The Cranbrook Academy of Art is renowned as the premier school in the United States dedicated solely to graduate education in art, architecture, crafts and design.
Cranbrook
is widely celebrated for its architecture in the Arts and Crafts and Art Deco styles. The chief architect was Eliel Saarinen, while Albert Kahn was responsible for the Booth mansion. The sculptors Carl Milles and Marshall Fredericks also spent many years residing in Cranbrook.This gallery extends the collection beyond the walls of the museum and showcases sketches of many of the naturally inspired works found on the Cranbrook campus, from the sketches of Miles for Europe and Bull and Running Dogs to small decorative elements, such as Fredericks' water faucets, which take the shape of a Japanese goldfish, lizard and frog. They hired Saarinen as chief architect of the campus and eventually designed the Cranbrook School for boys (1925-192), the Kingswood School for girls (1929-193), the Cranbrook Institute of Science (1935-1993), the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1925-194) and the Cranbrook Museum and Art Library (1938-194). During his visit, he requested a studio where he could compose, and Sepeshy had the piano moved from Cranbrook House to Cranbrook House. St.
The founders also built Christ Church Cranbrook as a focal point to serve the educational complex. Notable alumni and professors at the Cranbrook Academy of Art include Harry Bertoia, Richard DeVore, Charles Eames, Ray Eames, Waylande Gregory, Florence Knoll (who did not graduate), Daniel Libeskind and Eero Saarinen. Fred Woell or in the work of resident artist Iris Eichenberg; the radical basket weaving of Lillian Elliott and her mentor Ed Rossbach; or the creation of the field of studio glass by Harvey Littleton, who had studied ceramics. McArthur Binion, the first black artist to obtain his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting at Cranbrook, will be represented here with an abstract work in cast crayon on aluminum panel from his 1973 degree exhibition. The Cranbrook Academy of Art is devoted exclusively to graduate studies in the arts and offers master's degree programs in fine arts and architecture. Although many radical schools of art and design emerged in the 20th century, such as the Bauhaus or Black Mountain College, only the Cranbrook Academy of Art remains today a vital force in the world of art, architecture, crafts and design.
The art museum (built between 1940 and 1941 and opened in 1994) is one of several Cranbrook educational community buildings on the Booth estate; it is surrounded by landscaped gardens containing sculptures, fountains, and tree-lined trails. Ten rooms on the first floor can be seen on guided tours; these rooms contain tapestries, hand-carved carpentry, and English Arts and Crafts antiques. Comprised of college-preparatory day educational institutions and boarding schools for students from early childhood to twelfth grade, Cranbrook schools are dedicated to excellence in all aspects of education. Massey, 39, has purchased a 30,000-square-foot plot of land in Detroit, where, with help from a grant from the Kresge Foundation, he is creating a non-profit organization called Blackbrook for young people in his neighborhood. Cranbrook dominated the genre of stackable chairs with innovations from Don Albinson whose ingenious design maintained a perfectly aligned stack of chairs; David Rowland who created a high-density stacker; and Hugh Acton who designed the first ergonomic stackable chair.
Blauvelt has particularly focused on recovering some of the lesser-known stories of artists of color who have been through Cranbrook.
