Making Lemonade: Lessons From Making in 2020

There has been an explosion of people making things during pandemic-driven isolation. Whether it is learning to cook and bake, upcycling goods to save money, developing craft projects to support home schooling endeavors, or simply focusing on hobby crafts that are meditative stress relievers or because they create implied connections to communities of other artists/designers doing similar things, the pandemic has shown a light on the ways that creativity and productivity serve to enhance the human experience. Join our creative panel as they share lessons learned from making.

Host:

Mary Anne Beecher - Professor, Chairperson, Department of Design, The Ohio State University

• Design professor and department chairperson Mary Anne Beecher thought she would complete the designs for a pair of small lake houses for the faculty exhibition. Instead, she has spent two years in a continual cycle of reinvention—producing more than 100 different designed options—because to her, the invitation to imagine new possibilities is the perfect escape from the pressures of our time.

Panelists:

Jeffrey Haase - Architect, Associate Professor, Department of Design, The Ohio State University

• Associate professor, architect, artist, fisherman. During the chaos of 2020 I found comfort in retreating to a “place of making” as a way to hide from the world. This place makes time disappear and answers appear. One of these “places of making” is tying fishing flies, making steam bent wood fishing nets and practicing the art of fly fishing. Nothing teaches patience as well as fishing and a little more patience is something we can all use more of right now.

Oscar Fernandez - Associate Professor Emeritus, School of Design, College of DAAP, University of Cincinnati

• Isolated in a home studio during a world pandemic, how does a designer grapple with the outside turmoil. How can I help, alleviate and express solidarity with the pained and protesting community. Being a graphic designer, I did what I do best—design. During this summer, three posters were produced. Two were a sort of personal therapy. How to grasp and respond to the shocking deaths of George Floyd and of the 100,000th COVID-19 US victim?The third poster, a client project, provided reassuring hope for the future.Graphic imagery does transcend words in communicating a powerful point of view.

Hemu Venkatarman - Artist, Architect and Design Researcher

• Artist, writer, architect, and design researcher Hemu thought art was a ‘hobby’ until a couple of years ago. Now, these visual, artistic narratives (coupled with research rooted in the socio-cultural fabric of things) are her connections to her ‘glocal’ community and her own self. In a world of extreme polarization and isolation, she will be talking about how visual art-making has played and continues to play an integral and defining role in her life—both academic and in its manifestation of contributing to the society through art-making for different socio-cultural settings.

Mitch Goldstein - Associate Professor Graphic Design, Rochester Institute of Technology, Furniture Maker, Artist

• Graphic Design professor (http://www.mitchgoldstein.com/) (Rochester Institute of Technology): Mitch is currently pursuing an MFA in furniture design at RIT. He has written a lot about how learning to make furniture (and work three-dimensionally in a new material... wood) has transformed his thinking about design in general. The lesson here is the importance of trying something new/pushing boundaries/expanding your identity as a designer.