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Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things
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A Celebration of the Reinstllation of the Mint’s Craft + Design Collection
As I write this, a mirror 21 feet in diameter made from 18 panels of gold-plated beryllium (a metallic element) has just unfolded itself in outer space. It is part of the James Webb Space Telescope — the world’s largest space telescope — which will soon reach its final orbit 1 million miles from earth and begin capturing cosmic history ranging from our own solar system to the first galaxies in the early universe. The telescope is a marvel of science and engineering. A joint effort of NASA and the European and Canadian space agencies, it required decades of thinking, designing, testing, and exceptional craftsmanship by thousands of individuals in multiple countries.
A major new acquisition in Craft in the Laboratory is She Holds the Key, a wall hanging by Canadian artist Simone Elizabeth Saunders. This wall hanging depicts tennis champion Serena Williams in a confident pose and reflects the artist’s desire to elevate Black women through her art. Saunders draws her compositions on large pieces of fabric (up to 65 by 65 inches) and uses a punch needle and a rug tufting gun to insert yarn in vibrant colors and patterns. Photo by Brandon Scott/Courtesy of The Mint Museum. Making the objects in The Mint Museum’s Craft + Design Collection was not as complex, but the artists, designers, and craftspeople responsible for these objects made from glass, ceramics, wood, fiber, metal, polymers, and other materials have much in common with scientists and engineers. All engage in inquiry, a process of exploring the natural or material world by asking questions, making discoveries, and testing them to gain a greater understanding. As with the telescope, making craft and design objects requires a great deal of technical knowledge and trial and error.
Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things is the first project in the Southeast to highlight the parallels between craft and design, science, and engineering. It comprises a reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection of craft and design — the first since the opening of Mint Museum Uptown in 2010 — and a 96-page catalogue, the first indepth publication about the collection since 1999. The reinstallation and book present new research on how the objects were made. Craft in the Laboratory is based on a tour of the craft and design galleries created several years ago by Joel Smeltzer, head of school and gallery programs at The Mint Museum, to provide STEAM (science, technology, engineering,
art, and math) content for upper elementary, middle, and high school students.
Visitors enter the craft and design galleries through the Susan and Loy McKeithen Gallery, which introduces the collection through works including Danny Lane’s monumental glass installation Threshold. In this work, Lane exploits the reflective and refractive properties of glass to create a dynamic experience for the viewer. Also in this gallery is a major new acquisition: She Holds the Key, a wall hanging by Canadian artist Simone Elizabeth Saunders. This wall hanging depicts tennis champion Serena Williams in a confident pose and reflects the artist’s desire to elevate Black women through her art. Saunders draws her compositions on large pieces of fabric (up to 65 by 65 inches) and uses a punch needle and a rug tufting gun to insert yarn in vibrant colors and patterns.
Following the McKeithen Gallery, objects are grouped by medium. When the building opened in 2010, this arrangement was chosen because glass, ceramics, wood, fiber, and metals are all distinct subfields of craft and design with their own histories and techniques. This also made sense for the Craft in the Laboratory theme because several of these fields are specialties in materials science. Studying each medium separately illuminates its distinctive characteristics. The reinstallation also includes a design gallery with a focus on plastics and other human-made materials, including Patrick Norguet’s Rainbow Chair that is made from acrylic fused using ultrasound. It is one of several new acquisitions found throughout the galleries.
In each gallery, a text panel discusses each material’s special properties and how humans throughout history have used it to make the kinds of objects on view. Each text panel includes touchable samples of different kinds of glass, wood, plastics, metals, ceramics, and textiles that help visitors connect with the materials and imagine the kind of tactile knowledge gained by makers using the materials. All the samples, except plastics and textiles, were made by Starworks in Star, North Carolina.
New object labels describe how the makers used scientific knowledge and methods in the techniques and processes to create the work. Several labels include QR codes that direct visitors to images and/or videos of the making process. Whenever possible, labels include photos of the makers to help visitors envision the artist or designer making aesthetic and practical decisions while exploring a material.
Supporting the updated content in the galleries is a refreshed design. Many of the previously gray walls are now painted white, and several walls are painted with rich colors that accentuate the objects. The text panels and object labels have been graphically designed for easier readability and to underline the Craft in the Laboratory theme with a C-shaped microscope icon. There also are two seating areas where visitors can reflect on the objects and reinstallation and browse the catalogue. In addition, one area has a wall where visitors can share their thoughts about the objects and reinstallation. We welcome your comments, which will help us plan future projects.
The Craft in the Laboratory catalogue complements the reinstallation with four essays, a graphic-novel-style illustration by Smeltzer, and large color photos of 49 of the objects. In an essay by Annie Carlano, senior curator of craft, design, and fashion, she discusses the science behind the 10 works in the Project Ten Ten Ten series of commissions, as well as other selected works in the museum’s collection. Zoe Laughlin, PhD, a director of the Center of Making at University College London, comments on the importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking in innovation. Hideo Mabuchi, PhD, a physicist at Stanford University and a potter and weaver, reflects on how all these pursuits relate. In my essay, I elaborate on the making of 10 objects in the Mint’s collection to show how inquiry works in craft and design.
When Smeltzer developed the STEAM-themed tour that inspired Craft in the Laboratory, he recognized the incredible opportunity that the craft and design collection presents. Some of the most common questions that visitors ask docents and staff about this collection are “What is this made from?” and “How was it made?” By looking closely at objects and discussing these questions, museum audiences and educators engage in a process of inquiry like that of artists and STEM professionals.
Craft and design objects can serve as entry points for understanding scientific concepts as well as for
interpreting art. By making connections between artistic and scientific approaches to the material world, we hope to dissolve the perceived barriers between these fields and inspire audiences to use inquiry in their daily lives.
Rebecca Elliot, Assistant Curator, Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, North Carolina
Creating Scientific Inquiry Through Works of Art
Seeing an original work of art in a museum gallery space engages multiple senses, encourages inquiry, and the process of exploring the material world and asking questions: What might this work be about? What might its significance be? How was it made? These open-ended questions integrate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) disciplines, and encourage interpretation, or meaning-making.
During the 2019-2020 academic year, the Mint offered a unique teacher fellowship program that explored works of art from the Mint’s renowned Craft + Design Collection. The fellowship provided a professional development opportunity for teachers to work with museum staff to create student- and visitor-centered gallery activities that focused on works of art from the newly installed Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things.
Eight teacher fellows representing STEAM disciplines from five local schools participated, including Abbie Hess and Kristen Ward from Independence High School; Lisa Snead and Jennifer Ford from Mallard Creek High School; Megan Bechtold and Rupi Young from West Mecklenburg High School and J.T. Williams Montessori; and Jackie Royce and Brandt Boidy from Charlotte Lab School. A team of museum professionals, including myself, Rebecca Elliot, assistant curator of craft, design, and fashion; Gena Stanley, former assistant head of school and gallery programs at The Mint Museum; and Mary Beth Ausman, independent evaluator, worked with the teacher fellows interpreting select works of art and proposed activities for students and other museum visitors that encourage close examination of works and an understanding of STEAM disciplines involved in the creative process.
Teacher fellows interpreted works of art made from metal, wood, and polymers, including Wendy McAllister’s Grand Bois, Brent Kington’s Weathervane, David Ellsworth’s Untitled Vessel, Donald Fortescue’s Pike Basking, and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Vegetal Chair. An example of guided inquiries during the program is the interpretation of the Vegetal Chair by The Charlotte Lab School team that challenges viewers to think about the inspiration for the chair’s dynamic, geometric, branching open-work, and how it contributes to functionality. The open-work back and seating, inspired by growth patterns in nature, helped solve the problem of creating a lightweight but durable and stackable chair.
In addition to helping Mint staff create gallery activities for students and other visitors, teacher fellows expressed a desire to use The Mint Museum as a beneficial resource and saw clearer connections between their subject(s) and the museum collection. Fellows also showed increased propensity for using art objects in their instruction, as well as design thinking and the scientific method, and their connections to making art.
Joel Smeltzer, Head of School and Gallery Programs, Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
