Author Description

"With Eyes Opened: Cranbrook Academy of Art Since 1932 is the first book to expansively chronicle the history of this influential and singular art school. Opened in 1932, the Academy offered a revolutionary approach to art education in America, profoundly affecting the worlds of architecture, art, craft, and design. Remarkably, its radical approach to learning--which centered both artists and students--continues today, decades after other progressive art schools such as the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College have closed. The book includes profiles of 200 artists associated with the Academy over more than eighty years. The culmination of a four-year research project, With Eyes Opened, includes not only those architects and designers who have long been associated with the Academy's rightful designation as the 'cradle of mid-century modernism,' but also recuperates those voices--especially women and artists of color--who have added immensely to the fields of art and craft, in particular. With contributions by more than 40 curators, critics, and historians, it features an illustrated chronology of the Academy drawn from the archives with short stories of key moments and colorful episodes in the school's history." -- publisher's website