Sculpture from Char Norman’s “Forest Remnants” exhibition

CCAD’s Dean of Faculty Char Norman is showing her work in two solo exhibitions in central Ohio this winter.

Forest Remnants will be at the Dublin Arts Council, in Dublin, OH, Jan. 8–Feb. 22. The exhibition features a new body of work created in response to the destruction of forests through infestations and violent storms.

Norman’s work will also be shown in Conversations with the Past at Ohio Dominican Wehrle Gallery, Columbus, OH, Jan. 27–March 10. The exhibition will feature photos printed on handmade paper of sculptures Norman completed during trips to Florence and Rome.

Image from Char Norman and Doug Norman’s exhibition “Close Observation”

Dean of Faculty Char Norman and Professor Doug Norman had a joint exhibition, Close Observations, at the University of Mississippi, Oct. 1–Nov. 1.

The husband-and-wife team also gave a visiting artist talk prior to the exhibition opening.

“Char and I both bring a great deal of close observation to the development of our work and a high level of craft to the process of making,” Doug said.

Char’s work follows the natural life cycle, focusing on life and death. She has lectured and exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Doug has been a visiting instructor at SACI in Florence, Italy and Xi’an Academy of Fine Art in Xi’an, China. His work has been shown in invitational and juried exhibitions nationally.

Zipline during Family Weekend & Homecoming, photo courtesy of Katlin McNally

Six New Faculty Named

CCAD’s realignment into two schools—Design Arts and Studio Arts—has brought six new faculty to campus this fall. Their hiring reflects the college’s commitment to providing students the real-world skills to lead in the growing creative economy, says Char Norman, dean of faculty.

“We seek out professionals who have proven teaching experience combined with significant current work in the field,” Norman says.

We welcome:

Kelly DeVore (Interior Design and Advertising & Graphic Design), a LEED-accredited architect who has also done research in socially responsive design education.

Steve Elbert (Interior Design), a licensed architect with international teaching experience and significant 2-D and 3-D modeling software skills.

Phil Garrett (Cinematic Arts), who has worked as a special effects artist on films such as Madagascar and Shrek and as a writer, producer, and animator for a large variety of indie films as well as animated features for DisneyToon Studios.

Mathew Mitchem (English and Philosophy), a philosopher, author, and web designer who has worked with topics ranging from advertising ideology in the world of political campaigns, to the cultural implications of participatory video, to online videos during the political uprisings of 2011.

Adam Osgood (Illustration), a creator of web designs, animation, and motion graphics for major brands including Exxon and Barnes & Noble.

Rebecca Robinson (Fashion Design), who has created her own fashion designs as well as contributing to books on the history of men’s fashion, American football uniforms, and hip-hop gear.

2012 Family Weekend & Homecoming

Campus was packed with hundreds of students, parents, alumni, staff, and friends for Family Weekend & Homecoming on Oct. 12 and 13.

Things kicked off Friday evening with dinner and a comedy show on campus.

Saturday began with free breakfast and ended with an alumni reception. In between were a CCAD MindMarket open house, a carnival on the quad, a zipline down East Gay Street, a lecture from recently retired Dean Richard Aschenbrand, and much more.

The energy was contagious and all-ages: View photos on our Columbus College of Art & Design facebook page and our CCAD Alumni facebook page.

Comic book artist Chris Ware’s keynote conversation, photo couresy Danielle Ford (2013)

Mix 2012

In early October, more than 200 people came to campus for Mix 2012: CCAD’s Celebration of Comics.

A highlight of the event was the participation of Chris Ware, an Eisner-Award-winning American comic book artist who is perhaps best known for his graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Ware delivered the keynote presentation, exhibited original artwork from Jimmy Corrigan, and participated in a symposium panel called The Epic Ordinary.

In all there were three exhibitions and two-and-a-half days of panels and workshops—all kicked off by a student comic-making marathon. Eleven teams were challenged with producing a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The results were then displayed for the rest of the symposium.

The plan is to make this symposium an annual event.

Mix 2012 was sponsored by State Auto Insurance Companies, with media sponsorship provided by WCBE 90.5.

Teaching Award Winner Connects Art to Literature

Associate Professor Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis with CCAD President Denny Griffith, photo courtesy Lian Dziura (2012)

Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis, a poet who has become a writing mentor to many of her CCAD students, was selected as the winner of CCAD’s 2012 Teaching Excellence Award. The award celebrates the exemplary contributions faculty members make to the college as a whole.

“She encourages critical thinking and nurtures an artist’s curiosities, helping us all to see the correlation between the art realm and the realm of literature,” said a student nominator, “and empowers her students to want to develop their skills and techniques as writers not just for class, but for themselves.”

Kartsonis, who is an associate professor in Liberal Arts and Graduate Studies, teaches fiction and poetry writing, contemporary literature, and special topics in literature. With dozens of published poems, as well as fiction and nonfiction works, she also has served as editor of a number of literary outlets, including wordsonwalls.net, scene360, and Shades Literary/Art Review.

Her most recent work is EmuSeum, a collaborative chapbook with Caleb Adler, MD, published by Dancing Girl Press.

Ten to Watch

Doesn’t everyone love a “where are they now” story? Well, we do, too—so we’re starting a feature called Ten to Watch.

Ten to Watch will follow a group of students from CCAD’s Class of 2012 as they take their first steps into the professional world after graduation. You’ll read about where they are, what they’re up to, and how they feel about their paths so far.

Annual feature stories will start in spring, but we couldn’t wait until then to introduce them:

Kattie Baker (Advertising & Graphic Design), Chavilah Bennett (Advertising & Graphic Design), Rachel Cass (Fashion Design), Sara K. Diesel (Illustration), Lian Dziura (Photography), Ryan Christopher Evans (Media Studies), Leah Fisher (Photography), Jake LaBombarbe (Industrial Design), Sarah McCance (Interior Design), and Erin McKenna (Fine Arts)

A few teasers to think about in the meantime:

1. Who’s working on a project in Abu Dhabi?
2. Who’s already moved to New York?
3. Who did a residency that comes with a show in Chicago?

Yu Qiduo (left) and Leah Wong (right) on Yu’s television show in Shanghai.

CCAD Discussed on Shanghai TV

Leah Wong, who has taught at CCAD and is assisting the college with a teaching exchange with the China Academy of Art, recently appeared on an education-focused show in Shanghai.

The show’s host, Yu Qiduo (Duoduo), brought CCAD into the conversation as they discussed Wong’s personal opinions on art and art education and talked about her teaching experiences in both China and the United States.

The half-hour program focuses on education programs and is aimed toward middle and high school students and their parents.

Glass Alumna Helps Cruise Line Fight Cancer

Fine Arts alumna Megan Mathie (CCAD 2006) has just returned from working on the Celebrity cruise ship Solstice as a glassblower for the Corning Museum of Glass.

Over a three-month tour of back-to-back 12-day cruises around the Mediterranean, the hot glass team stayed busy.

“On sea days we do two shows. On port days we usually do an evening show,” Mathie says. “I like the 12-day cruises because as people come back again and again, they ask smarter and smarter questions. Instead of having to explain ‘what is glass’ over and over, we can talk about some of the more sophisticated techniques and tell stories.”

Megan Mathie (CCAD 2006) doing a glass show at the Corning Museum of Glass

Although she loves the work, leaving home this summer was difficult for Mathie because both her sister and her mother are fighting breast cancer. She was thrilled to find out about a new project in Celebrity Cruises’ longstanding support of the breast cancer research.

The glass team refers to it as “the Pink Show.” During one show per cruise, they make everything pink, and one of the resulting pieces of glass is auctioned—with all of the profits going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Mathie also found strong support among her fellow crew members. Just one example: On her sister’s birthday, the Ringmasters, a world-champion barbershop quartet, sang happy birthday into the phone for her.

“I was so fortunate to have found myself surrounded by kindness and love where I never expected it and when I needed it the most. Being able to take this job, this opportunity, turned into so much more of a gift than I thought it would be, and a big part of that is because of the people I’ve gotten to know. I know they care about Jen and Mom, and I know they care about me,” Mathie says.

For more photos and lots of Mathie’s engaging writing, visit her blog.

To check out the online print version of IMAGE, click here.

Norman's piece, "Funeral March"

Char Norman, dean of faculty at CCAD, is showing her work in a solo exhibition, Icons of Nature, at Sechrest Art Gallery at High Point University in North Carolina.

Norman’s work follows the natural life cycle, focusing on concepts of life and death.

The work in the exhibition includes mixed-media sculptures and wall pieces.

Icons of Nature will be open until March 1, 2012.

Exhibition put on by Julie Abijanac and Char Norman

The cycle and beauty of life can be expressed in many different forms and CCAD faculty member and alumna, Julie Abijanac (CCAD 1992) and staff member Char Norman showcase this in their two-person exhibition Reaction∫Response.

Norman and Abijanac’s exhibition questions the relationship humans have with nature and science. It deals with the psychical and psychological process of life and death.

Fine arts alumna, Abijanac questions mortality in her artwork by approaching it in from both a microscopic and psychological point of view.

Norman, dean of faculty, focuses on environmental aspects. Her work showcases man’s impact on earth and questions the harm people may be inflicting on nature.

This exhibition is a visual response to  their life experiences through the use of fiber, handmade paper, repurposed materials, and drawings.

After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Abijanc was told by doctors that the carcinogens in oil-based paint would leave her having to wear a mask and gloves, disconnecting her from her art.

Abijanac found herself switching mediums and inspiration for her work. She had to had to “relearn how to be an artist.”

She now works with paper, deconstructing and then rebuilding her artwork into representations of life’s cycle and obstacles.

“My work is very labor intensive and it is a journal for me, every tear and every layer is what I went through that day,” Abijanac said.

One of her pieces, La Poursuite de Prendre une Vie, illustrates a microscopic look at the disease taking over. Its title translates into, the pursuit to take a life.

“I wanted to create something pretty out of something so devastating and showcase the possibilities this material can take, by having something so ordinary become unusual and beautiful,” Abijanac said.

Paper is incorporated in Norman’s work also.

Norman works closely with handmade paper, fiber, and paint to create sculptures.

“I will wake up at four in the morning and work for two hours on making paper before going into work, and then I will come home and make more paper,” Norman explained of her diligent art process.

One piece Norman is excited to showcase is Pearl Gate.  This piece is a walk through sculpture that she collaborated on with her brother, Kurt Steger, who is also a sculptor. The piece is a free standing structure and was originally debuted in Roanoke College in Virginia at Steger’s solo exhibition.

“I think what makes Julie and I a good pair for this exhibition is our different, but similar takes on life and our responses to it, while also using similar labor intensive mediums,” Norman said

Reaction∫Response will be on display Oct.1–Nov. 12, 2011 at the Cultural Arts Center, 139 West Main St., Columbus, Ohio. The opening reception will take place Oct. 1, 4:30-7 p.m.

Char Norman, Dean of Faculty

CCAD staff member Char Norman has taken on a new appointment as the CCAD dean of faculty.

Norman has worked full time with CCAD since 1998 in roles that include director of continuing education, interim vice president of academic affairs, and associate provost.

During her tenure, Norman has created new opportunities by expanding the college’s extracurricular and continuing education programming, which includes everything from workshops for art and design professionals to international study opportunities.

Her new position focuses her experience and skills in a direction where she will be able to chart a new path for CCAD and its faculty.

“This is the first time this position has existed at CCAD and I look forward to becoming an advocate for the faculty, being their resource, and ensuring accountability,” Norman said.

The position will have an impact internally and externally. Faculty members will gain greater opportunities by working on partnerships both nationally and internationally within the artistic community.

The position was created based in large measure on the feedback provided at CCAD’s 2011 Academic Leadership Retreat, Many Voices: Forging Excellence and Sustainability. Conversation at the retreat indicated the need for additional support for faculty at the college.

“I see her role as a critical one that will provide support of teaching professionals, development of their pedagogy and engagement in a community of practice, and help for them to set their own standards for faculty excellence through hiring, evaluation, development, and review,” said Kevin Conlon, vice president of academic affairs.

“Through the conversations I have had with Char there is one consistent theme of her being thoroughly engaged with the institution and its faculty, their efforts, and their needs,” Conlon added.

Norman is viewed as a peer among faculty members and an appropriate representative for them.  Her appointment not only will mean a transformation in faculty relations but also will translate into a stronger presence for the college’s faculty within a broad community of practicing professionals and peer institutions.

“Not only do I have this knowledge of higher education and assessment, but I am also a professional artist and in the trenches along with them,” Norman said.

Norman holds a BA from Scripps College and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. She is an accomplished artist specializing in fiber sculpture and papermaking, and she has an extensive national and international record of teaching and exhibitions.

Sample from a CCAD teaching portfolio

Several CCAD faculty were presenters at the recent Assessment in the Arts Conference in Denver, CO.

Associate Provost Char Norman, Dean of Fine Arts and Foundation Studies Julie Taggart (CCAD 1991), and Christopher Yates (CCAD 1987), chair of Foundation Studies, were among the art and academic professionals who shared their first-hand knowledge and experiences. Their presentation, Accountability and Exchange: Using Digital Portfolios for Assessment, focused on CCAD’s use, beginning in 2010, of faculty and student digital portfolios as part of its assessment process. The discussion touched upon the benefits, challenges, and opportunities inherent in the method.

Additionally, Liberal Arts’ Jeannine Kraft, chair of history of art and design, and Julie Posey, chair of science, teamed together to deliver a paper entitled Assessment in the Liberal Arts in the Art and Design College Context.

Held at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, the conference was designed to add to the body of knowledge of assessment of creative academic programs. Focal topics included improvement of student learning, how the arts can be appropriately assessed for accreditation, and techniques of providing assessment feedback.

detail of Funeral March by Char Norman

Relics of Nature by Char Norman is unfolding like a leaf in Upper Arlington’s Concourse Gallery through mid-June.

Norman, associate provost and associate professor, will offer a free ArtSpeak session at noon on Thursday, June 9 in the gallery.

The exhibited works, which are on view through Friday, June 17, stem from Norman’s deep-rooted connection to natural objects and environmental issues.

“I grew up in the woods and on the beaches of California. I still spend time hiking in natural areas where I find interesting forms that inspire my sculptures,” Norman said.

Local media the Columbus Dispatch and Alive have given the exhibition warm write-ups.

At the conclusion of the exhibition, Norman and two other CCAD faculty members have a gallery show in Florence, Italy. Read more about it on CCAD’s blog.

Digital print on handmade Japanese paper by Helen Hoffelt

Columbus Discovers Italy is an exhibition that evokes layers of Italian history and culture as seen by three CCAD faculty members.

Opening Monday, June 20 at 7 p.m. in Florence, Italy, the exhibition features digital prints, drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Helen Hoffelt, Char Norman, and Doug Norman. It runs through July 2, 2011 in the SACI Gallery.

Hoffelt (CCAD, 1982) is an associate professor of Photography and a former visiting instructor at Studio Arts Center International (SACI). She majored in Illustration at CCAD.

Char Norman, a former artist-in-residence at SACI, is associate provost and an associate professor at CCAD. As a fiber artist she specializes in papermaking and fiber sculpture. She has lectured and exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally.

Doug Norman is a Fine Arts professor at CCAD and also has been a visiting instructor at SACI and Xi’an Academy of Fine Art in Xi’an, China. His artwork has been featured in invitational and juried exhibitions both regionally and nationally.

Pearl Gate by Char Norman and Kurt Steger

Associate Provost Char Norman helped created a site-specific sculpture as an entrance into her brother’s solo exhibition at Roanoke College in Virginia.

Norman, associate professor, Fine Arts, collaborated with Kurt Steger to sculpt a unique entrance into Silent Nature, Steger’s sculpture exhibition at Olin Gallery in Salem, VA. They incorporated his expertise as a woodworker and hers as an innovative maker of paper and fiber artist to craft the entryway. Norman spent six weeks crafting 550 pieces of paper for the piece.

The exhibit, which continues through February 20, is open to the public.

Panorama from www.saci-florence.org

Associate Provost Char Norman recently was honored in Florence, Italy for her dedicated support of international education in the arts.

At the annual meeting of the 43 colleges and universities associated with Studio Arts Center International, Norman received the 2010 SACI Consortium Award. Her dedication to international education, knowledge of the field of art and design, and experience in higher education administration were cited during the award presentation.

“I am honored by the recognition,” she said, “but is is easy for me to support something that I believe in as strongly as the value of global education.”

CCAD has been a consortium member for eight years. As associate provost, Norman is responsible for Continuing Education, international programming, including study abroad and exchanges, and Summer College.

Associate Provost Char Norman

Char Norman, associate provost and associate professor, recently was appointed to a one-year term on the board of the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) along with four other new members.

“These new board members bring expertise and community knowledge that will be a great asset to GCAC and its programs,” said Milt Baughman, interim president of GCAC. “We are pleased that they are volunteering their valuable time to advance arts and culture in Central Ohio.”

Norman holds a BA from Scripps College and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. She is an accomplished artist specializing in fiber sculpture and papermaking, and has an extensive national and international record of teaching and exhibitions. To learn more about Norman’s senior administration role at the college go to www.ccad.edu.

To read GCAC’s full press release go to www.gcac.org.