Studio Arts Research Articles

Activating smell’s political potential through smellwalk route design

This text unravels the collaborative design approach we—Ph.D. researcher Lauryn Mannigel, science and technology studies scholar Christy Spackman, cultural geographer Kevin McHugh, and visual artist and Studio Arts instructor Vicky Sabourin—used to create the route of a guided smellwalk for Montréal’s Quartier Concordia, exploring the political potential of smell. Drawing from the perspectives of practicing artists who value smell’s ephemerality, contextuality, and materiality, this text outlines the development of the smellwalk route, where we tested Mannigel’s conceptual curiosity in designing a path around the Henry F. Hall building—a building with a contentious political past—and Sabourin’s familiarity with the smells of frequently encountered spaces at Quartier Concordia. By exploring the roles of geographical proximity and distance, spatial familiarity and unfamiliarity, and the recollection of smell experiences—creatively balancing preconceived ideas with chance and pragmatics—our creative process develops a practice-led framework for olfactory encounters and public discussions that may activate the political potential of smell.

Naess’s Empirical Semantics and Postdigital Design Agency in Contemporary Studio Arts Education

Naess’s Empirical Semantics and Postdigital Design Agency in Contemporary Studio Arts Education

Feverish Thumbs: Ceroplastic Tools

May 01 2023 Feverish Thumbs: Ceroplastic Tools Emily Madrigal Emily Madrigal Emily Madrigal is a PhD student in Art & Architectural History at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the materials of sculpture, specifically plaster in nineteenth-century France. She received her B. A. in studio arts from Princeton University, worked as a studio assistant for New York-based sculptor Martha Friedman, and studied at Penland School of Craft, all of which inform her understanding of material histories from an embodied perspective. She received her M. A. from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art at the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts, where her qualifying paper was title ”Reverse Pygmalions: Plaster in Édouard Dantan's Atelier Paintings.” Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Emily Madrigal Emily Madrigal is a PhD student in Art & Architectural History at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the materials of sculpture, specifically plaster in nineteenth-century France. She received her B. A. in studio arts from Princeton University, worked as a studio assistant for New York-based sculptor Martha Friedman, and studied at Penland School of Craft, all of which inform her understanding of material histories from an embodied perspective. She received her M. A. from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art at the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts, where her qualifying paper was title ”Reverse Pygmalions: Plaster in Édouard Dantan's Atelier Paintings.” Online ISSN: 2572-7338 Print ISSN: 1091-711X © 2023 Emily Madrigal2023Emily Madrigal Thresholds (2023) (51): 86–89. https://doi.org/10.1162/thld_a_00793 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Emily Madrigal; Feverish Thumbs: Ceroplastic Tools. Thresholds 2023; (51): 86–89. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/thld_a_00793 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsThresholds Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2023 Emily Madrigal2023Emily Madrigal Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Understanding Stress in the Education of Designers: A Study Exploring Learning Pressures for Design Students

Learning pressures can influence the academic performance and psychological well-being of college students. Research has found each student experiences pressure in the learning process, which can negatively impact their learning outcomes if not properly addressed. This study examines learning pressures experienced by undergraduate design students at a Midwestern University in the United States. Students majoring in studio arts, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and landscape architecture were surveyed. The survey contained 17 questions that measured stress and pressures caused by peer pressure, self-expectation, time and financial pressures, and future career pressures on a Likert scale. Eight inquiries identified demographic information for additional evaluation and consideration. Investigators found students felt the most learning pressure when not satisfied with their work, specifically when perceiving they were not achieving their own goals. Indicators point to self-esteem as a key component of learning pressures. This paper also shows co￾relationships to learning pressure based on demographic information. Insights gained from this research will help instructors create an empathetic and supportive classroom for students.

Constructing the present and envisioning the future in the studio arts in Cairo

This paper explores the post-revolutionary creative production of two prominent young studio artists in Egypt: Hany Rashed (b. 1975) and Bassem Yousri (b. 1980). Both of these artists were active prior to and during the 2011 Revolution and in the immediate post-revolutionary period. This paper focuses on some of their most recent work, created under the oppressive circumstances of the el-Sisi regime. I argue that both of these artists engage a set of artistic strategies and concerns common to creative producers of their generation, including experimentation with metanarrative, the relationship between the human and the non-human, and exploration of the harsh realities of a politically oppressive urban environment. I examine Rashed’s 2018-9 project mathaf al-jips [Gypsum museum] with a view toward elucidating the way in which he thinks about the interaction between people and machines within the context of the city; and Yousri’s 2016 project Guideposts, which deals with what Yousri calls the “institutional aesthetic’ and engages a metanarrative approach that examines the relationship between artist and audience.

Review: Proximities: Art, Education, Activism, by Linda Brooks

Review: <i>Proximities: Art, Education, Activism</i>, by Linda Brooks

What's in a title? The developing role of an artist-critic in the university

Abstract Arts professionals within higher education struggle with identity. Dual roles across departments, the changing role of the arts professor and non-traditional positions have challenged the notion of the studio arts instructor and whether institutional expectations are the best way to think about the future of the arts in higher education. As a veteran arts professor, dean, art historian, art critic and artist – my role is not as straightforward as I originally thought it might be as an undergrad studio art major. Through a series of significant streams in my education and personal life, including successes and failures in the academic and professional art world – a new identity emerged that is not represented in search profiles, academic departments or administrative positions.

Dewey, Materiality, and the Role of the Visual (Studio) Arts in the Liberal Arts

Abstract Most of John Dewey’s early work on educational theory was directed to K-12 education, and his later ground-breaking work in aesthetics, particularly in Art as Experience, never directly discusses liberal arts education. However, he did sometimes address the nature of liberal arts education: in his discussion of Aristotle’s concept of “liberal” in Democracy and Education, in his critique of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, in a debate with educator Robert Maynard Judson, and in his small piece, published in 1944, “The Problem of the Liberal Arts College.” Moreover, the impact of his theories on arts education was profound, mainly by way of his influence on Black Mountain College. However, it is Art as Experience that provides the basis for placing the studio arts at the very center of such an expansion. The role of making and materiality in the liberal arts can only be fully understood once we grasp the full implications of Dewey’s closely related concepts of experience and medium. His conception of “an experience” as it relates to artistic making and appreciation can be best understood in terms of his understanding of the creative process. Materiality plays an important role in this, especially, again, through the concept of medium.

Resolving room volume and structural vibration transfer issues at UW Green Bay’s Studio Arts Building

The primary rehearsal spaces for the orchestral, band, and choral programs in the Music Department at the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay are hosted at the campus’ Studio Arts building, which was constructed in the early 1970’s and had not been significantly updated since then. The goal of the building’s renovation was to improve room acoustic response for both spaces, improve on the insufficient acoustic isolation between the large instrumental and choral rehearsal rooms, and to update HVAC services. Because of the many years of wear and undocumented alterations to the building, exploratory testing of airborne and structure-borne vibration paths was necessary to determine the contributing means of sound transfer between spaces. Acoustically isolated construction ultimately was utilized to increase separation between rooms as well as to introduce acoustic shaping to the choral rehearsal room, to maximize reverberation and avoid the typical acoustic pitfalls of a roughly cubic room volume. A new reflector array was installed in the large instrumental rehearsal room, as well as targeted absorptive and diffusive treatments. New variable acoustic treatments were designed and installed in both rooms, while noise and vibration control for new HVAC equipment realized suitably low background noise levels for both.The primary rehearsal spaces for the orchestral, band, and choral programs in the Music Department at the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay are hosted at the campus’ Studio Arts building, which was constructed in the early 1970’s and had not been significantly updated since then. The goal of the building’s renovation was to improve room acoustic response for both spaces, improve on the insufficient acoustic isolation between the large instrumental and choral rehearsal rooms, and to update HVAC services. Because of the many years of wear and undocumented alterations to the building, exploratory testing of airborne and structure-borne vibration paths was necessary to determine the contributing means of sound transfer between spaces. Acoustically isolated construction ultimately was utilized to increase separation between rooms as well as to introduce acoustic shaping to the choral rehearsal room, to maximize reverberation and avoid the typical acoustic pitfalls of a roughly cubic room volume. A new reflecto...

Finding Buddha in the Clay Studio: Lessons for Art Therapy

Clay is an effective medium in art therapy insofar as it promotes mindfulness, acceptance, and a keen awareness of impermanence. Specifically, Buddhist-inspired lessons of meditative practices permeate the clay studio and embody ceramic arts techniques such as wabi-sabi and kintsugi. Of all art media, clay offers a hands-on approach that facilitates a present-moment experience that is particularly well suited to contemplative engagement.

A Maker Studio Model for High School Classrooms: The Nature and Role of Critique in an Electronic Textiles Design Project

Background/Context Though the maker movement has proliferated in out-of-school settings, there remains a design challenge of how to effectively integrate maker activities into K–12 classrooms. In other contexts, though, creative design and production have historically been successfully integrated in classrooms through studio models common to the arts, architecture, and engineering. Purpose/Objective In this paper, we leverage the features and practices of studio models from arts, architecture, and engineering education to integrate maker activities in a high school classroom. Within this Maker Studio model, students focus on designing a computational artifact and engage in practices more predominantly found in studio arts, architecture, and engineering classes such as feedback, critique, and reflection. Research Design We conducted a case study of how a class of 23 high school students participating in a STEM elective class in teams partnered with art students to develop an interactive installation. Our analyses focus on how the structure of the feedback, critique, and reflections in the Maker Studio informed and shaped students’ design processes. Conclusions We discuss affordances and implications of recognizing studio practices (particularly critique) as design features of maker activities, especially in high school classroom contexts, and present the Maker Studio as a viable model for integration of maker activities in classroom environments. We also characterize key features of the Maker Studio model, including the following: appreciation and support for maker processes in addition to or even above final products, integration of various structures for giving and receiving critique throughout the design process, support for interdisciplinary and collaborative project work, and engagement with diverse perspectives and expertise during critiques.

I Still Hate New Year’s Day

Research Article| June 01 2019 I Still Hate New Year’s Day Ryan Conrad Ryan Conrad Ryan Conrad is postdoctoral fellow at the AIDS Activist History Project housed in the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Carleton University in Ottawa. He holds a PhD from the Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Society and Culture at Concordia University and an MFA in interdisciplinary studio arts from the Maine College of Art. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking (2019) 6 (2): 104–108. https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.6.2.0104 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Ryan Conrad; I Still Hate New Year’s Day. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 1 June 2019; 6 (2): 104–108. doi: https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.6.2.0104 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveMichigan State University PressQED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2019 Michigan State University2019 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

About the Contributors

About the Contributors

Design Core Commonalities

ABSTRACT This comprehensive study asks what a group of rather diverse disciplines have in common. It involves a cross-disciplinary examination of an entire college, the College of Design at Iowa State University. This research was intended to provide a sense of direction in developing and assessing possible core content. The reasoning was that material that is necessary to all of the different design programs would be likely material for the core. In this study, a referenced qualitative study and subsequent quantitative process documented the learning most valued by six different design programs: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Community and Regional Planning, Graphic Design, Interior Design, and Integrated Studio Arts. This study produced a process that can be used to define a core program bridging differences in lens and terminology.

Design Core Commonalities: A Study of the College of Design at Iowa State University

This comprehensive study asks what a group of rather diverse disciplines have in common. It involves a cross-disciplinary examination of an entire college, the College of Design at Iowa State University. This research was intended to provide a sense of direction in developing and assessing possible core content. The reasoning was that material that is necessary to all of the different design programs would be likely material for the core. In this study, a referenced qualitative study and subsequent quantitative process documented the learning most valued by six different design programs: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Community and Regional Planning, Graphic Design, Interior Design, and Integrated Studio Arts. This study produced a process that can be used to define a core program bridging differences in lens and terminology.

Race to the top and leave the children behind

The USA was the first nation to attain universal secondary education through the creation of a unitary school structure capped by the uniquely American institution, the comprehensive or cosmopolitan high school. Other leading democratic nations adopted the comprehensive model, but not until well after mid-twentieth century. The modern movement for charter schools was advocated by President George H.W. Bush in America 2000, issued in 1991, and subsequently expanded in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed by President George W. Bush. The charter school movement, coupled with nationalized testing, was to gain great momentum under President Barack Obama in Race to the Top—raising a clear and present danger of splitting up the school system. Once ubiquitous in the elementary school, shop classes have been virtually eliminated while the studio arts—the subjects that children love—have been cut back drastically. Once regarded as professional malpractice, teaching-to-the test is now a ‘best practice’, with deleterious consequences for the school curriculum, and in making decisions on pupil placement, teacher tenure and school evaluation. There is an abiding taboo in the education profession against exposing the invalidity of external, high-stakes, standardized tests in making such decisions.

An Investigation into the Creation, Stability, and X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Early Photographic Processes: An Upper-Level Undergraduate Laboratory

Photography is one of the few fine art forms that were initially developed by scientists such as Herschel and Talbot; however, in the modern chemistry curriculum, photography has become divorced from its scientific beginnings and resides in the studio arts department of most universities. An upper-level undergraduate experiment is described in which students duplicate William Henry Fox Talbot’s original silver-based photographic methods and analyze their prints by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The students are able to successfully make prints and experimentally confirm whether the prints had been halide stabilized, thiosulfate-fixed, or toned with sulfur, selenium, or gold. Their experimental results are discussed in the context of preservation of museum collections and photograph conservation. This experiment introduced students to the field of conservation science, where chemistry is applied to the investigation and preservation of artistic or cultural materials, activities that often involve the re-creation of historic techniques.

Envision and Observe: Using the Studio Thinking Framework for Learning and Teaching in Digital Arts

The Studio Thinking Framework (STF) focuses on habits of mind taught through studio arts rather than disciplinary content or media‐specific techniques. It is well suited to integrate studies of arts learning and teaching in a range of contexts, and it provides a framework for understanding how visual arts participation is dramatically changing with the advent of digital tools and the Internet. This study focuses on two habits of mind, observe and envision and analyzes how they are taught in high school arts classrooms using traditional media compared with a digital context of an informal educational class using 3D computer modeling and animation. The STF facilitates detecting learning patterns, sustaining pedagogical reflection, and providing structure for the design of studies of learning in and through the arts.

Making Space for Art : the Culture Debate and the Studio Arts Movement in Hong-Kong

In Hong Kong, the recent emergence of studio arts districts is taking place in the context of public debate over state visions of cultural facilities and creative industries. While government invests in a planned culture district, artists struggle for working space in an environment of volatile rents. To contribute to a critical geography of art, this discussion engages the struggle to produce contemporary and alternative art in Hong Kong after 1997 at the theoretical intersection of the production of space, cultural political economy and the Deleuzian idea of art as sensation.

Collaboration within the Arts: A Project Involving a Band Literature Course and Studio Arts

Collaboration within the Arts: A Project Involving a Band Literature Course and Studio Arts