The following post was originally posted on Herman Miller's Discover blog on Dec. 13, 2012. We're pleased to share this story here on The Henry Ford's blog. Many thanks to our friends at Herman Miller for their permission to post this for our readers to enjoy. - Lish Dorset
By Mindy Koschmann
In a 1980 interview with Ruth Bowman for the Archives of American Art, Ray responded to a question about her chosen vocation:
“I never thought of myself as an artist and couldn’t bear the word.”
She objected to the generality of the label, but her comments about her interdisciplinary approach to art and design provide an intriguing contrast:
"It was natural for me not to separate them, you know—now you study history, now you study dance, now you study music, or now you study pottery or whatever it is— it all seemed to be one thing."
Of Ray’s many artistic pursuits—painting, film, textiles, fashion, and furniture design—perhaps the most personal was her proclivity for making interesting arrangements with found objects. Of her curious habit, she said:
“Almost everything that was ever collected was an example of some facet of design and form. We never collected anything as just collectors, but because something was inherent in the piece that made it seem like a good idea to be looking at it. “
It’s always a good idea to revisit the work of Charles and Ray Eames, especially in light of the 100th anniversary of Ray’s birth on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012. We celebrate Ray’s life and work as a painter, collector, and designer.
Posting with us today is Cheryl Oz of Cheryl Oz Designs, a metro Detroit illustrator and designer. Cheryl is a past Maker Faire Detroit participant and recipient of an Editor's Choice Award. - Lish Dorset
I studied design and advertising at the College for Creative Studies. During an art history class, I was introduced to the work of Charles and Ray Eames and from that point on I never looked at art and design the same way again.
At the time I knew very little about the designers, so what I loved the most was what I saw in their work. I loved the clean lines, color choices and movement in their pieces. Their furniture was so different from the furniture I grew up with in my family's home.
From that point on I feel like my work has been influenced by the Eames aesthetics. It wasn't until years later when I decided to start focusing more on illustration, that I then remembered how inspired I was by the Eames duo and imagined others most likely were, too.
I have always been inspired by everyday things. I loved the notion that when the first Eames chair was in the production process, it was meant to be a mass-produced, affordable chair that anyone could own. I like to think of my artwork in the same manner. I feel that everyone should be able to afford art that they love for their home. Surely, I thought there were other people that felt the same way that I do, and still wanted a bit of Eames in their home, so I started painting a few of my favorite pieces of their furniture.
Besides being a painter, Ray was the woman behind the scenes who gave insightful input to her husband Charles, who appreciated her talents and held her opinions in high regard. Her input was almost unheard of for a woman of her time. She had an incredible sense of color and with Charles, they both led a colorful life in their amazing world of art and design.
Happy 100th birthday, Ray!
20th century, 21st century, 2010s, women's history, furnishings, Eames, design, by Cheryl Oz
One of the great pleasures of being archivist at The Henry Ford is the continuing ability to receive interesting collections and to meet the donors. One such person was Edward Gies, who called to ask if we would be interested in some photographs of presidential vehicles. Since we have a number of presidential vehicles in our collection, but not a large amount of support material, I said I certainly was. He said he and his wife were planning a trip to the museum and he would bring the material along. When Mr. Gies arrived, he brought a small but very rich collection not only of photographs but also of ceremonial flags that had flown on a number of our vehicles.
What made the experience even more exciting was to discover that the collection had been gathered by Mr. Gies’ father, Morgan Gies. Morgan Gies was a member of the United States Secret Service and the man in charge of the White House vehicles. He held that position for 27 years, serving five presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson. In addition to overseeing the White House fleet, he was often the driver of the presidential vehicle or the backup car.
railroads, airplanes, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford, archives, presidents, by Terry Hoover, cars, presidential vehicles, limousines
We were creating a lot of delicious fall-inspired food items the past few months as we celebrated Fall Flavor. With all that food, we're sure more than a few of you got a bit thirsty. Take a look at how we make pumpkin ale, a welcomed beverage at the end of a long day.
If you’ve visited Firestone Farm in Greenfield Village, have you ever seen our presenters canning jams, jellies, and other delicious pantry staples? If not, you’re in for a treat.
This fall we got a firsthand look at what goes into canning. While canning is a food preservation technique first experimented with more than 200 years ago, it’s gaining a resurgence among foodies and families looking to eat local as much as they can each year and enjoy favorite flavors all year long.
When we visited Firestone Farm in September, our team was working with some fresh products from our farms almost every day. Our presenters make everything from bottle pickles to cucumber catsup. If a recipe doesn’t set quite right, it doesn’t go to waste - when peaches don’t seal, they become a tasty pie filling.
As you’ll see in the video, presenters Becky Goodenow and Larissa Fleishman start out by sterilizing the jars they’ll use for canning that day. You can’t touch the inside of the jar, as you might contaminate it, so a clean cloth is used to wipe it down. A metal spoon is most important because it helps disperse the heat from the hot liquid. This helps to prevent the cooler glass jar from cracking as you pour in the boiling liquid.
Today there are a variety of products to choose from when it comes to canning. You can even purchase your very own jam and jelly maker to take a lot of work out of the equation. Ball Canning brand offers a community and resources website to enthusiasts, too. Or look for the Ball Blue Book of Canning and Preserving Recipes the next time you’re at the book store.
Watch this video to see Becky and Larissa in action making a batch of chili sauce from Buckeye Cookery. You can make it at home, too. You can also visit The Henry Ford’s library of historic cookbooks for inspiration.
Chili Sauce, Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, 1880, p. 132.
Peel tomatoes and onions, chop (separately) very fine, add the peppers (chopped) with the other ingredients, and boil one-and-a-half hours. Bottle it and it will keep a long time.
Lish Dorset is Social Media Manager at The Henry Ford.
farms and farming, recipes, making, home life, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, food, by Lish Dorset
I never really gave much thought to the idea of someone being a LEGO visionary until visiting the LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition exhibit at Henry Ford Museum.
With one glance, it’s clear this isn’t your kids’ LEGO exhibit. It’s not that they won’t enjoy it, because they most certainly will. My 11-year-old son and his friend will attest to that. Their jaws were dropped in awe walking through the exhibit space. They were officially blown away. So were the adults.
I found the exhibit much more of an art exhibit than a toy display. We took the kids to the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit in the same space just a few years ago, and although I wasn’t expecting a repeat theme, I certainly wasn’t imagining dramatic structures of this detail, beauty and scale.
LEGO artist Adam Reed Tucker takes the familiar building brick out of the box and uses it in some not-so-familiar ways to create remarkable replicas of some of the world’s architectural icons. Some buildings included in the exhibit are the Empire State Building, St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, the Sky Needle, Transamerica Pyramid, Shanghai’s Jin Mao Tower and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Also part of the exhibit is Detroit’s Ford Field. The completed structure will be moved for unveiling and display at the field on Thanksgiving then returned to Henry Ford Museum the next day.
Tucker was on hand the opening weekend of the exhibit. He continued work on the Ford Field replica, took time to answer questions, sign autographs and even gave an impromptu tour.
An architect by trade and in practice, the tough economy put Tucker in a position of reconsidering his life’s work. After years of working with computer renderings in the business side of architecture, he had a desire to create with his own hands and inspire others to do the same. That’s where building with LEGO came in.
Tucker came up with a plan to use LEGO to recreate some famous buildings and sell them. In an effort to get reacquainted with the building bricks - he hadn’t built with them since before high school – he said he went to Toys R Us and filled 13 baskets with LEGO kits. (There was an audible gasp from the children present.)
Tucker said the reason he chose LEGO was simple: to inspire others. “I wanted to teach people about architecture and encourage them to build models with just LEGO pieces. Using LEGO doesn’t require glue, putty or any special skills or tools.” He said the only difference in skill is in how you use LEGO. For many of the buildings in the exhibit, he creatively repurposed parts by at times using them in ways not originally intended.
Tucker came up with the concept of “artitecture” and his work eventually led him to an association with LEGO as a creator of LEGO Architecture sets.
Playing with LEGO as a child fed Tucker’s interest in architecture, and now in some ways he has come full circle. I asked him if he ever in his wildest dreams thought he’d be doing this, he laughed and said, “No, I didn’t.” But he also said he plans to continue doing it for the rest of his life.
Tucker is working on a bridge exhibit slated to open in 2014 at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
I can honestly say, I will never look at a LEGO quite the same. I’m not sure if that means I won’t howl quite as much when I step on a wayward piece, but I will recognize the piece for the possibility, potential and inspiration it can bring to the minds of the young and old.
The exhibit includes a very large LEGO play area for visitors of all ages to put some of their newly found inspiration into practice. My son and his friend spent nearly two hours creating some architectural gems that they eagerly added to the growing LEGO city display table.
It seems like LEGO has been a part of my life since as far back as I can remember. What started as a few simple sets, like this basic building set from the collections of The Henry Ford, from friends and family has turned into hundreds of boxes sprawled over a customized workshop in my own house.
I was always good at entertaining myself as a child and took to LEGO early. The collection was initially stored in a small tub, but eventually graduated to a chest of drawers. I removed my clothes and found a less suitable storage solution for them. LEGO was far more important and this allowed me to hover over the drawers and build my creations on top of my dresser.
My parents somehow put up with this and continued to feed the obsession. Before I out grew my bunk beds, they were an ideal surface to create towns, space campus or medieval battlefields. I have a pretty strong imagination and LEGO helped grow and develop it.
To this day, when asked what I would like for Christmas, I always respond, "LEGO."
LEGO bricks are such a fascinating medium because you can visualize 3-D objects simply and effectively. It works best for creations that are angular with straight edges. It's also a great medium for prototyping simple machines and casting moulds.
So just how important are my LEGO sets? I designed and built a LEGO workshop in the basement of my house. Having a space like this has helped me tackle new projects, like picture mosaics and 3-D logos.
Were you at Maker Faire Detroit? If you were, than you might have seen me as Nick Brickly, host of my Brick Challenge game show. It's a LEGO-based game show similar to Double Dare. We ask questions and challenge contestants to mini-games. Join the fun on stage Saturdays in January 2013 at Henry Ford Museum.
I can't wait to see LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition when it opens its doors tomorrow. Just like Brick Challenge, the LEGO Architecture series and the work of Adam Reed Tucker are great examples of how LEGO is more than a toy - it's a medium for creation and communication.
Nick Britsky is Royal Oak-based LEGO lover and maker. A participant of Maker Faire Detroit since 2010, you can catch him on stage at Anderson Theater this winter as part of LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition's Saturday programming.
Michigan, Dearborn, 2010s, 21st century, 20th century, toys and games, making, LEGO, events, childhood, by Nick Britsky
This past weekend marked the 75th anniversary of Lovett Hall. Tucked in between Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village sits the stately hall, a well-known icon on The Henry Ford campus.
Lovett Hall is named after Benjamin Lovett, an accomplished dance instructor and friend of Henry Ford. Benjamin grew up loving music and dance, and after teaching himself how to dance began giving lessons with his wife, Charlotte. The Lovetts eventually made their way to Dearborn in 1924 at the urging of Henry.
Henry loved the community dances of his youth. Henry believed everyone should love dancing as much as he did, so he hired Benjamin to call the dances and teach others. If you wanted to associate with both Henry and his wife Clara, you needed to be ready to dance.
When Greenfield Village Schools opened in the late 1920s, dancing was part of the curriculum. It would be a few years before the students had a formal location to dance. As Henry’s educational campus began to expand, plans for a larger education building were made. Lovett Hall, known as the “recreation building” opened its doors in 1937 after a year of construction and featured a lavish ballroom. Monthly dances were a common occurrence at Lovett Hall, with Henry and Clara on the dance floor and Benjamin calling the dance steps.
Lovett Hall wasn’t just for dancing, though. Upon its opening in 1937 it quickly became a home to Greenfield Village high school and Institute of Technology students. The hall’s pool and gym were marveled at by many. The building also provided laboratories, drafting rooms, and even a library to the students. Benjamin eventually became the head of the Department of Social Training and the Art of Dance. The institute closed in 1943 and the high school closed in 1952. Lovett Hall continued to act as an educational building, offering dormitory programs and adult education classes. Often referred to as the education building in years past, Lovett Hall remains the formal name for the structure.
After Edsel Ford died in 1943, Henry lost most of his passion for dancing. Henry’s health began to fail and the importance he had once placed on dancing began to wane. Benjamin died in 1952 at the age of 76.
Today, Lovett Hall serves a variety of purposes at The Henry Ford, with one of them being a venue for private events. The spirit of Benjamin is alive and well during the countless wedding receptions held in the hall as happy guests take to the much rumored “spring-loaded” dance floor and dance the night away.
If you have any memories of Lovett Hall you’d like to share, we’d love to hear them!
Lish Dorset is Social Media Manager at The Henry Ford.
teachers and teaching, childhood, Henry Ford, events, education, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford, by Lish Dorset
Conservators at the Henry Ford Museum are collaborating with violin experts to prepare Henry Ford’s personal violin collection for an upcoming permanent display in Henry Ford Museum. The violins, which have been in storage for a number of years, are being examined, analyzed and in some instances conserved for long-term display and potential use in concerts.
As a violin enthusiast, Henry Ford purchased some of the finest instruments including violins made by Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri (1698-1744) and Carlo Bergonzi (1683-1747).
In 2010 master violin restorer Ashot Vartanian of Shar Music in Ann Arbor, Mich., repaired the Bergonzi to prepare it for exhibition and a concert in Cremona, Italy.
Later this year Henry Ford’s 1703 Stradivarius violin will travel to Cremona to replace the Bergonzi, which will return to The Henry Ford for examination and analysis. Sharon Que of Sharon Que Violin Restoration and Repair is currently working with Chief Conservator Mary Fahey to evaluate the condition of the violin and to make necessary repairs. The retention of original varnish and wood as well as the preservation of the extraordinary sound of the violin is paramount.
Radiologist Dr. John Bonnett of Henry Ford Hospital and luthier Ray Schryer (Schryer Violin) partnered with Henry Ford Museum staff in 2010 to create CT scan (computed tomography) images of the violins in a quest for information concerning their condition and past repairs. Among other findings the scans revealed areas of old insect damage, previously unseen by the naked eye, in addition to delicate repairs on the interior of the museum’s Guarneri Del Gesu violin.
21st century, 2010s, Michigan, Dearborn, Europe, 18th century, 17th century, violins, musical instruments, music, Henry Ford Museum, conservation, collections care, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford
In need of some pumpkin carving inspiration? Check out our new THF Freebies page. You'll find a set of stencils to carve your pumpkin with this weekend! Check out our video to see the Model T stencil in action.
cars, Model Ts, holidays, making, Halloween, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford
