Sketches, Studies and Notations addresses the creative process as dileanated by the act of drawing.

Comprised of rarely seen works from the museum's extensive collection and from private collections, the 25 works on view demonstrate the importance of drawing across the disciplines of painting, sculpture, design and architecture. Included are preliminary studies in preparation for finished architectural projects, tapestries and paintings as well as offhand musings by diverse 19th and 20th century artists and designers. Also on display are works of a more diaristic nature such as Jack Steele's dramatic WWII sketches. Steele, a Cranbrook graduate, captured from his personal vantage point the private lives of the men behind the battle lines.

This exhibition provides a fascinating window into the creative mind at the moment of inspiration and discovery, as concepts find their visual form. Among the artists included are Vito Acconci, Paul Cadmus, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Charles and Ray Eames, Henri Fantin-Latour, David Fredenthal, Julio Gonzalez, Sol Lewitt, John Koch, Carl Milles, Eero Saarinen, Richard Serra and Jack Keijo Steele.