In conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus school of design, this two-part program explores Bauhaus-connected works in the Smart Museum’s collection through looking, discussion, and hands-on art-making.

FREE. Participants have the option to attend one or both sessions. Space may be limited, please register in advance. Registration opens March 18.

PART I

Thursday, April 25, 6–8 pm
Smart Museum of Art
The University of Chicago
5550 S. Greenwood Avenue

Drawing from the Smart’s permanent collection of Bauhaus pouring vessels, for tea, for coffee and for chocolate, this program brings participants into the thinking and making practices of University of Chicago Visiting Lecturer of Art History Maggie Taft and Department of Visual Arts professor Amber Ginsburg.

In the tradition of the Bauhaus workshop, this event will flow through a series of working spaces and activities, including an in-depth discussion of these pouring vessels together with materials investigations that explore the relationship between designed objects and our bodies. Through Bauhaus-inspired exercises, participants will develop a better understanding of clay, function, and form.

While delving deep into Bauhaus serving ware, we’ll nibble on biscuits and sip tea out of an assortment of wonderful ceramic cups from the collections of our retired Senior Curator Richard Born and Amber Ginsburg!

FREE, this program can be experienced as a stand-alone event or as a compendium to Part II. Space may be limited, please register in advance.

PART II

Thursday, May 2, 6–8 pm
Logan Center for the Arts
The University of Chicago
915 E. 60th Street

Part II convenes at the KilnHouse at the Logan Center for the Arts for a look at the history of ceramic firing broadly and within the Bauhaus.

The evening begins with a tour of KilnHouse, a recently completed structure designed and built with students as part of Amber Ginsburg’s five year course series, “How to House a Kiln.” This hands-on workshop will delve into the intellectual history of pottery, glazing, and the connection between craftspeople, workshops, and industrial production. And, of course, we will use the kilns and see how glazing and firing processes transform clay into archival artwork.

FREE, this program can be experienced as a stand-alone event or as a compendium to Part I. Space may be limited, please register in advance.

Image: Otto Lindig, Cocoa Pot, c. 1923, Sold by Bauhaus Pottery Workshop, Dornburg, Germany, Glazed cast stoneware (pot) and hand-turned with hand-finishing on the potter's wheel. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Anonymous Gift, 2006.20.a–b.