The Cranbrook Academy of Art Board of Governors recently announced the appointment of Ian McDonald has been named as the new artist-in-residence for the ceramics department. He will replace Anders Ruhwald, who is leaving at the end of the academic year. McDonald will begin his tenure in September of 2017.
“Ian has spent many years exploring a broad range of work with clay,” says Christopher Scoates, the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Director of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum. “His work has ranged from traditional vessels to freeform sculpture and mixed-media installations. We feel this depth and variety of experience lends itself well to our collaborative environment at the Academy.”
McDonald comes to Cranbrook from Eugene, Oregon, where he most recently was teaching in the ceramics department at the University of Oregon. Prior to that appointment, he served as a member of the faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute from 2003 – 2015.
“The Academy is entering a new era, with several new artists-in-residence bringing contemporary ideas into our studios and sharing them with our students,” Scoates adds. It is through this practice that Cranbrook will continue to maintain its status as one of the top programs in the world.”
He has completed residencies at the European Ceramic Workcentre in Holland, the International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark and the De Young Museum in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
“The opportunity for me to serve as an artist-in-residence at Cranbrook is unique and exciting,” says McDonald. “I look forward to co-creating with our students, and showing them how to reinvent a Ceramics studio practice.”
McDonald’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. His work has been featured in Artforum, Metropolis, Wallpaper magazine, Ceramics Monthly, Dwell, and The New York Times.
