CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART 2006 GRADUATE DEGREE EXHIBITION
(All Upper and Lower Galleries)
April 23 - May 12, 2006

Cranbrook Academy of Art is a “living studio of artistic invention” as envisioned by its founder, philanthropist George Booth. Seventy-seven second-year graduate degree candidates present their thesis work in the annual Graduate Degree Exhibition. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated color catalogue designed and produced by the students featuring all of the graduates of the Academy.

Founded in 1932, the Cranbrook Academy of Art is acknowledged world wide as a preeminent graduate level school of art, design and architecture. One visit to the campus will reveal the memorable nature of Cranbrook that melds the genius of Eliel Saarinen’s architecture within a 319-acre environment of woods, lakes paths and landscaped courtyardsCranbrook Academy of Art offers an intense and intimate learning experience in a community of studio-based programs where artists in residence mentor students in art, architecture and design to creatively influence contemporary culture.

The Academy is an the country’s only independent graduate degree granting institution offering an intense studio-based experience where artists-in-residence mentor students in art, architecture and design to creatively influence contemporary culture. Master’s of Fine Arts degrees are offered in nine disciplines including 2D Design, 3D Design, Ceramics, Fiber, Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Print Media, Sculpture and a Master’s of Architecture degree.

It is difficult to imagine the story of design and art in America without Cranbrook Academy of Art—a vital community of artists in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, whose faculty and students have encompassed world famous architects, sculptors, weavers, ceramists, metalworkers and painters. These include the prominent architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen; the furniture and interior designers Florence Knoll and Charles and Ray Eames; designer of fine silverware and sculptor Harry Bertoia; ceramist Maija Grotell; designers Loja Saarinen and her daughter, Pipsan Saarinen Swanson; sculptors Carl Milles and Duane Hanson; and painter Zoltan Sepeshy, among others. There is hardly an art or craft, in America or abroad, that has not been influenced directly or indirectly by the Cranbrook Academy of Art. In fact Cranbrook has been called America’s democratic counterpart to the great German school, the Bauhaus.