Several faculty in the Divisions of Art and Design have received funding in the last few months for exciting research and teaching projects. Three sources of funding are mentioned below, signifying the largest amount of support ever directed to the Arts Division of the College of Arts & Sciences. The Kreielsheimer Arts Endowment was established in the College over a decade ago and is now being distributed to better support faculty in the Arts Division. This is the first Mellon Foundation Grant that has been made available to all of the Arts Division units, and these funds were specifically meant for the development of new classes that would provide arts-related topics accessible to non-majors. The Floyd and Delores Jones Endowment is also newly established, bringing significant resources to the Arts Division. It is focused on supporting initiatives that strive to meet the strategic goals of both the Arts Division and the individual schools and departments that comprise the Arts at UW.
Course Development
Annabelle Gould
Gould (Associate Professor, Visual Communication Design) is developing a course titled Visualizing Ideas (Graphic Design for Non-Designers). It will be taught during winter quarter 2021 and winter quarter 2022.
Whitney Lynn
Lynn (Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Visual Art) is developing a course titled Thinking Like an Artist. It will be taught once each during the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 academic years.
Symposium
Interaction Design Assistant Professor Audrey Desjardins received support from the Jones Endowed Fund for the Arts to organize an event titled Design Graduate Education: A Forward Facing Symposium. Faculty and graduate students from several national and international design programs will be invited to attend the symposium, where they will discuss questions related to the future of graduate studies in design. It will take place sometime during the 2020–2021 academic year.
Research + Publications
Karen Cheng
Cheng (Professor, Visual Communication Design) is preparing a new edition of her well-known publication Designing Type. This funding is assisting her in obtaining images and image rights for that book.
Zhi Lin
Lin (Professor, Painting + Drawing) will use his funds to do on-site research in Nevada related to Chinese railroad workers and the building of the Central Pacific Railway. He will create paintings and video artwork based on his research.
Dominic Muren
Muren (Senior Lecturer, Design) will develop music headphones as part of his exploration of Ecotopic design, which promotes using natural materials, low cost tools, and the sharing of open source designs.
Michael Swaine
Swaine (Assistant Professor, 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture) will work on a Futurefarmers project titled Reverse 20 Questions, which is a collective exploration of the nature of inquiry and discovery. The end result will be a short film that uses clay to illustrate the process.
Timea Tihanyi
Tihanyi (Senior Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Visual Art) will use her funding to start a new body of 3D printed ceramic work based on stitch patterns taken from knitting, knot making, and crocheting/lace making. This is developing from collaborations with mathematician Frank Farris of Santa Clara University and the Nordic knitter community based at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle.