Through its almost century-long history, Cranbrook Academy of Art has become the school most associated with contemporary American design and the place of work and study for Eero Saarinen, Peter Bohlin, the Eames couple, and Florence Knoll, among others. Today, the school offers exclusively graduate programs with no set curriculum or fixed courses and is limited to only 150 students and 10 artists-in-residence. I popped by the open studios to see academy resident’s latest works.
Cranbrook Academy of Art
39221 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI (View in map)
cranbrookart.edu
The program at the Academy is simple: 150 graduate students work together and are mentored by 10 Artists-in-Residence for a full-time two-year studio-based study. The Academy offers graduate study for a Master’s Degree in one of 10 departments: 2D Design, 3D Design, Architecture, Ceramics, Fiber, Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Print Media, and Sculpture. There are no fixed courses or a set curriculum. Instead, the structure of the program develops from each department outward – not from the top down.