{"id":61462,"date":"2021-06-15T12:26:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T12:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/book-cranbrook-history\/"},"modified":"2021-08-22T23:05:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T23:05:47","slug":"book-cranbrook-history","status":"publish","type":"metro_viewpoint","link":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/viewpoints\/book-cranbrook-history\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Book Chronicles the History of Cranbrook Academy of Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cranbrook\"
Among the weaving and fiber program alumni who went on to be pioneers outside the U.S. are Adela Akers (Golden Red, 2017). Courtesy Cranbrook Art Museum<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

In 1957, Marianne Strengell, the head of the weaving department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art<\/a>, was lecturing in Bombay when a young woman asked for a meeting. \u201cI was very impressed with her personality,\u201d Strengell remembered during an interview for the Archives of American Art, years later. \u201cShe wanted very much to come to Cranbrook, and I managed to get her a scholarship.\u201d The young woman was Nelly Homi Sethna (n\u00e9e Mehta), who would go on to head the design studio at India\u2019s largest homegrown textile brand and establish the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, the country\u2019s most influential textile design program. (That school, Asia\u2019s first for design, was founded upon the recommendation of two other Cranbrook alumni, Charles and Ray Eames.<\/p>\n

\"Cranbrook\"
Olga de Amaral (Adobe Gris, 1979) Courtesy Cranbrook Art Museum<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Sethna is one of 200 Cranbrook students whose work is showcased in the prodigious catalog for With Eyes Opened: Cranbrook Academy of Art Since 1932, an exhibition that opens at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on June 18. Among them are artists of every stripe and plenty of American architecture and design heavyweights, reiterating the influence the school has wielded on this country\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

But threaded through the accounts of pathbreaking weaving alumni like Sethna in India or Olga de Amaral of Bogot\u00e1, Colombia, is the tale of how this midwestern institution infused Scandinavian and American Modernism into design cultures elsewhere, resulting in hybrid expressions around the world.<\/p>\n

These transnational encounters weren\u2019t always easy, especially in the mid-20th century when the shadow of colonialism rubbed shoulders with the bogeyman of communism. Speaking of Sethna\u2019s entry into Cranbrook, Strengell said: \u201cShe didn\u2019t bring any Indian designs; she wouldn\u2019t have been allowed to. I started her like everybody else here.\u201d Yet Sethna quickly became steeped in India\u2019s rich craft traditions and played a pivotal role in safeguarding the livelihoods of weavers and other artisans. For her contributions, she received the Padma Shri award in 1985, one of India\u2019s highest civilian honors.<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy \u201cGabled Roofs Experience a Revival Across North America<\/a><\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Would you like to comment on this article? Send your thoughts to: comments@metropolismag.com<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Register here for Metropolis\u2019s Think Tank Thursdays<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and hear what leading firms across North America are thinking and working on today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Eyes Opened <\/i> includes profiles of 200 artists associated with the influential art school over more than eighty years.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":30933,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"featured_image_focal_point":[],"legacy_WP_ID":null},"tags":[1411],"metro_tax_domain":[8,7],"metro_tax_topic":[23,26],"metro_tax_program":[],"metro_issue":[],"metro_cat_viewpoint":[],"internal_flag":[],"class_list":["post-61462","metro_viewpoint","type-metro_viewpoint","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-book","metro_tax_domain-cultural","metro_tax_domain-student","metro_tax_topic-history","metro_tax_topic-publication"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA New Book Chronicles the History of Cranbrook Academy of Art - Metropolis<\/title>\n<!-- Added by HTTrack --><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /><!-- /Added by HTTrack --> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"With Eyes Opened includes profiles of 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