While the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) begins a celebration of European Design on October 9 with objects or furniture created by iconic architects and style makers, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) displays furniture designs by their very capable students. In the college's front lobby surrounding the stairwell that descends to the Frederick Layton Galleries, students from this past summer's Furniture Design & Build course (taught by Richard Ivens and Robert Lynch) exhibited their final projects. The 13 pieces feature an exceptional assortment that redefines the iconic coffee or end table.
Many of the students were first and second year majors in Interior Architecture Design or Industrial Design, while several had double majors including a fine art major, such as Sculpture. A miniature mock up model accompanied
each furniture piece to highlight the design process and was as exquisitely crafted as the resulting large scale furniture.
While all the pieces were impressive in aesthetics, construction and design there were a few that catch the eye, although these are purely subjective choices. First year student Seth Kiefer designed a bedside/end table in dark polished wood with a geometrically pieced top, a combination of the classic and contemporary.
Colleen Hardy cut and spoke shaved a smaller scale coffee table with gothic arched legs where the tooling marks create their own textural interest that integrates the design with the finished furniture. Sculpture major Sarah Meadors applied a natura expression by using a tall, twig like and smoothly sanded base with a round glass top to feature a more organic approach to furniture.
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Eric Grzetich used layered plywood to allow the natural grain to show on his free from shaped coffee table accented with one cherry red painted wood leg. The contrast between the paint and natural hues on the piece attract particular attention.
Many of these MIAD students will be entering the Historic Third Ward's Design Within Reach Furniture Competition planned for Autumn Gallery Night and Day, October 16 & 17. The merchant that has hosted artists, including Reginald Baylor, will exhibit seven to ten new pieces by furniture design hopefuls. While the MAM shines a spotlight on the past this fall, MIAD and Design Within Reach envision the future.
