Text Box: Volume 2, Issue 1

THE

UNIVERSITY

of  TULSA

GRADUATE

SCHOOL

Newsletter

 

                 

Text Box: SEPTEMBER 14, 2007 ARTText Box: To submit questions or information to be included in the next issue of the TU Graduate School Newsletter, please click here. Craig Stelle: Marine Ceramicist

Craig Stelle (MFA ‘04) found inspiration for his research project while working the night  shift as a  security guard at Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum.  Stelle was captivated by the texture of a Greek amphorae vase encrusted with barnacles, tube worms and oysters—an intriguing texture he set out to replicate.

 

The Seaworthy Project, which was supported by a research grant from the University, is based on the idea of creating artwork from clay then returning it to the Earth’s oceans, allowing nature to makes its final contribution to the art.

 

Sculptured pottery is placed in the ocean for a minimum of one year in order to allow sea life to grow on the work.  While nature is “glazing” the artwork, Stelle records information about what is happening to each piece and to the series as a whole.  Data, along with underwater photography and videography, will be available to the public during exhibition and will be sent to scientists to help further their studies in restoring the dying coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

 

Stelle received an MFA at TU, concentrating in environmental art and ceramics.  He is an adjunct professor at Oral Roberts University and teaches third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders at Philbrook Museum.

 

For  more information on the Seaworthy Project,

visit http://www.seaworthyproject.com/

 

Article reprinted from The University of Tulsa Magazine, Spring/Summer 2007
Upcoming Events

 

Rick Lowe

November 8, 2007, 7:00 pm

Lorton Hall 207

 

 

Rick Lowe has moved from creating paintings and sculptures dealing with social issues to an art practice that directly engages in the life of the community. In the process, he abandoned traditional art materials and made the community itself the

basis for his work. What began as a volunteer effort to restore a series of row houses in the historical Third Ward district of Houston turned into Project Row Houses, an arts and cultural community center, which now offers programs that encompass arts and culture, neighborhood revitalization, low-income housing, education, historic preservation, and community services.

 

Lowe also has participated in exhibitions and public art projects internationally; he collaborated on the arts plan for the Rem Koolhaus designed Public Library in Seattle, worked with Suzanne Lacy and Mary Jane Jacobs on the Borough Project for Spoleto Festival 2003 in Charleston, S.C., and was the lead artist in the development of the Delray Beach Loop, Delray Beach, FL. His own work has been exhibited at the Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona; Contemporary Arts Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angele;, Neuberger Museum, Purchase, New York; Kwangju Biennale, Kwangju, Korea; and the Kumamoto State Museum, Kumamoto, Japan. He is currently involved in the Transforma Project New Orleans, LA, which draws on the creative problem-solving skills of artists in an effort to revitalize a community devastated by hurricane Katrina.

 

Lowe has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work, including the Rudy Bruner Awards in Urban Excellence, the American Institute of Architecture keystone Award, the Heinz Award in the Humanities, and the Brandywine Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

For more information on the artist and Project Row Houses

visit: http://www.projectrowhouses.org/