I am working on an installation inspired by the wallpaper and fabric patterns of Arts and Crafts designer William Morris, especially his most famous work titled “The Strawberry Thief.” I will individually sculpt thousands of leaf, flower, fruit and bird forms, which will be connected into an interlocking three dimensional wallpaper pattern that will span over 100 square feet. The plant elements will be made of the same materials as my previous work: reclaimed wood from deconstructed homes, or ornate picture frames, rulers, decorative fruit, toys, and cooking utensils. No found object will be easily recognizable. The pieces in the center of this installation will be harmonious, but as your eye moves towards the edges and to the parts growing onto the adjacent wall and floor, the flora and fauna will become more wild and unusual in form and behavior. These elements will break from their patterned routines, craning towards the light coming from the open ceiling above. A bird might now turn its head to peer at the viewer, a provocative object held in its beak.

A monochromatic carpet will fill much of the floor space of the gallery, and it will be apparent that some of the vines coming from the main wall have been covered by this surface, similar to the black ground cloth we use to smother unruly growth on an urban plot of land. These vines have traveled beneath the surface, however, sprouting up in far corners again. Like the edges of the wall installation, these plants are slightly changed when they re-emerge. This not only is a nod to the long running themes in my own artwork, but also a nod to Morris, whose outspoken political views made him a controversial figure in his time.

One of Morris’ most famous quotes is: “Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” As an homage to this concept, the components of this installation are actually wall-mounted brooches and tie-tacks. Eight pieces that extend from the wall to the floor are neckpieces.

Most of the funding levels for this project will reward Kickstarter backers with one or more brooches or necklaces from this installation. All work will be signed and numbered on the back, and then collected in an online flickr album, so supporters can choose their piece before the general public.

Please note that most of the work you see in this video is still unfinished. The brooch that you see coming off the wall and pinning to my sweater is an example of a finished piece. But never fear: I will update the page here with links to my blog, where I’m chronicling the creation of this complex project and will show finished pieces as they emerge. Visit my blog at http://www.hilarypfeifer.blogspot.com or see other projects from the past decade at my website http://www.hilarypfeifer.com

This will be my most intricate installation yet, so I will use Kickstarter funding to hire a team of professional jewelers and craftspeople to help me with the detailed construction work that this project requires. http://kck.st/dldIA8

Reconnecting Children with Families is a local, non-profit program that searches for long lost relatives for children who have been in foster care for so long that they’ve become disconnected from their family of origin. Often called the loneliest children, RCWF’s mission is to create lifelong family connections for these youth so that even if they can’t go home, they’ll always have a family.

We are currently looking for a volunteer artist to paint a large tree mural on the wall in the Beaverton DHS Child Welfare office, to provide a beautiful, visual depiction of our progress as well as the continued need for family connections. If you are interested in using your artistic talents to help kids in foster care, please contact RCWF Coordinator Sarah Kopplin at (503) 277-1703 or

Thank you!

The DPP and Thesis Buildings received Temporary Occupancy Permits last week and we have begun moving in!

Image: Travis Townsend

Travis Townsend, current OCAC Artist-in-Residence, is showing NEW THINGS + DRAWINGS @ DOPPLER PDX, 625 NW Everett Street #109 in Portland, Oregon. The show runs August 5-14, 2010 and by appointment. Opening Reception:  August 5th 5:30-9:00pm. Gallery Hours:  Saturdays (August 7th & 14h) 1-4pm
 

Doppler PDX presents Travis Townsend’s newest work: NEW THINGS + DRAWINGS. There is something refreshing and invigorating for an artist to break-away from their typical creating process and reworking of final pieces. Townsend takes on takes on and exhibits the results of his two week residency at Oregon College of Art and Craft.  For Townsend the two week period was a chance to put aside his lengthy process of making, looking, thinking, reworking months later, and then exhibiting a year (or more) later, and instead is creating a body of work in a two week period with minimal reworking time.
 

NEW THINGS + DRAWINGS are works created with using a mixture of plywood, reclaimed building materials, art student wood scraps, and other hardware store materials. Townsend’s works are idiosyncratic sculptures that play off the forms and function of tools, toys, and military equipment and include Townsend’s usual cast of characters (tanks, dead birds, flower bombs, and targets). While Townsend built, altered, and adapted his pieces, he also embraced the unplanned and oddly familiar into nearly useful-looking  sculptures that are imbued with human characteristics and gestures.
 

Travis Townsend studied at Kutztown University (BS 1996) and Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA 2000), has recently presented solo exhibitions at the Southwest School of Art and Craft (San Antonio), Weston Gallery (Cincinnati), Georgetown College (KY), and the New Arts Program (PA), and been included in group exhibitions at the University of Hawaii, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts (IL), Kendall College (MI); Spaces Gallery (Cleveland); Lehigh University (PA); and Zone: Chelsea (New York).  Images of his artwork have been published in The Penland Book of Woodworking, New American Paintings, and the Manifest National Drawing Annual.  His awards include an Emerging Artist Grant from the American Craft Council, a Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council, three grants from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, and a National Young Sculptors Award from Miami University. He lives in Lexington, KY, teaches drawing, design, and concepts at Eastern Kentucky University. Travis recently curated an exhibition titled Generously Odd for the Lexington Art League.
  

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit: http://www.dopplerpdx.com

Elizabeth Mickle Holloway (‘07) received her Masters in Elementary Education from Marylhurst University (‘10) and will be teaching Kindergarten at M.I.T.C.H. Chart School, a public school in Tigard/Tualatin focusing on writing and art. Come August 13th, she is marrying Shane Michael Fisher, a fellow artist and teacher.

Image: Lucy Bergen
Lucy Bergen (’08) had a piece selected for Sleight of Hand 2: A National Juried Craft Competition at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA this past spring.  As of June 2010, she is a married woman (!), and she is currently working on a body of painted work exploring the growing divide between man-made and the natural world. 

Ellen Goldschmidt‘s (’00) show, titled Drawing Frames opens at Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW Ninth Ave, Portland, OR on First Thursday, August 5 from 6 – 9 pm. She is offering an artist talk on Sunday, August 15 at 11 am at the gallery. Goldschmidt challenges traditional norms of painting by hanging her contemporary still life paintings in frames drawn directly onto the wall. The unusual installation subtly emphasizes the objecthood of the paintings over the images they present. http://www.blackfish.com

Image: VonTundra
Von Tundra, comprised of OCAC alumni Dan Anderson, Chris Held, and Brian Pietrowski, & The Renegade Dinner Club have been offered an opportunity to create an installation and a series of events at Specific Merchandise, a storefront gallery in Los Angeles. VonTundra will fill a gallery space with hand-made furniture (a family table, chairs, lighting, even hand-crafted tableware), spread the table with local home cooked fixings, and they invite you to come by to join them at the table!  


Von Tundra is a grassroots American design house and artist collective based in Portland, Oregon. Our mission is to create well-crafted contemporary furniture, objects, and spaces that express our dedication to longevity and simplicity.


Chef Colleen French is the creator of the Renegade Dinner Club, a social conceptual art piece using food as the medium. Renegade transforms a simple dinner into a full sensory experience that can take place anywhere—the roof of your apartment building, the grassy lot down the street, anywhere that is—except in a restaurant! 



Image: VonTundra
The goal is pleasingly simple: to share our craft-based practices with the community and create tangible connections between Slow Food and Slow Design.  We hope this collaboration between design, art, food, and community will continue to grow—eventually traveling the country. 
We are currently raising funds on Kickstarter and offering donor’s incentives to help us reach our goal. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/610122538/a-marriage-of-crafts-design-dinner