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Hi all,
In the last post we looked at the finished product of a year-long process of creating a circular, broken tile mosaic in front of Heritage Middle School in Painesville Ohio. I thought you might enjoy seeing photos of the students who created and installed the project.
Two Eighth graders from this year's class that worked very hard to make the mosaic installation a success were Sigi and Ron who are pictured above right
George
Hi all,
This is a brief post documenting the installation of the new broken tile mosaic bench at Heritage Middle School in Painesville Ohio created by the students under my direction and through the coordination of Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio. The bench is a celebration of the school's student population--approximately one-third Hispanic, one-third African-American and one-third of European descent. Heritage Middle was opened in the Fall of 2008 and the school wanted a colorful and meaningful tile bench at the main entrance. The mosaic work was completed by the eighth graders in the Spring of 2009 and was installed in September of that year. Represented in the design are 11 world countries and one US territory as well as the portraits of eight students. The cardinal directions are marked with parts of the Navajo sun symbol.
The broken tile mosaic technique was developed in Barcelona Spain around the year 1900 by architect Antonio 
Gaudi. The pictures in this post show tile setter Ernie Lodsdon and two Heritage students adhering the mosaic to the circular bench. One week later the piece will be grouted and ready for use.
George
Hi all,
For the past month the talk in the Cleveland art world has focused on the opening of the Cleveland Museum of Art's new East Wing and the sudden resignation of Timothy Rub, the Museum's director for just three years. I would enjoy comments from readers on either subject.
My history with the CMA goes back to second grade when I attended Saturday classes there. In high school, my Saturday art classes were across the street at the Institute of Art, with trips to the Art Museum after lunch. My high school art club traveled to the Museum's May Show each Spring (after dinner downtown at the New york Spaghetti House.) After college at Baldwin-Wallace and Kent State and art school in New York, I returning to Cleveland to paint. The Museum was again a place to visit often. Finally, after a hiatus of recording and touring with a rock band, my re-involvement the the visual arts was through a teaching position in the Museum's Education Department. My association with that department continued until just several years ago.
This personal history of my relationship with the Cleveland Museum of Art is by way of introducing a discussion of its new East Wing. This new space is part of a long expansion process the Museum is undertaking. Last Summer the Museum re-opened the main floor of the its 1916 building which I covered in an earlier post to this blog. Much work is left to be done on this expansion process including the construction of a new West Wing, a new covered atrium replacing the outdoor garden court, the re-opening of Gartner Auditorium, the renovation of the lower level of the 1916 building and the re-installation of the bulk of the Museum's long stored collections.
My first visit to the Museum's new East Wing was late on a Wednesday afternoon in July. My wife Gail and I wanted to tour the new wing and have an early dinner before viewing a film showing there. As typical of the CMA, the galleries were beautifully finished and the art beautifully displayed. Natural light penetrated deep into the interior spaces of the new wing. The art includes European and American work from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Photography now has its own galleries and is no longer diplayed in dimly lit corridors. Artists of the Cleveland School even have their own small gallery. There is one striking anomoly: A single, long, narrow gallery hung with art that should be viewed at a distance which is impossible in this space.
(This is the first of several blogs on the Cleveland Museum of Art. Please stop back for future installments.)
George Woideck
Hi all,
It's amazing to think how busy this school year has been and to see that my last post was all of six months ago. That last post dealt with three tile and mosaic projects at schools that were to be completed this Spring. Each was planned to be unique and expected to be challenging. I can report that each was successful but at this writing only two of the projects have been installed. The third, a broken tile mosaic is completed but not installed. Prep work on the concrete surface upon which the mosaic was to be adhered was not completed in time before the end of the school year. This was a major disappointment for all involved, including the students. Plans are underway for the project be installed either during the Summer or at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year in late August or early September.
The two projects that were completed include the tile mural in the cafeteria at Wiley Middle School in Cleveland Heights Ohio and a mammoth glass tile foyer at Nobel Elementary School, also in Cleveland Heights. Two very different approaches and two very successful projects.Let's take a look at the Noble School project titled "Blossoming with Learning". Recently for security concerns the main entrance to Noble Elementary was move to a door adjacent to the office. Principal Julie Beers and Art Teacher Nancy Eisenberg wanted to create a colorful, welcoming entrance that would subtly direct visitors to the school office. Glass tile tesserae was chosen because of its ability to reflect and refract light. As with other mural projects, students were part of each step of its design and creation. The problem with properly documenting the finished mosaic is that it's installed on four adjacent walls covering about 300 square feet and using about 40,000 glass mosaic pieces. Pictured is the portal through which visitors must pass before checking in at the office. Also shown is a picture of students hand placing the tesserae in the art room during the construction phase.
We'll have more
pictures and news in future blog posts. Best wishes to my teaching friends for a relaxing as well as stimulating Summer.
George
Hi all,
As the last installment in this series I thought I'd mention some of my upcoming residencies. I'm currently scheduled to do three projects at schools involving tile and mosaic. The amazing thing is that although they share the same ceramic medium, the similarity stops there. At Wiley Middle School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio we will be creating a tile mural for their lunchroom that will combine tile with extruded clay. Art teacher Heather Vokic wanted a work of art that would serve to display students' work so we will be making frames from extruded clay molding that will be incorporated in to a tile mural. The frames will allow for the display of ever changing two dimensional art. Next week I'll be meeting with the students to begin the design phase of the project.
At Heritage Middle School in Painesville Ohio, the residency will focus on an outdoor installation using broken tile mosaic, a la Antonio Gaudi of Barcelona Spain. Heritage is a brand new school and the project will celebrate the family backgrounds of the students. The student body is divided evenly between Chicano, Anglo and African- American, hence the school's name. We'll be incorporating faces, flags and geographical detail into the design.
Noble Elementary School in Cleveland Heights Ohio alreading has a mural titled "Reading is a Treasure to be Discovered" that the students and I created several years ago. As is the case of many schools, Noble has recently moved its main entrance to a new, more secure location. The new entrance lacks a wecoming feeling so we're discussing a glass tile mosaic installtion in the foyer that would add color and warmth to the area.
For me, the delightful part of the upcoming projects is their variety and design and technical challeges. These challenges keep my job interesting and allow me to use all my experience as a full time ceramic artist.
You can view past projects and keep up with new developments at my website tileandclayart.com.
Best wishes,
George
Hi all,
The mural at Westerly School was dedicated with a splash. The unveiling or dedication of a major installation is an important event. It gives focus to the achievements of the students, teacher(s) and artist. It's also an ideal media event although my preference has always been to document the students at work instead of the finished product.
As I mentioned earlier, we were a bit under the gun with the Westerly project. Our goal was to have the piece installed a month before our first freezing weather. That is so the cement product we use for adhering the tiles to the exterior wall has time to dry and cure. In Northern Ohio the date of the first frost is difficult to predict. As I'm writing this, I'm watching snow flurries blow past my window. Brrrr.
The dedication and unveiling was an exciting event with all the students in attendance. After the paper covering was removed there was applause and cheers followed by students passing by the mural and pointing towards or touching the part they decorated. Thanks to art teacher Debra Sanson, Principal Sylvia Cooper and the students, staff and parents of Westerly Elementary School for making this a memorable success.
George Woideck
Hi all,
Last week was the annual convention of the Ohio Art Education Association (OAEA) in Toledo Ohio. I had the opportunity to give two workshops on the subject of finding and using an artist-in-the-schools. I want to thank the art teachers who attended the workshops and say another hello to my friends in the art education community. Art teachers know how to give a great conference as well as have a great time.
One of the benefits of visiting Toledo is their Museum of Art. I remember seeing several years ago a full page color ad from the Frick Collection in the New York Times for a new exhibit. The headline read "Masterpieces of European Painting from the Toledo Museum of Art." I had to chuckle that the New York art world had finally caught up with what we Ohioans had known for years: Toledo has a great museum of art. It's a comprehensive museum with wide ranging collections representing many styles, eras, mediums and regions. In addition to the collection and special exhibitions the museum features the separate Glass Pavilion that has has a marvelous collection of glass art from ancient to contemporary.
Moving away from the convention, I wanted to add another installment of the series "Anatomy of a Residency." In our last post we discussed decorating the tiles for the ceramic tile mural at Westerly School in Bay Village Ohio. At Westerly we were up against a tight time schedule. The mural was to be installed outdoors against an exterior wall underneath a canopy. Outdoor installation are very tricky and our goal was to have the work completed and in place as early in October as possible. Art teacher Debra Sanson and I got the tiles in and out of the kiln in record speed firing both at the school and at my studio. A dedicated team of volunteers assisted myself and tile setter Ernie Logsdon in the installation. Pictured are several images of the installation. 
George
