Wrapping up Michigan trip #1

After so many events, we got this down to a system. What to pack, which bins and boxes and bags, and a whole minivan for transport.

I was boiling in this room at the university museum but loved that they had a sink hidden in one of the closets! This was the first event on Saturday, a gallery talk + study room visit to look at Korean art up close + lecture + joomchi + jiseung cording. Local media did a nice story on the event here.

After lunch with the curator of Asian art and her daughter, we walked to the Ann Arbor District Library to their massive secret lab to teach about 100 people basic joomchi. We had a huge range of ages and I was so impressed by what that library offers to its community.

On Sunday, we went to the Detroit Institute of Arts for another hands on joomchi event, all ages.

Another big room and great help from both hosting staffs/volunteers (as in, both the museum and the Nam Center for Korean Studies at the University of Michigan—the latter being my main host).

Detroit artwork.

More!

Monday morning: fibers class = lecture + single-sheet joomchi + fusing joomchi + thread making demo + cording demo.

After lunch on North Campus (a drive away from the main campus/es), it was time to set up for the watercolor class = lecture + inky single-sheet joomchi + fused joomchi. I liked the vibe in this class of non majors.

Even though I don't like teaching messy classes, I like being hosted in them because no one is scared of getting their hands dirty and making a mess. We used both waterproof and non waterproof inks.

They were super quiet and focused.

 Demo sheet

After that, we shuttled back to the School of Social Work building so I could talk to the undergraduate fellows of the Nam Center, a lively and super diverse (the majors were all over the place!) group of students who liked the fused joomchi best. After that, a final dinner with the Nam Center director and administrator.

Today involves massive amounts of loading my car in two different locations, a visit to my publisher and her conservation colleagues, and hopefully a smooth ride home. And that's it until I gear up to teach in Michigan in May for PBI!