Cranbrook Academy of Art [FALL] Lecture Series Begins

My Brain Is in My Inkstand: Drawing as Thinking and Process brings together 22 artists from around the world to redefine the notion of drawing as a thinking process in the arts and sciences alike. Inspired by the accompanying exhibition The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot, the exhibition uses multiple sources to show how drawings reveal the interdependency of mark making and thinking. Featuring artists and scientists, basketball coaches and skateboarders, biologists and Native American Indians, My Brain Is in My Inkstand: Drawing as Thinking and Process shows how tracing lines is a prerequisite for all mental activity. The exhibition runs through until March 30, 2014.

The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking Focuses primarily on the work of Benoît Mandelbrot (1924-2010), one of the most notable mathematicians of the twentieth century, this exhibition explores the role of images in scientific thinking. Featuring works on paper, photographs, objects, and films, the exhibition gives viewers a chance to take an inside look at the role images played in the making of the new world of scientific thought that became popularly known as fractal geometry and chaos theory, as exemplified in Benoît Mandelbrot's Fractal Geometry of Nature (1982).

The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking runs through March 30, 2014.

Waylande Gregory: Art Deco Ceramics and the Atomic Impulse explores the ways in which Waylande Gregory (1905-1971) redefined American ceramics in the 1930s and 1940s, creating monumental ceramic sculptures and helping to shape Art Deco design in the United States. Featuring over 60 works by the artist, Waylande Gregory: Art Deco Ceramics and the Atomic Impulse highlights Gregory's role as the chief designer and lead sculptor at Cowan Pottery from 1928 to 1932, his brief but influential tenure as Resident Ceramic Sculptor at Cranbrook's Arts and Crafts Studios (the earliest iteration of Cranbrook Academy of Art), and his work with the Works Progress Administration, an experience that served as the foundation for his groundbreaking Fountain of the Atom at the New York World's Fair in 1939.

Waylande Gregory: Art Deco Ceramics and the Atomic Impulse closes March 23, 2014.

ArtMembers and Children 12 & under, Always Free General: $8 Seniors (65+): $6 Students with ID: $4. CEC employees are welcome to attend the entire weekend of events by presenting their ID at the door.

For more infromati0n about each exhibition, as well as details about related special events and lectures visit http://www.cranbrookart.edu/museum

The Cranbrook Academy of Art [FALL] lecture series opens its fifth season on November 5offering a unique opportunity to explore and discuss a variety of contemporary creative practices through eight lectures from November 5 until December 10.  All lectures are structured to explore innovative inquiry from the vantage point of artists, critics and scholars. Lectures are held in Cranbrook Art Museum's deSalle Auditorium and are FREEto ArtMembers, CEC employees and students with identification, and included with Museum admission to the general public.

For More information about speakers and specific topics, visit http://www.cranbrookart.edu/museum/CAMpe1.html

Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research presents its second "Day Away," a program that explores Cranbrook connections to the automotive industry in Detroit off campus.  A  guided bus tour will drive deep into Detroit's automotive history on Saturday, November 9, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., uncovering the hidden stories and characters that connect Cranbrook to the car. Building on the exhibition A Driving Force: Cranbrook and the Car (currently on view at Cranbrook Art Museum), Day Away participants will traverse miles and decades in pursuit of Cranbrook's automotive past.

Highlights include a visit to the General Motors Heritage Center, a tour of Henry Ford's Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, lunch by Slow's To Go, and just added, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit Henry and Clara Ford's Edison Avenue home in Detroit.

Cost is $75 for Cranbrook Members, and $85 for the general public. There are a very limited number of tickets left for this event, and prepaid registration is required. To register, call Kim Larsen at 248 645.3319. For a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.cranbrook.edu/center/tours-and-programs

The season of giving starts at Cranbrook with Holiday Tables at Cranbrook House November 21-24. This year's theme, "A Season for Elegance" features magnificently decorated tables in the elegant and festive setting of Cranbrook House, educational seminars, design inspiration, music and, of course, holiday cheer! Cranbrook House truly becomes as magical as the season itself during this wonderful weekend.

The Patron Tea is on Thursday, November 21, at 11 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 each, reservation required by phone only at 248 645.3149 before November 15.

General Admission tickets are available for Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday, November 24, 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance before November 8, and $20 at the door.

General Admission tickets are available at http://housegardens.cranbrook.edu, by phone at 248 645.3149 or in person at the Cranbrook Auxiliary office.

Ever wondered what goes into mounting an exhibition like Dinosaurs-The Lost World? The Institute's Fall Lecture Series explores the science behind its current exhibition through two lectures in November.

On Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m., the Institute's Curator of Earth and Life Sciences and Cranbrook Institute of Science Institute geologist and paleontologist, John Zawiskie, presents a critical look at the historical development of the asteroid impact theory for the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs in Still the Crater of Doom. John's presentation will be highlighted by his own field photography of the strata in the Raton Basin in Colorado and New Mexico.

Paleontologist and Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at Cranbrook Institute of Science John Hankla will discuss his years of exploration of the prolific Late Cretaceous fossil beds of the Lance Formation of eastern Wyoming during In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs on Friday, November 15 at 7 p.m..  John will discuss how one of the last dinosaur communities on Earth lived, and the critical role played by his diminutive field crew - the western harvester ant - in recovering the teeth and other bones of the small animals in the community.

Later in the month, the Institute presents Giving Thanks for Dinosaurs! Friday, November 29 through Sunday, December 1 from 1 to 4 p.m. each daily. Special events related to the Dinosaurs-The Lost World exhibition will include exploration stations and craft activities. On Saturday, November 30, visitors will take part in supervised conservation of dinosaur bones in Dino Prep lab! Daily planetarium and bat programs also will be available an additional charge. 

Both lectures are free with admission and seating is offered on a first come, first seated basis. Stay after the November 1 lecture until 10 p.m. and enjoy a free visit to the museum and Dinosaurs-The Lost World courtesy of the MASCO Corporation Foundation's First Fridays are Free! program. Giving Thanks for Dinosaurs! also is free with admission.

For details about each lecture, or to review seasonal and planetarium programming visit http://science.cranbrook.edu/

The Ergasterion and Cranbrook Schools Performing Arts department will be performing a US Theater Production of Curiosity Cat by Chris Grabenstein for their fall play. The curtain will go up on Thursday, November 7 and Friday, November 8 at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Lerchen Hall.

Curiosity Cat is a children's show, and the primary goal of the production is to captivate young audiences.  Every performance will afford an opportunity for pictures with your favorite character after the show. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $8 for students and no charge for Faculty members.

Registration for the Thursday and Friday performances will close at 4 p.m. the day before each performance or earlier if sold out. Registration for the Saturday performance will close at noon on Friday, November 8 or earlier if sold out.

Tickets may also be purchased at the box office the night of each performance, if any are still available.

There will be no refunds for ticket cancellations that occur the week prior to the performance date or after the event sells out, whichever occurs first. Also, there will be no refunds for tickets not picked up at the box office.

Register now!