Kraft’s paper was “Research and Inquiry: Pedagogical Tools to Engender Responsibility;” Yates presented his paper “Research as Catalyst” in the same session.

The two also participated in the Integrative Teaching International ThinkTank along with Vice President for Academic Affairs Kevin Conlon, Assistant Professor Lori Faist, Assistant Professor and Fine Arts alumna Julie Abijanac (CCAD 1992), and Associate Professor and Fine Arts alumna Tam Peterson (CCAD 1983).

FATE is a national association dedicated to the promotion of excellence in development and teaching of college-level foundation courses. The ThinkTank is part of the FATE conference and includes a facilitated discussion and intensive workshop designed to improve teaching at the college level.

Kraft also presented her paper “Rurality Then and Now: Re-visioning the Landscape in Contemporary Irish Art Practice” at the International Meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies in Chicago, April 10-13.

In Ohio, 18 students in each of CCAD drawing instructor Joe Lombardo’s two Figure and Anatomy drawing classes are participating.

A discussion between two art college presidents about the critical role of foundation courses for students has spawned a comparative teaching effort between Columbus College of Art & Design and China Academy of Art.

Dennison Griffith, CCAD president, and Xu Jiang, president of CAA, and Song Jianming, vice president of CAA, met during CCAD’s 2011 visit to Shanghai and Hangzhou art schools. The leaders’ discussion has evolved into a shared e-classroom for first-year drawing students in Columbus and Hangzhou for spring semester 2012. A joint exhibition of the final course work is set for this fall on the CAA campus in Hangzhou, China.

Instructors from the two schools, located on opposite sides of the globe, use a blog to their course structure and weekly lesson guides, along with their philosophies about how to teach specific components. Student work from each lesson is uploaded for critique by both sides to review the teaching approach and results. In Ohio, 18 students in each of CCAD drawing instructor Joe Lombardo’s two Figure and Anatomy drawing classes are participating. (Follow the week-by-week assignments and progression of Lombardo’s class here.)

Griffith, CCAD’s president since 1998 and a practicing artist, said the shared teaching experience provides fresh ideas for communicating fundamental skills courses, and noted that “this exchange of teaching and learning methodologies creates a splendid platform for cultural understanding and future collaborations. We are pleased and honored to have this new relationship of exchange programs with CAA.”

In addition to his leadership role at CCAD, Griffith currently serves on the boards of the Columbus Partnership, Experience Columbus and the National Association of Schools of Art & Design, the national accreditation body for art and design education in the U.S.

Alongside his administrative career he has maintained a vigorous commitment to his work as an artist. His paintings have been included in more than 90 solo and group exhibitions and are represented in many public and private collections. He is represented by Hammond Harkins Galleries in Columbus. www.ccad.digication.com/dennisonwgriffith.

“As our curriculum evolves to meet the changing needs of the international marketplace and global audience, this type of research will be invaluable for our faculty and our students,” said Julie Taggart, dean of the School of Studio Arts at CCAD. “Drawing mastery and the visual acumen gained through the act of drawing have defined CCAD’s core competencies for artists and designers. The comparison with the China Academy of Art will allow us to see the impact of drawing in a broader cultural context.”

In addition to the collaborative teaching effort, CCAD and the China Academy of Art have established a formal student exchange program that began in January 2012. Currently, two exchange students from CAA, Nuonan Ruan and Jin Dan, are enrolled in master’s level classes at CCAD.

Scroll down to read a letter from President Griffith about the collaboration.

Click here to visit the CAA site.

哥伦布艺术与设计学院(CCAD)/中国美术学院(CAA)基础绘画教学比较研讨博客概述

哥伦布艺术与设计学院和中国美术学院的学生共享基础绘画课春季学期的教学方法和作品评定，两校学生的基础绘画作业作品展览定于2012年秋季在杭州中国美术学院美术馆举行

2011年春， 哥伦布艺术与设计学院院长丹尼森·格里菲斯（Dennison Griffith）一行在访问上海和杭州艺术院校时， 参观访问了和中国美术学院。 在和中国美术学院院长许江，副院长宋建明的会面交谈中，院长们强调了艺术基础教育于国际交流的重要性。 两校在此基础上于2011年秋季建立了交流关系。

为了促进两校的教学交流，哥伦布艺术与设计学院与中国美术学院之间开展了一个教学比较研究项目。

今年春季学期, CCAD和CAA的一年级绘画专业学生设立了共享电子教室。计划今年秋季在中国杭州的中国美术学院美术馆举行学生结业作品联展。

中国 － 美国，来自地球两边的两所院校的教师，通过博客来介绍各自的课程结构和每周的授课大纲，并针对各自的具体教学内容交流各自的理念。每一课的学生作品的图片均上传到博客网上，供双方进行教学方法及成果评定。在俄亥俄州，哥伦布艺术与设计学院绘画教师乔·隆巴多（Joe Lombardo）执教的“人物造型与人体解剖”绘画课两个班的18名学生参加这个教学研究项目。

丹尼森•格里菲斯 (Dennison Griffith), 自1998年起任哥伦布艺术与设计学院的院长，本人也是专业画家。他认为教学交流可为基本技能和基础课程提供新的教学思路，并表示：“这次两校的教学大纲和教学方法的交流为建立彼此的文化理解和未来的交流合作创造了一个出色的平台。我们很高兴也很荣幸，通过交流项目与中国美术学院建立新的关系”。

除了担任哥伦布艺术与设计学院的领导工作以外，格里菲斯院长 还任哥伦布市合作计划 董事会会员、担任体验哥伦布计划和全美艺术与设计院校协会的理事。 全美艺术与设计院校协会是美国艺术及设计教育的全国性认证机构。

格里菲斯院长是一个经历丰富的领导人和艺术家，他曾参加过90多次个人及集体画展，他的绘画作品被许多公共及私人机构收藏。哥伦布的Hammond Harkins画廊代理他的作品。
画廊网址：www.ccad.digication.com/dennisonwgriffith。

“为了适应国际市场和全球受众需求的不断变化，我们也在调整课程设置。在这种时候，此类研究对我们的教师和学生都有无可估量的价值”，哥伦布艺术与设计学院工作室艺术学院院长茱莉·塔加特（Julie Taggart）表示：“通过绘画的实践来掌握精熟的绘画技能和敏锐的视觉是哥伦布艺术与设计学院培养艺术及设计人才的核心能力。通过与中国美术学院的比较研究项目，我们得以在更大的文化背景和影响下来理解绘画”。

哥伦布艺术与设计学院和中国美术学院自2011年秋季正式设立了学生交流计划。2012年1月, CAA 已派首期交换学生来CCAD 交流， 目前两位中国美术学院的硕士研究生阮诺南（服装设计）和金丹（陶瓷艺术）正在哥伦布艺术与设计学院的硕士班学习。

哥伦布艺术与设计学院 (Columbus College of Art and Design) 建立于1879年，  CCAD 坐落于美国俄亥俄州哥伦布市市中心，授予艺术及设计专业的学士和硕士学位。目前在校学生1,350人。具体了解哥伦布艺术与设计学院的课程设置，学院的校园美国地理位置及学院生活，请查阅CCAD 学院介绍

Download the CCAD Chinese International Student Brochure (PDF 8MB)

CCAD President Dennison W. Griffith

In April of 2011 I had the privilege of visiting Hangzhou, and visited both of CAA’s campuses.  I was very impressed with the quality of the facilities and with the quality of the student work I saw.  This visit was arranged for me by one of your distinguished alumni: Leah Wong (Wang Lihua), who, I am happy to say, is a member of the Columbus College of Art & Design faculty.

Due to the efforts of Wang Lihua, I was accorded the honor of meeting both President Xu Jiang and Vice President Song Jianming.  What kind and talented leaders they are!  I was very impressed with their generosity, their openness to us, and the quality of their thinking and ideas.

It became quite evident to me that both China Academy of Art and Columbus College of Art & Design have very similar goals and face the same challenges and opportunities in art education, in the cultivation of creative and business skills in our students, and in making international connectivity a real and vital part of our work.

I am very happy that our two institutions have established this international exchange (we currently have two graduate students from CAA on our campus this semester) and look forward to future programmatic collaborations and exchanges.  As one of  the oldest art schools in America,  this budding relationship establishes new ground for us, and we are excited about our future together!

Dennison W. Griffith

President

April, 2012

Flegle's sculpture, "Sorrow"

Foundation Studies and Fine Arts Instructor Matthew Flegle has work in a group exhibition at the Alice F. And Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The exhibition, Material Witness, features six artists and is curated by Matt Distel, the executive director at Visionaries & Voices, an organization supporting artists with disabilities.

The exhibition features artwork in which exposed structural components dictate the conceptual and formal readings of the objects.

Material Witness is open through Feb. 26, 2012.

CCAD talent on display at Bluemile

A collaborative effort to support central Ohio entrepreneurs and to nurture the best ideas from the region includes a display of art for purchase as one of its active components.

Local tech company Bluemile, ranked in 2010 by Inc. Magazine as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, is featuring artwork by CCAD alumni and faculty in its New Albany office as one way to introduce visitors and other programs to the college.

“We see CCAD as a leader in creative thought,” said Michael Marlowe, president and co-founder of Bluemile. “We’re introducing the college to various programs that we participate in that encourage idea growth and opportunity.”

Kevin J. Conlon, vice president for Academic Affairs, said CCAD talent came up in discussions with Marlowe as one way to support the company’s extensive involvement in venture accelerator and entrepreneurial programs.

“The elements that artists use to create are the same that entrepreneurs use to develop their businesses,” Marlowe said.

Since joining CCAD in June, Conlon has gotten to know the business executive as well as Fine Arts alumnus Adam Brouillette (CCAD 2002), executive director for Wonderland and founder of Couchfire Collective. Both impressed him with their ideas about the value of creativity as a means to solve problems, spark innovation and develop entrepreneurship.

Conlon immediately thought of Brouillette as a source for connecting with the best artistic talent that Columbus has to offer when Marlowe inquired about showcasing artists and their work. In a matter of days Brouillette organized 12 artists, the majority of whom are affiliated with CCAD, with a shared vision that creative individuals of all types contribute to the overall cultural value of the area.

“I have learned through experience that artistic, creative cultures thrive when supported and coupled with business entrepreneurs,” Brouillette said. “The opportunity to have these creative endeavors collide makes complete sense and I’m happy to do my part.”

Along with Brouillette, participating Fine Arts alumni included Christine D’Epiro (CCAD 2005), Andrew Ina (CCAD 2006), Boryana Rusenova Ina (CCAD 2006), Mike Litzau (CCAD 2004), Lauren Mudd (CCAD 2004), Nikos Fydor Rutkowski (CCAD 2002), Stephanie Sypsa (CCAD 2004) and Christopher Tennant (CCAD 2006). Other participants included Illustration alumnus Brian R. Williams (CCAD 2003), an adjunct instructor in Advertising & Graphic Design, and Foundation Studies adjunct instructor Nicole Langille. Ina and Litzau also are adjunct instructors in Foundation Studies and Rusenova Ina is a Fine Arts adjunct instructor.

“It makes perfect sense,” Conlon said. “(An artist’s) way of thinking during the creative process, also called abductive thinking, is identical to the sort of thinking that entrepreneurs engage to come up with new ideas.”

“I believe that Michael, Adam and I all share a vision that creative individuals of all types can contribute their skills in a way that realizes value from new ideas and new intellectual property,” Conlon said. “Overall, those skills contribute to the cultural value of the region and lead to the establishment and growth of creative companies in central Ohio.”

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.

Image from Julie Abijanac

Fine Arts alumna Julie Abijanac (CCAD 1992) has been accepted into The Studios of Key West Artist in Residency Program for summer 2012.

Abijanac is one of 25 residency artists from five countries and 20 different cities selected to advance the visual, performing and literary arts through an array of disciplines and mediums.

During the Key West program, Abijanac, an assistant professor of Foundation Studies, Media Studies, and Graduate Studies, will continue her work of the past few years on two dimensional paper pieces and digital drawings that address her personal experience with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, has lead her through an investigation of its psychological aspects and, most recently, the microscopic patterning of the disease. She explores the patterning of what is seen in a ‘field stain’ of a blood specimen and applies a controlled application of line, value and positioning of multiple compositions and/or parts to create larger works. 

Abijanac said one of her goals for this opportunity is to give back to the Key West art community by providing work for an exhibition based on her time in the four-week residency. She hopes to create an installation for exhibit in the Armory Main Hall or in the TSKW Space 2.

Abijanac said a long-term goal is to venture into the world of installation. She will be on sabbatical during spring semester 2012 and then will participate in the residency program before returning to CCAD in the autumn to teach.

Fissures and Fractures by Andrea Myers

Designing and installing a hidden outdoor public art piece calls for some creative problem solving.

Andrea Myers, an instructor in Foundation Studies, was up for the challenge of hiding —and weatherproofing — Fissures and Fractures, her first outdoor artwork. It is part of a project that takes visitors on tours of central Ohio parks through geochaching or letterboxing.

The Dublin Art Council’s project, Ripple Effect: Artistic Impact of the Scioto River, was started in 2007. Myers is one of three artists to recently install hidden artwork that has to do with tributaries to the river in central Ohio parks. Like the other nine works in the project, hers is designed to engage participants to use maps or GPS coordinates along with clues to find riverboxes placed in Dublin’s parks.

“I had to use creative problem solving, how to make something weatherproof,” she said. The public-art aspect also added challenges to the creative process because Myers pieces usually are made to be in a gallery and not touched. People who locate the riverboxes need access to the stamp and journal used in the geocaching search.

After visiting Homestead Park at the start of her involvement, Myers was inspired to do a rock formation that might be found around the park’s pond. She researched different Ohio rock formations, which led her to an abundance of Ohio’s slate. Similarly to layers that often are utilized in Myers’ work, slate rock also has layers.

Additional coverage of Myers involvement with the project and the recent installation is at ThisWeek.com and Dispatch.com.

Rapping Vikings.

Nicole Gibbs had two criteria for her Foundation Studies design class’s final project: she wanted it to involve a performance, and she wanted it to engage her students in the community beyond the CCAD campus.

The result?  A Mother’s Day puppet show performed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) on Sunday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m.

Bryston Walters, a Fashion Design Sophomore who worked as an oncology lab technician at NCH, is a member of Gibbs’ class. He suggested performing the show at the hospital and put Gibbs in contact with the Family and Volunteer Services department at NCH.

“When I proposed the puppet show performance to Donna Trentl (at Nationwide Children’s Hospital), she was very receptive to the idea,” said Gibbs. “The staff made it very easy for us to collaborate on this project.”

The students created every aspect of the performances, from storyline to character design and set construction to marketing.  The 4-act puppet show includes a slew of characters including rapping Vikings, fluffy sea monsters, know-it-all owls, mischievous unicorns, wish-granting stars, gregarious mice, and two chatty mermaids from Jersey.

“We decided to do the performance on Mother’s Day to be a treat for families who are spending the day with loved ones who are in the hospital,” Gibbs said.

The class chronicled the entire process of the project on a blog. You can check it out at http://ccadpuppetshow.wordpress.com. Video from the performance is at http://www.youtube.com/user/CCADpuppetshow2011.

Andrea Myers will have work at Art Chicago, an Ohio Art League exhibition and permanently in a Central Ohio park as a site-specific outdoor sculpture commissioned by the Dublin Arts Council.

Spill Thaw by Myers will be at Art Chicago 2011 in the Chicago Merchandise Mart’s Thomas McCormick Gallery from April 29 through May 2.

Everlasting will be featured at the Ohio Art League 100th Annual Spring Juried Exhibition. Myers’ work and others selected by juror Todd Slaughter will be shown at the Columbus Main Library from May 6 through June 24. An opening reception is 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 12 in the library’s Carnegie Gallery, 96 S. Grant Ave.

An artist’s reception for Dublin Arts Council‘s Riverbox Tributary Project is 10 a.m.–noon Saturday, May 21 at Homestead Park, 4675 Cosgray Rd. in Hilliard. The project includes Myers’ site-specific piece, which serves as a hidden vessel containing a unique stamp and journal for visitors to discover through the process of geocaching, a type of scavenger hunt where hobbyists use mapping to find sites and then record in their findings.

Alum Creek Marsh by Rob Robbins

Rob Robbins, professor, Fine Arts and Graduate Studies, and Ryan E. Smith, adjunct instructor, Foundation Studies, are participating in an upcoming exhibition in Central Ohio.

An artists’ reception for the CCAD faculty will be 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4 at Art Access Gallery during Bexley’s Art Walk. Their show, New Work, runs February 8—March 26 in the gallery.

Also, oil paintings by Robbins will be shown March 21— April 15 at Rosewood Gallery in Kettering, OH. The exhibit includes ceramic sculptures by Hunter Stamps.

Windows Passing by Mariana Smith

An installation and a digital video by Mariana Smith, adjunct instructor, Foundation Studies and Fine Arts, are included in a national juried exhibition at the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA).

Smith’s Windows Passing, a drawing, printmaking and one-channel video projection installation, and Horizons, a digital video, are included in Drawing Discourse: A Contemporary Exhibition in Drawing. Items for the exhibition were selected by juror Alex Kanevsky.

The exhibition is in UNCA’s S. Tucker Cooke Gallery from Friday Jan. 14 through Tuesday, Feb. 15. An opening reception is 6-8 p.m. Jan. 14 and is preceded by a juror’s lecture at 5 p.m.

Smith (CCAD, ’02) majored in Fine Arts.

Parallel by Julie M. Abijanac

The 10th anniversary celebration of a local gallery includes work by Julie M. Abijanac, assistant professor, Foundation Studies and Media Studies.

Abijanac responded to an open call from business partners Barb Unverferth and Gail Burkart for a show to celebrate a decade of operating Art Access Gallery, 540 S. Drexel Ave. in Bexley. Her piece is a monochrome digital drawing titled Parallel.

Information about the gallery and the exhibition, which runs through December, is available at Art Access Gallery. To read an article about the anniversary exhibition go to the Columbus Dispatch.

Abijanac’s faculty bio is on CCAD’s website.

Bathroom Mirror Self Portrait I by Sophie Knee

Ohio Art League’s November gallery exhibition features works by three CCAD faculty and adjunct instructors.

Chicks with Big Rollers, curated by Sophie Knee, is on view through Wednesday, Nov. 24. The exhibition includes works by Kathy McGhee, associate professor, Fine Arts and Graduate Studies, and Mariana Smith, adjunct instructor, Foundation Studies and Fine Arts. Knee, an instructor in CCAD’s Continuing Education program, also has work in the exhibition.

The Ohio Art League regularly presents member-curated exhibitions at its gallery, 1552 N. High St. at the Ohio State University South Campus Gateway. Details about the November exhibition are at www.oal.org.

Go to the Faculty Biographies page of CCAD’s website to learn more about McGhee and Smith. Knee’s biography is available on the CE Faculty page.

On-verge.org serves as a platform to present art and culture topics that may not be covered by mainstream media. The forum features the writing, opinions and musings of alumni from CUE Art Foundation’s Young Art Critic Mentoring Program.

Developed by CUE in collaboration with the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA), the project gives emerging writers the opportunity to highlight rising and under-recognized artists around the globe.

Along with Yates, other initial contributors include Caitlin Haskell, Cameron Shaw, Melissa Tuckman, and Kerrie Welsh.  To read their feature stories go to www.on-verge.org. Information about Yates is available at ccad.digication.com/yates.

To learn more about CUE and the art critic program go to www.cueartfoundation.org.

Foundations-3 by Christopher A. Yates

Meditations: Christopher A. Yates continues through Sept. 12 at Ohio Wesleyan University, Gallery 2011, Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave., in Delaware, OH.

Yates, associate professor, Fine Arts and Graduate Studies, chair, Foundation Studies, will hold a closing gallery talk at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9. A reception will follow.

Gallery hours are 8-2 a.m. Monday-Thursday; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and 11-2 a.m. Sunday.

Yates majored in Fine Arts at CCAD as a member of the class of 1987.

The exhibition was juried by Tim Rietenbach, professor, Foundation Studies, Fine Arts, and Graduate Studies, by Melissa Vogley Woods, guest curator of Shared Spaces: 2010 Faculty Biennial Exhibition, and by Annegreth T. Nill, independent curator of contemporary art. The jurors assessed nuances of scale, surface, composition and technique in a variety of mediums. They also looked for work from emerging artists living in Ohio.

Works by Julian-Norton (Fine Arts, ’99) can be viewed at www.daniellejuliannorton.com. For information about the June issue of Sculpture go to www.sculpture.org.

David Burghy

David Burghy, associate professor, Foundation Studies, was presented with the fourth annual Award for Teaching Excellence during an April 29th ceremony in the Canzani Center. The award recognizes the exemplary efforts of CCAD’s faculty, their overall contributions to the college as a whole, and use of classroom settings to engage and enhance student experiences. Nominations are submitted by current CCAD students, faculty and alumni. Burghy (Industrial Design, ’89) teaches three-dimensional design and structural drawing and is co-author of Structural Drawing and Applications, 1998 and 2003 editions.

The ceremony also honored four faculty retirees: Margaret Armbrust, Ph.D., professor, Liberal Arts; Tom Kier, professor, chair, Industrial Design; Robin McKell, associate professor, Liberal Arts; and Bruce Robinson, professor, Fine Arts.

Veritas, on display in the Main Hall Gallery, includes Julian-Norton’s sculptures made of sugar and Smith’s printmaking, drawing, and video installation.

The exhibition is on view until Jan. 30, 2010 with a closing reception from 6:30–10 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010.

For more information go to http://culturalartscenteronline.org/exhibits.

The End by Tim Rietenbach

Tim Rietenbach (CCAD ’77), professor, Foundation Studies & Fine Arts, has a solo exhibition, The End, at Chop Chop Gallery through Oct. 20.

The show has a public opening 7-9 p.m. Sept. 18. Otherwise, the work is on view by appointment by calling 614.406.5446. The gallery is at 78 Parsons Ave. in Columbus.

Read Rietenbach’s faculty bio on CCAD’s website.

Peterson, chair of Foundation Studies, teaches painting, color theory, two-dimensional design, and illustration.

The award was presented April 23 by CCAD President Denny Griffith. Afterward, Peterson (CCAD, ’83) thanked colleagues who taught her. “Great teachers make great students, who in turn become great teachers.”

Go to the Award for Teaching Excellence page to see a list of all award winners. Peterson’s faculty bio has more about her work.