Illuminate Your Space

"Illuminate Your Space" will showcase custom light fixtures designed by UW-Stout Lighting Design Students instructed by Dr. Julie Peterson. Each fixture is inspired by an object from nature and based on the new design philosophy of biomimicry. Show dates: November 24 - 30, 2009 at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts (lower level studio).

Stout Art Grads Win Prestigious Design Award

Brothers’ Sustainable Furniture Being Featured In Major Publications

Menomonie, WI, September 24, 2009 – Paul and Vincent Georgeson, UW-Stout grads and owners of furniture company Misewell, have won the Editors’ Choice pick for New Design at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, held in May of 2009. The first time entrants, who began the collection in summer of 2008, have gained nationwide attention for their minimalistic, sustainable designs.

The brothers, who hail from the Milwaukee area, attended UW-Stout for a three-year overlap. Their designs have been featured in the magazines Metropolis, Details and dwell, as well as websites for The New York Times and The Contemporist. Some of their collection has been featured in a segment on CBS Morning News, and gained the attention of popular websites including www.apartmenttherapy.com, www.onlinemilwaukee.com, and has appeared in the blog for www.fastcompany.com.

Their creations, which they describe as “simple, functional, and honest,” follow the principles of sustainable design. Their 2009 collection employs aluminum, steel, and solid wood as focus materials. Their durable, minimalistic pieces are intended to alter outdated perceptions of the American furniture design aesthetic.

UW-Stout Lecturer Provides Real-World Example for Art Students

Menomonie, WI, September 21, 2009 – It is often said that the best way to teach is by example, and UW-Stout Lecturer Andy DuCett is doing just that. His cutting-edge artwork has gained attention both regionally and internationally, and his upcoming solo and invitational shows prove to his students that success as a ‘working artist’ is not just a dream. Active in drawing, collage, installation, and other media, DuCett’s work is being shown both regionally and across the nation.

Regionally, DuCett is working on a new installation for a solo show at Art of This Gallery, in Minneapolis, MN. The show opens October 10th and runs until November 1st. His work is being featured in the show, "The Precious Object," at the Minneapolis Public Library’s downtown branch. The show opened on September 18th, and runs until January 10th, 2010. DuCett has also been chosen as a contributor to the "Painting Zombies" group exhibition at the University of Minnesota’s Katherine E. Nash Gallery, curated by Ryuta Nakajima and Clarence Morgan. The show will be at the gallery early in 2011.

His work has attracted the notice of galleries across the nation. His art is being featured at the "Cutters" international collage exhibition. The works will be shown at Cinders, a gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The show opens in October. DuCett was also the recipient of a 2009 MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. The grant enabled him to travel to Tokyo, Japan this past summer to conduct research and meet with galleries.

DuCett received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to his work as a lecturer at UW-Stout, he is an exhibition technician for the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN. His professional affiliations include SELLOUT Gallery in Minneapolis, MN; Aebisu.com in Tokyo, Japan; and at the Burning Artist Co-Op in St. Paul, MN.

His artwork has been featured in several publications, including New American Paintings, a competitive arts magazine; The Visual Artist at Work: Drawing, a textbook on drawing by Mike Fleishman; Elephant, a new visual art magazine based in London; and Spooky, an international artist calendar, put out by Die Gestalten Verlag GmbH & Co. from Berlin, Germany, edited by Matthias Hübner.

University of Wisconsin-Stout is a 2001 Baldrige Award Recipient, supporting a progressive, learning-centered, quality-based educational environment that is focused on continuous improvement. A leader in adopting new technology, UW-Stout is a digital campus and all faculty and staff are required to use available technology in their positions including course delivery. Increasingly, courses are offered via alternative delivery methods and time frames. Faculty members are responsible for teaching, advising, research and scholarly activity, and service.

Senior Shows: Spring '09

The week before finals, the seniors in Graphic, Industrial, Interior, and Multimedia Design held their senior shows. Studios and galleries were filled with family, guests, and students as the seniors displayed their semester-long projects.

Prometheus 2009

The Furlong Gallery and the Prometheus editorial team hosted a reception April 17, to launch the 2009 edition of Prometheus magazine .The reception featured student readings of poetry and prose and an opportunity to view this year's art exhibition.

Fashion Without Fabric - "Philias and Phobias"

Hundreds turned out to join students from the Department of Art and Design as they worked the runway in this year’s Fashion without Fabric show Saturday, April 18, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Student Center. The annual event featured works by 3D design students and was one of the highlights of Family Weekend. Close to seventy-five fashion-forward creations were constructed with lots of imagination from anything but fabric. First place and best of show were awarded to the team of Daniel Kanitz and Fue Vang, second place to Diana Witcher and Emily Brownson, and third place to RT Vriese and Erik Gordon. The winner of the award for working the crowd was Cody Pinnow.

Laura Short recently discussed a collaborative project among UW-Stout industrial design students, St. Thomas engineering students, and DesignWise Medical with Noah Norton, assistant professor of industrial design.

Laura Short: Can you tell me more about your collaborative project with DesignWise Medical and St. Thomas engineering students?
Noah Norton: The idea behind this project was to create designs for an alternative way to deliver oxygen to children ages 0-6 while they slept. The current way is either taping hoses to their faces or strapping masks to them. Both of these are undesirable solutions that create bad experiences for the children and parents. Ann Gettys, founder of the chILD Foundation (children's interstitial Lung Disease) came up with the idea of a hood that would deliver oxygen to the child in a less obtrusive way. She created a prototype out of a kid’s tent and some hoses; the OPOD idea was born. She has been working with Brad Slaker, founder of the non-profit company DesignWise Medical. They have been engineering solutions with St Thomas since September. We were mainly concerned with the experience-end of things: interaction, cleaning, piece of mind. The students came up with a wide array of solutions that really pushed the boundaries of what was expected. We figured out a way to eliminate the wasteful use of many feet of disposable tubing, among other things.


LS: How many industrial design students were involved?
NN: Eight. Linnea Londborg, Hans Neilsen, Steve Lambert, Grayson Smith, Jennifer Seward, Jenny Byrd, Ben Heard, and Dave Keyes










LS: What were the ID students’ role(s)?
NN: Make the product easy to use for parents: easy to assemble, disassemble, clean, access bed sheets, tell that it is working correctly; make it fool proof. For the children: make it "non-medical,” take the fear away, give them piece of mind and relief. We were also looking at ways to make it more efficient.

LS: What was the result of the project?
NN: The prototypes are now being considered for further refinement and eventual production. One will be chosen and worked on more, engineered, etc.

LS: Will a prototype be available at the senior show?
NN: I am not sure yet. This is a junior project and I do not want to step on toes...








LS: Who started the collaboration? DesignWise Medical?
NN: Brad Slaker from DesignWise Medical contacted us over Xmas Break. We had a few meetings and came to an agreement.

LS: How did Stout become involved?
NN: Brad came to a design senior show in the fall and decided to contact us.

LS: What is the possibility the product will go to market?
NN: Positive thus far. There is still refinement, but I believe that is the plan.