of prominent Los Angeles architects, engineers and designers to create exciting exhibits made entirely of cans of food.

Exhibits are on view to the public and awarded prizes by a panel of judges. Art Center’s Randall Wilson, Environmental Design instructor, is a judge this year.

Check out the Canstruction LA site for information, photos and video of the event.

What Makes You Happy?

Balance = happy = creative = productive. Or so says creative director Joe Duffy (and we must admit that we agree!)

Duffy writes: “We need inspiration to continue to stretch and truly reach our creative potential. I don’t believe that inspiration is sufficiently served up in even the most compelling office environments, nor among the most creative cultures. So we need to get out of the office. Design how you’re going to work. Dial it into the rest of your life and vice versa. Be purposeful about what you do, where you are, where you really need to be in order to be happy and productive.”

Check out his great posting today at Fast Company: A Plea to All Creatives: Stop Going to Work

2009 BMW 750i: Returning to its Spiritual Home

Edmunds.com editor Kelly Toepke recently visited campus, bringing along the new 2009 BMW 750i for Transportation Design students and faculty to examine.

Toepke writes: “Of all the cars in the Inside Line fleet, the 2009 BMW 750i seemed the most logical, given that the last two BMW design chiefs were Art Center graduates: Chris Bangle (’81) and current head of design Adrian van Hooydonk (’92). (Maybe this was why there was a reserved, curbside parking spot for me when I arrived?)”

Read more about Toepke’s visit, and see photos of the BMW 750i: 2009 BMW 750i: Returning to its Spiritual Home

Finding Priya Ramrakha

The late photographer Priya Ramrakha was a Kenyan photojournalist for Time and Life magazines. In 1960, he came to the United States to study photography at Art Center. While here, Ramrakha photographed the civil rights movement, which inspired him to return to Kenya and document the fight for independence in Africa. He was killed in 1968 while covering the Nigerian Civil War for Time-Life.

Read more about Ramrakha, his lost photographs, and the documentary being made about him in The New York Times: Showcase: Finding Priya Ramrakha