Diary of Design History Field Trips
Cranbrook Academy of ArtBloomfield Hills, MichiganJune 25—29, 2026 BACKGROUNDOne of the five entities in the Cranbrook Educational Community, Cranbrook Academy of Art, began in the 1930s as “experiment in radical art education.” It continues much the same today with no formal classes, only self-directed artists in private studios interacting with the artist-in-residence at the head [ ]
Museo de Arte CostarricenseLa Sabana Metropolitan Park, San JoséDate of Visit: March 2026 This was not our first time in Costa Rica but it was the first exclusively dedicated to bird watching. After 10 days in the jungle at altitudes up to 10,000 feet it was nice to have a half day to spend back [ ]
Norwegian Book Town in FjærlandMundal, NorwayDate of Visit: May, 2025 Imagine a peaceful country with beautiful mountains, deep sparkling fjords, lush valleys, and more waterfalls than you can count. Travelers encounter no roadside litter or billboards, the trains run on time, the inhabitants are friendly. English is universally spoken, and the air is clear and [ ]
Hill Top, Beatrix Potter FarmsteadNear Sawrey, Ambleside, United KingdomSeptember 2023 Beatrix Potter Drawn to NatureMorgan Library, New YorkJune 2024 Rare Book DepartmentPhiladelphia Free LibraryMay 2024 If you are not already familiar with the course of Beatrix Potter’s early career, it began with a childhood of intensive nature study and drawing (mostly animals, plants, and fungi) [ ]
England: Part 1 : The Lady Levins Art GalleryVillage, Lower Rd, Port Sunlight, Bebington, Wirral CH62 5EQDate of Visit : October 2023 After completing several of Liverpool’s Beatles experiences my travel companion and I decided to visit separate destinations— he the Anfield Football Stadium and me the nearby Lady Lever Art Gallery. I was interested in [ ]
Ancient Arts Modern Day Craftsmen DeMerritt Bookbinding Studio 1420 45th Street, Unit 21Berkley, Californiahttps://www.demerrittstudios.com In the book world there are presses that specialize in scholarly editions, exquisitely printed and bound, but published in limited quantities which means they are destined only for private collectors or special departments in a library. I was asked to write […
Locked down in our homes, let’s imagine a short journey…The year is 2012, you are in Budapest, riding the No.1 tram north along the western bank of the Danube River. Some of your fellow passengers chat and some snooze. Some stare at you a bit, you offer a smile but there is no return. This [ ]
Galacia Center of Contemporary Art Santiago de Compestela, Spain Date of Visit: October, 2019 The Pilgrims Walkers embark on the famous Camino de Santiago for various personal objectives: perhaps a retreat from modern living, a vehicle for self-realization or even for the physical challenge. From what I ve read a pilgrimage acts as a metaphor for life; [ ]
Location: Penland School of Crafts Spruce Pine, North Carolina Date: Last week of August, 2019 In the last week of August, six souls came together at Penland School of Crafts to study wood type cutting under instructor Scott Moore and master printer Brad Vetter. Moore is the proprietor of Moore Wood Type, a concern he [ ]
Sociologists have found that most people have grown skeptical of commercial and governmental news agencies yet still hold trust in the information that comes via one traditional source— the museum. Inside of a museum, an artist with an issue to promote has a running start to present their case to a still open-minded public. Here [ ]