The courageous and accomplished artist Myra Mimlitsch-Gray left the comfort zone of her studio and the academic world and dove headfirst into a noisy, male-dominated world, when she began her 13-week artist-in-residency at the Kohler factory in Wisconsin in 2007. Earlier in May she spoke about her experience to enthusiastic response at the Philadelphia SNAG conference. The Kohler factory is better known for its ceramic toilets and bathtubs than artistic production but it has quietly maintained a residency program for many years. On Veterans’ Day she shared more of her experience with a large audience of faculty, students, graduates and other artists at California College of the Arts, Oakland.

Mimlitsch-Gray, who is best known for her superb forging techniques and innovative flatware, had first to get used to loud rock music, piles of what appeared to be left-over junk, and factory shift routines. She also needed to bond with some of the employees (350 men and only seven women) and ask help with heavy lifting and crafting the wooden frames she needed to make her projects. She worked on a series of large cast iron objects, including some delightfully free-spirited cast-iron frying pans to take advantage of Kohler’s facilities. She still has a buzz in her ear from some of the rock music, but fond memories of the people she worked with. Myra says she appreciates the industrial experience, which helped give her the chance to reinvent herself.

Currently chair of the art department at SUNY New Paltz, she is now juggling a triple role as studio artist, teacher, and administrator over an 800-strong student body. Myra expressed gratitude for her Kohler residency and regrets that this program is now on hold. What will she do next? As she mulls over creating her next body of work she is at least sure of one thing: “I’m not going to repeat myself.”

Puako: Jewelry by Kay Sekimachi and Kiff Slemmons, October 28 – November 29, 2009. Opening Reception, Friday October 30, 6-8 pm.

Work in this exhibition is inspired by the beach combings of fiber artist Kay Sekimachi and jeweler Kiff Slemmons during their stays at Puako, Hawaii. Puako Beach is located on the Big Island of Hawaii on the South Kohala coast. Kay Sekimachi has been combing the sandy beach and lava-formed tidepools in Puako Bay for twenty years. Kay is famous for her weavings, baskets and hanging sculpture and has recently started making jewelry. Kiff is known for incorporating poetic detritus of the world around her and her Puako jewelry celebrates the beauty of humble materials. www.velvetdavinci.com