(1932–2018) Wendell Castle has been a sculptor, designer, and educator for over five decades. He is known throughout the world for his innovative designs in wood, plastic, and bronze. Castle’s work is represented in many major museum collections throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East. These include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), and the Brooklyn Museum in New York; the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Detroit Art Institute; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO.
Castle has been recognized many times over for his contributions to the arts and design fields in the United States, having received numerous awards, grants, and honors for his accomplishments. These include three honorary doctoral degrees, several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Gold Medal Award and being named a Fellow by the American Craft Council, listing in Who’s Who in American Art, the Golden Plate award from the American Academy of Achievement, the Visionaries award from the Museum of Art & Design, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts, the Award of Distinction from the Furniture Society, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and the Lifetime Achievement Award For Excellence in Design from the Brooklyn Museum.
In addition to having a strong career as an artist, Wendell Castle has contributed to the education of others who aspire to be artists. He began teaching in 1960 at Kansas University and would later move to Rochester, New York, to teach at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the State University of New York at Brockport. From 1980 to 1988, Castle operated his own art school at his studio in Scottsville, New York. Many of his students have gone on to teach and have successful careers in the arts and in the design fields. He is currently on the staff of RIT as artist-in-residence and is asked to exhibit, lecture, and teach at many educational institutions throughout the world.
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
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Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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