SUMMER 2021
CONTENTS FEATURES 10 The changing role of designers in the post-COVID-19 world
18 Artists in the Time of Corona(virus)
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From Where I Stand Architect Ivan O’Garro on Society’s Cage Team
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I Made That
Landscape Rendering with MLA Alyssa Gill
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Letter from the Dean
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Class Notes
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Four Minutes on...
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Equipped
“Migrations” by Kelli Scott Kelley
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Art History with Josiah Phelps
Did You Know? 3D Printing Building Components, with Niloufar Emami
ON THE COVER ILLUSTRATION BY Hernán Andrés González, MFA Candidate, Graphic Design The cover illustration is meant to capture the essence of connection between physically separated people during the COVID-19 pandemic, the artist explains. The scene captures a city street in New Orleans, evoking both the iconic historical architecture of Louisiana, a rich community culture, and visually bringing together elements of art and design in our state. “This piece represents hope, and how we are all connected even when we are apart.”
EDITORIAL
ART DIRECTION - GDSO
EDITOR / WRITER Elizabeth Mariotti
FACULTY ADVISORS Lynne Baggett Luisa Restrepo
CONTRIBUTERS Niloufar Emami, Assistant Professor Alyssa Gill, MLA Candidate Kelli Scott Kelley, Professor
DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION Hernán Andrés Gonzáles, MFA Candidate Coby Naquin, BFA Candidate Samantha Smitley, BFA Candidate
COPY EDITOR Jerry Lockaby, MFA Candidate
LSU PHOTOGRAPHERS Kevin Dufy Micah Viccinelli, BFA candidate
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Dean’s Letter The Allegory of the Cave: Academic Year 2020 – 21 The picture accompanying this letter is a refection of the past year. For the past year, we have lived the Allegory of the Cave, Plato’s contemplation on the nature of human perception. Locked up, masked up, meeting each other’s shadows through Zoom windows or at best through the refexive protection of plexiglass shields. Over the past year we have lived between illusion and reality, shadow and light, abstract and concrete. It has been an experience like no other. An experience that should make us refect on what we do as makers of the stages upon which unfolds the great mystery plays of life. Refect about beauty and justice and above all freedom. In the year to come we will be coming out of this Cave! Refecting on this singular experience will have taught us to work together to face the dangerous realities of the caves that lie ahead.
Alkis Tsolakis, Dean
Photo by: Theo Bargiotas, DDes candidate
Four Minutes On...
“Migrations” by Kelli Scott Kelley
In 2019, the worldwide teen-driven climate strike movement deeply moved me. At the time, I’d been trying to fnd my way into a new body of work. The iconic images and words of climate activist Greta Thunberg riveted me. I was mesmerized by photos of this humble, waif-like child, who through her super powers had captivated the world, and inspired the largest climate demonstration in human history. Using screen-captured video stills and photos as reference, I began making drawings of Greta. The pen and ink wash drawings were an opening that ofered a way forward. Through the process of carefully observing her powerful child-like appearance, something began to emerge. The drawings, inspired by Greta, evolved into the series of paintings, Migrations. Since 2010, I have painted on re-purposed domestic linens. The surfaces reference the history of women’s handicrafts and allow for a more ecological art making practice. These fabrics, often hand stitched by the original owner, and aged with use, hold stories and histories, ofering me clues of how to proceed. The Migrations paintings each depict a lone female nature fgure who lumbers through food waters, seeking refuge. In a large central panel, titled Ofering, a
chimeric creature has emerged on an island, where she kneels, making an ofering before an animal-robot. An exhibit of that work opened in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. Louisiana State University, where I am a painting and drawing professor, shut down. Thrust into the whirlwind of a global pandemic, the devastating news that my 82-year-old parents had tested positive for the coronavirus, and teaching art classes remotely, my studio practice came to a screeching halt. Miraculously, after many scary weeks, my parents recovered. When the spring semester fnally ended, I was back in the studio, face-to-face with blank walls, and my demons. My 23-year-old adult child
Kelli Scott Kelley, Black Bird, 2020. Charcoal on Trader Joe’s bag,12 x 13.5 inches.
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It is not unusual for me to have doubts about my practice; to contemplate the relevance of and purpose for my art (making). Over these last few extraordinary months, the overlapping catastrophes of climate change, COVID-19, and the murder of George Floyd have infamed my existential questionings.
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FOUR MINUTES ON
happened to be in the area just as the “stay at home” orders came. It has been a comfort to have them (they use non-gender pronouns) here during this challenging time. Since they were a toddler, Finn has often served as a muse for my work. So, with their blessing, I took advantage of the opportunity to use them again as a model. I began making drawings of Finn, using charcoal on Trader Joe’s paper bags. The shopping bags were piling up, since we have been unable to use our reusable shopping bags during the pandemic. Drawing has always been a big part of my creative practice, but I hadn’t made traditional charcoal drawings for many years. There has been something comforting about the directness of charcoal on the crumply brown paper.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
The process has been meditative, and an anchor for me, during this trying time. Not long after
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Kelli Scott Kelley, Finn Masked (Three Quarter), 2020. Charcoal on Trader Joe’s bag, 12 x 13.5 inches.
beginning this work, George Floyd was murdered. It unexpectedly became unsettling for me to see Finn’s white body drawn onto the brown surfaces, while I began to seriously educate myself to my white privilege. Gradually, the straightforward portraits of Finn, some depicted with and some without a (coronavirus) face mask, started to become more fantastical, his body merging with elements from nature. Each drawing depicts a solitary fgure trudging through water, a refugee, seeking asylum. Unwittingly, the Finn drawings have become part two of the Migrations body of work. Soon I will comb through the trunk of old linens, many gifted to me by people hoping to give new life to their family heirlooms. The dark, smudgy charcoal images will give way to color and painterly explorations. And I will fnd a sanctuary in the studio, my safe place for healing and refuge. This piece first appeared in Passage, an online magazine “of visions and voices,” Issue 4, October 2020. Kelli Scott Kelley is a professor of painting/drawing in the School of Art. Kelley’s work has been exhibited widely at museums and galleries, including solo exhibitions at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Bradbury Art Museum, The Masur Museum of Art, Micholson Museum of Art, and the LSU Museum of Art. Kelley authored a book featuring her narrative artwork entitled Accalia and the Swamp Monster in 2014, published by LSU Press. Her art works are in the permanent collections of the Hall Art Foundation, LSU Museum of Art, Tyler Museum of Art, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library Special Collections, and the Eugenia Summer Gallery.
FOUR MINUTES ON
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Kelli Scott Kelley, Ofering, 20. Acrylic on re-purposed linens, 42 x 17 inches.
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Did You Know?
with Niloufar Emami
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Molds 3D-printed with elastic resin prior to removal of supports.
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Q
How can 3D printing be used for making molds for repeatable casting of concrete?
A
The pursuit of fabricating building components with complex geometries is driving innovation in contemporary architecture. With bespoke fabrication on one end and mass production on the other end of the fabrication spectrum, custom repetitive manufacturing (CRM) provides a solution for fabricating customized and complex yet repeatable building parts in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Concrete is a building material with excellent structural and architectural qualities which can be cast into any shape. 3D printing molds, into which concrete can be cast, open new avenues for investigating the fabrication of concrete components. Many studies that employed 3D printing molds for casting concrete create one mold per part where each mold is destroyed to release the part. These methods work for creating nonstandard geometric shapes, yet they are not efcient for scale-up for repeatable complex geometries. If these methods are to be scaled, reusability of the 3D printed molds becomes important because
it is not efcient to 3D print one mold per part. Advanced design strategies must be employed to create design variability with repeatable parts. To realize those design proposals, fabrication methods that can accommodate the creation of complex geometries while allowing reusability remain elusive. 3D-printed fexible formwork ofers the potential to cast complex geometries while allowing relatively easy release of the parts in multiple demolding cycles. From a diferent perspective, repeatable complex geometries have been historically used to form arches and vaults. In fact, knowledge embedded in centuries-old techniques ofers unique opportunities in the context of digital design and fabrication. Stereotomy, an artisanal technique practiced by stone masons, allows complex units to be carved out of solids. Considering the assembly of stereotomic modules, a solid whole is composed of unique, discrete, structurally independent units fabricated separately. The principles of stereotomy are seen in the design and construction of Topologically Interlocking Assemblies (TIAs) such as Abeille and Truchet fat vaults.
Assembly of the arch using cast concrete pieces.
My research demonstrates new approaches to a century-old technique using 3D printing formwork for casting concrete. The development of this method is facilitated by the advanced computational, simulation, and fabrication tools available to architects. I study how concrete may be used in lieu of stone or other solid materials for creating TIA. Inspired by complex geometries seen in TIA stereotomic assemblies, my research contributes by creating 3D printed elastic formwork for casting complex yet repeatable concrete units assembled to compose an interlocking assembly. With the advancement of large-scale 3D printing methods, this research advances innovation in structures where complex customized discrete modules create spatial enclosure, architectural facades, and surfaces.
Niloufar Emami, PhD, LEED GA, is the A. Hays Town assistant professor of architecture. She is a researcher, educator, and designer looking for gaps, intersections, and overlaps between architecture and multiple disciplines, using computational tools and fabrication techniques to provide creative yet performative solutions.
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The 3D printed mold types with the corresponding cast instantiations.
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“It is too soon to know the extent of
the impact of this pandemic, but we know we must be ready for change.” Marsha Cuddeback, Director of the School of Interior Design
DE S I G N in a pandemic When the COVID-19 virus swept the globe in early 2020, it seemed as if the world had
“Our role in designing new and adapting existing interior environments will be essential as we begin to plan
changed entirely. As more information about the
for healthy interior spaces,” said Marsha Cuddeback,
virus became known, it has become increasingly
director of the LSU School of Interior Design. “It is too
clear that the concept of space—the physical
soon to know the extent of the impact this pandemic has
distance between people; indoors vs. outdoors;
brought to bear on our interior environments, but we do
the way we use spaces to work and interact—is
know we must be ready for change.”
a crucial consideration for health outcomes. The way spaces are designed, repurposed, and
Buildings, communities, and organizations play a leading
reimagined can literally save lives.
role in supporting our health and well-being, as well as our collective ability to prepare for and respond to global health challenges like the one we’re experiencing now, according to the Strategies From Well Building Standard
6 FEET APART
to Support in the Fight Against COVID-19, by the Well Building Institute.
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Interior designers routinely face specific challenges
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when designing for particular spaces, but when the concern is viral transmission, the stakes are high: even life or death. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that to lower the risk of infection from COVID-19, individuals “socially distance”—maintain at least six feet/2 meters apart. So rearranging many interior spaces to more safely facilitate in-person interaction has become vital.
“The way we design interior environments, the materials and furnishings we specify, the arrangement of spaces to meet program requirements, and the spatial characteristics of our designs have a critical impact on health and wellbeing, productivity, comfort and satisfaction. Designers are responsible for creating interiors that improve the quality of our lives while protecting our natural environment.”
“We serve as agents for change, in part accomplished by understanding the interrelationship of people and the built and natural environments,” she said.
included interior design students working directly with local healthcare facilities to propose improvements. These design projects go beyond aesthetic considerations, critically examining hospital
Interior designers will face many new challenges in a
rooms and assessing functionality.
post COVID-19 environment. “We have learned a lot about how a pandemic impacts our lives, and we are still
The pandemic has emphasized the critical need for
learning,” Cuddeback said. “Designers will be challenged
intelligent design. “The pandemic is prompting and
to foreground evidenced base design and rethink the
accelerating conversations about the importance of
theory of proxemics and the boundaries of personal and
health considerations when designing interior spaces,”
social space.”
said Julie Elliott, interior design instructor, who has decades of experience in healthcare design.
In preparation for the return to in-person learning for the fall 2020 semester, interior design faculty worked
ID 3777 Design for Health and Wellbeing explores how
on facility modifications to keep students, faculty, and
the interior environment impacts human health and
staff safer on campus. It was an exercise in using interior
wellbeing. Students examine the principles and practices
design methods for improved healthcare outcomes
of indoor environmental quality, including thermal
right at LSU.
comfort, acoustic control, and indoor air quality, and quality of life through design.
now, more than ever before,” said Amelia Hernandez Aleman, BID 2021.
Health and safety is now a key part of the design
Even prior to the pandemic, the School of Interior Design
(BID 1998), Director of Interiors at EskewDumezRipple
had a curricular emphasis on healthcare design that
design firm in New Orleans.
planning conversation, said alumna Jill Traylor
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explore design theories and processes for improving the “It made me realize how important interior design is
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CITY PARK Site plan by Taylor Fehmel, MLA. Design for urban systems studio course exploring New Orleans public parks and open spaces.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS OUTDOOR SPACES Landscape architects design a wide array of spaces,
Landscape architects have long been at the forefront
from massive city masterplans to private secret gardens.
of city planning efforts, national and international
Here are some examples of LSU landscape architecture
investment in public spaces, and involved in the growing
students’ work.
concern for the future of green spaces. When scientific research demonstrated that transmission of the COVID-19 virus is diminished outdoors, spaces such as parks, yards, and urban greenways were reimagined to become classrooms, offices, meeting locations, and safer
“Clients are looking to us for how they can alter their
settings for in-person interaction.
spaces in response to COVID-19 and the post-COVID world,” she said.
Landscape architecture has always explored the way outdoor spaces can be modified and used more
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“It has involved a lot of research on our part into all
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creatively, but the pandemic has made clearer how
aspects of interior environments including spacial
absolutely essential well-designed public parks,
layouts, circulation, furniture, materials, and air quality,”
community greenspaces, trails, waterfronts, etc., are
Traylor said. “Since information changes daily as more is
to our health, well-being, and social interaction.
learned about the virus, we have to stay on the pulse of best practices. I foresee some of these adaptations being
In less than a year we have observed a transformation of
the new standard in the future.”
many public spaces, said Mark Boyer, Director of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. “The pandemic may have brought about a shift in the thinking about infrastructural space (streets and parking lots) and
GARDEN Max Guzzeta, BLA. Proposal for research-based therapeutic landscape design studio specializing in healthcare garden design.
“The pandemic has brought about a shift in the thinking about infrastructural space.”
Mark Boyer, Director of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture
how it can be used or repurposed to serve pedestrians and diners rather than vehicles,” he said.
ten years in leadership roles at the Center for Planning Excellence—a nonprofit honored with ASLA’s 2009 Olmsted Award—she dedicated her work to resiliency in
“Hopefully, those who are decision makers in city government will realize the importance of investing in the development of public space in historically under-invested neighborhoods and communities who bore a disproportionate burden of loss of life during the pandemic.” about infrastructural space.” “With more people working from home and less time
climate change. In Louisiana, she has led essential work in over 25 communities. She has a progressive view of landscape architects as community leaders. “Access to these outdoor spaces is now, and will continue to be, critical in the future,” she said. Many LSU landscape architecture alumni firms are now leading the design of public works projects with long-term implications.
parks and trails to exercise and safely socialize more
The pandemic has impacted how people are using
frequently,” said Haley Blakeman, assistant professor of
personal outdoor spaces as well. People are turning to
landscape architecture.
their yards for comfort, as safe social meeting spaces, for solitude—everything—said Joseph Richardson (BLA 2008).
Blakeman has spent her career advancing city planning
His firm, Joseph Richardson Landscape Architecture
efforts from the community to national scale. During her
(JRLA), in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region
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commuting, people are using green spaces like
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NATIONAL PARK Perspective by Xu Lin, BLA. Project for “Culture and Design: Exploration in New Territories” advanced topics studio that worked with Denali National Park in Alaska and an agricultural tourism site in Chengdu, China.
focuses on residential landscape design, and has seen an
more in demand because clients are more comfortable
increase in business since the pandemic hit the U.S.
conducting meetings outdoors. We’ve incorporated a number of putting greens and bocce courts into our
“With vacations on hold and families spending so much time at home, many of our clients wanted to
designs this past year and have some exciting projects in the works for 2021.”
move forward with turning their outdoor spaces into entertainment sanctuaries,” he said. “If anything,
Private outdoor spaces have been transformed into
landscape architects are
retreats, during a year in which many have been in isolation. Even after the pandemic has passed, designers anticipate that this experience will have permanently altered the way we as a society work and play. One thing is for certain: outdoor spaces will
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not be overlooked in the future.
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WATERFRONT Student design from “Shifting Sands” studio exploring site designs for New York City’s barrier beaches.
“A Place to Wait” by Amelia Hernandez Aleman, BID. LSU Design Building courtyard sketch. From Design for Heath and Wellbeing course.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF HEALTH & SAFETY
sweeping porches from which people can interact.
A building’s design can “make or break” whether it’s
New designs are following suit, finding innovative ways
befitting to social distancing, with classic verandas and
conducive to social distancing and other health best
to bridge connections between interior and exterior
practices. Many densely packed urban cities were the
spaces. And architects have adapted quickly to the
earliest places the virus cases surged, as the existing
challenges of designing during the pandemic, said
infrastructure forced people closer together.
Christine Cangelosi Redmon (BArch 2010), architect at EskewDumezRipple.
to pandemic living, according to National Geographic,
“As a design team, we have all learned how to utilize our
in a recent interview with Lake Douglas, LSU College
online platforms to collaborate better and grow in our
of Art & Design associate dean of research. Historical
communication styles,” she said. “We take for granted all
architectural styles of Louisiana homes are more
the casual conversations in our shared spaces, so when
“More than ever, architects are being
called upon to be advocates for the human experience in the built environment.” Christine Cangelosi Redmon, BArch 2010
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But New Orleans’ historic architecture is uniquely suited
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“Being educated in Louisiana means
learning how to pull from the creative resilient energy around you to deliver a future full of amazing possibilities.” Christine Cangelosi Redmon, BArch 2010
we lost the ability to all be together, we had to learn quickly how to make sure everyone was communicating
“The pandemic has made us all more aware of the range of personal comfort around health and safety,” she said.
effectively. Being more facile in the online collaboration mediums has allowed us to still work as a team,
“Before the pandemic, the conversation was limited to
harvesting the best ideas from everyone, while following
user experience, whereas now we are talking about user
safety guidelines.”
experience within the context of a range of health and safety protocols,” she explained. “The broadening of this
“As advocates for healthy environments, the pandemic helped make our case to many clients. We often push
discussion is leading to more inclusive, diverse and rich conversations about the environments around us.”
for higher ventilation rates, operable windows, access to nature and fresh air as well as environmentally responsible finishes that can be easily disinfected, but it was not always a priority for each job,” Cangelosi Redmon said. “Now it is the first
The EDR team has remained positive in the face of tough times. “One of our principals and fellow LSU alum Mark Ripple went the extra mile to bring joy to our faces by dressing as ‘Caution Man,’” she shared. “His 6 feet of separation cape brought many laughs and smiles. When I
thing most clients want
asked Mark about ‘Caution Man,’ he reminded me that it
to discuss, which is
is the role of design leadership to make people feel safe
refreshing and exciting
so they can create. He knew we would be okay despite
for all end users. I think
the pandemic—after all, the firm did survive Katrina.”
the future is full of healthier environments because of
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
this pandemic.”
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“Living in Louisiana means learning to be resilient. We know how to pick ourselves up from unfathomable situations, help each other out, and ultimately fnd the joy in our way of life.” Christine Cangelosi Redmom
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Illustrations (pages 11 and 17) by Hernán Andrés González
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“My hope is to evoke with clarity our closeness, or our distance.” Stephanie Cobb, MFA 2021
Art at a
D I S TA N C E
ART IN THE TIME OF CORONA Many artists have turned their practice inward and focused on expressing and processing the experiences of life during quarantine, a global pandemic, and the many other challenges people have faced in the last year. “When we engage ourselves in creative activity, we
“My work is a private moment made public. My interest in image making has always been predominately fgurative, selecting subjects that are closely tied to personal experiences. Only closeness between artist and sitter will allow for intimacy in a portrait. My hope is to evoke with clarity our closeness, or our distance.” Cobb’s series Closeness / Distance explores the concepts
don’t feel alone. Instead, we become engrossed
of distance, connection, and emotional space with
in the act of making, which engages the senses
exquisite lucidity. Her painting The Garden depicts
and focuses our attention, creating calm,” said
people seated apart in a lush tropical garden, socially
LSU art therapy instructor Tiffanie Brumfield.
distanced and eyes averted. The scene captures the physical distances between individuals, the beautifully
LSU art students, faculty, and alumni have created
haunting spaces between us. The piece will be featured
pieces across a range of mediums documenting
in the Spring 2021 issue of New American Paintings.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
this existential experience. As with previous
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times of significant change, the events of 2020
Her painting At Rest was included in the virtual exhibition
have prompted many creative responses.
Art in the Time of Corona, a title evoking the Gabriel García Márquez epic novel Love in the Time of Cholera.
MFA candidate Stephanie Cobb’s practice focuses on
The exhibition includes works from painters across
connection, her paintings illustrating snapshots of
the globe, expressing in different styles the singular
human interaction and isolation. She selects subjects
experiences that all people face. Featured on Artsy, “The
that are closely tied to personal experiences to create
goal of this innovative project is to record and exhibit
a visual language of both vulnerability and intimacy.
(in real time) defining artwork created during civil
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“The Garden” from Closeness / Distance by Stephanie Cobb, MFA 2021
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ART AT A DISTANCE
uncertainty. The hope is to unite viewers and help
said. “Quiet and contemplative, these images encourage
them find the sanctity, comfort, and inspiration
the viewer to fall into the moment and take a deep
needed to heal a world in turmoil.”
breath, soaking in the gentle comforts that come with a safe space created by one’s own hands and mind.”
MFA candidate Diana Patin focused her 2020 spring virtual exhibition on the quarantine experience, stating:
Art can serve as a means of connection, both for viewers and fellow art-makers.
“These images document my exploration of the home as an extension of self. Home to me, in addition to shelter, is comfort. It is non-judgement. It is acceptance. It is letting my guard down.” Her photography documents seemingly mundane
Art history alum Blaire Brown Stroemple launched Box of Art, a virtual painting party business that brings people together to make art while socially distancing—in the time of COVID-19 and beyond. “I pushed myself to make this happen when coronavirus
details of everyday life at home, which have become
started,” she explained. “Since my ‘bread and butter’
crucial parts of her emotional experience during
is my live event painting business, I felt the financial
the pandemic. “By engaging with familiar objects
burden of wedding cancellations. Instead of panicking I
and activities such as journaling and reading, I was
tried to learn from it and evolve.”
able to maintain a sense of calm,” she stated. Box of Art offers group and private classes for adults and “The composition and tone of the images overall
kids, with themes including abstract painting, sweet tea,
reflects this pursuit as well,” Patin said. “They are
or unicorns. The slogan is “Paint together, miles apart.”
direct, meditative, and observational. The silhouette
Brown takes pride in having evolved her businesses to
of a single tree in my yard against a moving night
meet the demands of the current world, while offering
sky, and the shadows cast by a house plant at just the
people a way to connect and find solace in making art.
right time in the afternoon allude to a sense of time passing. Though the daily movement of light might be
She hopes that others will find joy in art-making, as she does.
predictable, the particular sense of beauty and calm it evokes is not, which makes me wish to document it.”
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
“Recording this calm within the home has become
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“When I fnish a painting, there’s a feeling that’s hard to describe and it cannot be replaced by anything else.”
tangible proof of its existence in myself as well,” she
“Our goal was to acknowledge the
many diferent struggles people are facing at this moment.” Malcolm McClay, Professor of Art
“Battling the Leviathan” Mardi Gras house sculpture by Professor Malcolm McClay.
BATTLING THE LEVIATHAN
“The house float gave us an opportunity to continue our participation in Mardi Gras; however, we felt strongly
Though traditional Mardi Gras parades were cancelled
from the beginning that we needed to do something
across Louisiana for the 2021 season due to the COVID-19
different this year,” said LSU art/sculpture professor
pandemic, New Orleans residents kept the Mardi Gras
Malcolm McClay.
spirit alive through the Krewe of House Floats “Parade in Place” initiative. New Orleans-area homes have been decorated like Mardi Gras floats for spectators to view, as a safer option to the large crowds of the usual parades. The Krewe of Houses has granted an opportunity for local
“It has been such a challenging time for so many people; and New Orleans has been particularly hard hit because the economy is so reliant on tourism; and many of the city’s artists and musicians cannot perform at their typical venues.”
artists to showcase their talents—including many LSU For the Mardi Gras House Float, McClay and his wife,
local artisan economy. Most of all, the art spectacles are
fellow artist Chicory Miles, designed sculptures that
meant to raise spirits in a challenging time, and send the
conjured a sense of history. “From the beginning, we
collective message that we are a united community and
agreed that we wanted to create something beautiful
hopeful for the future.
that hearkened back to Mardi Gras of the past. Our house
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art alumni, students, and faculty—and even stimulate the
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ART AT A DISTANCE
was built in the 1890s and we live in a historic district. As
“Drawn from the Declaration of Independence, the title
you walk through our neighborhood in the Bywater, it is
implicates ‘We’ the viewer as an active participant,
easy to imagine yourself living in another time.”
acknowledging the collective responsibility shared in our democracy,” he said.
The sculpture is modeled to evoke a flag design from il Palio, a Medieval horse race in Siena, Italy. The Onda (wave) flag features the image of the leviathan, a mythical sea creature mentioned in both the Torah and the Bible. It is also the title of a political book by
“The photographs reveal the anxiety felt across the nation and speak to this historic moment, as tensions run increasingly high in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.”
the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, written in 1651. In Leviathan, Hobbes uses the image of the leviathan to
With the November 2020 U.S. election looming, LSU
represent absolute power. The McClays decided to title
art students engaged potential voters through an
the house float sculpture “Battling the Leviathan” as a
online exhibition with an empowering message: Get
nod to the mythologic and historic representing our
Out the Vote. Art students in Applied Typography: ART
modern-day challenges.
4527 designed posters for the AIGA Get Out the Vote Campaign, which debuted as a virtual exhibition in October 2020. Taught by professor of art/graphic design Courtney Barr and graphic design instructor Meghan
WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS
Saas, the course focused on gaining an understanding of typography in terms of its history, application, and
2020 was defined not only by the global pandemic,
aesthetic considerations.
but also by the widespread political unrest across the United States. In fall 2020, Jeremiah Ariaz, professor
“Voting is often easily pushed aside or dismissed as
of photography, debuted his exhibition We Hold These
unimportant. The Get Out the Vote campaign serves
Truths, a selection of photographs he made across the
as the perfect reminder that it is our duty as citizens
U.S. during the Trump presidency.
to use our voice and demand change,” said BFA candidate
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Julia Lesage.
We Hold These Truths photography exhibition by Professor Jeremiah Ariaz. 22
“A motivational message, if applied
correctly, can bridge the gap between the art, the viewer, and the world in which they both exist.”
Get Out the Vote poster virtual exhibition by LSU graphic design students.
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Morgan Growden, BFA 2021
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From Where I Stand LSU Architecture Alum Ivan O’Garro Part of Society’s Cage Team Peering through the bars of the cage on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., onlookers are greeted with a powerful message: white society has oppressed people of color for centuries and continues to do so today. This is Society’s Cage. LSU architecture alum Ivan O’Garro (BArch 2012) was a member of the team that designed Society’s Cage, an art installation created in the aftermath of the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor murders in 2020. It was installed on the National Mall in fall of 2020.
The design process was fast-paced, decisive, collaborative, and, in many ways, came naturally, he said. “One of our strengths was the level of trust among team members,” O’Garro said. “Each person had a specific role to play. We held each other to a high standard of excellence and accountability. That trust remained paramount because of the heaviness of the vessel’s message; we had to acknowledge that we were simply messengers delivering the truth.”
The installation features a bold interpretive pavilion sculpted to symbolize the historic forces of racialized state violence. The experience educates visitors and functions as a sanctuary to refect, record, and share personal thoughts. It is conceived in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as a mechanism for building empathy and healing, according to Smithgroup.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
The goal of the design team, led by Dayton Schroeter and Julian Arrington, was to use the art piece to spark open and truthful dialogue around systemic racism in America by presenting the harsh truths of the continuum of racial injustice beautifully, O’Garro said.
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The installation is designed to evoke strong emotions, to impact the viewer, and make one think about the complex history of the United States, culminating in where we are today. “Ideally, the work will continue to travel the country and help diferent communities have real discussions centered on facts.”
Society’s Cage. Photos Courtesy @dani_photogram.
O’Garro focused on research, data analytics, and interpretive text aggregation. He poured over volumes of historical data related to the four aspects of institutionalized racial violence depicted by the cube’s sides: lynching, mass incarceration, death by police, and capital punishment.
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FROM WHERE I STAND
The piece uses the interpolated data (four trend graphs) to form the pavilion canopy, which allows the visitor to experience the “weight of oppression” from above. On the pavilion foor, the names of almost 10,000 victims of lynching, capital punishment, and death by police ofcers create a texture that is broken only by quotes of Black scholars and luminaries. Society’s Cage tells a gut-wrenching story of the plight of generations of Americans. O’Garro has his own story to tell, of a passion that brought him to the United States to study architecture. He grew up in Trinidad & Tobago, carrying an international viewpoint that adds to his design perspective and a lifelong desire to give back to others. “My wife says I’m one of those lucky people that has found their passion in life and gets to pursue it every day. I’ve wanted to be an architect since I was nine years old,” said O’Garro.
build it, and have someone walk through my creation. To this day, the most fulflling part of my job is observing how people interact with places that once existed only in my head.” His path to LSU was circumstantial, he admits. “I wish I could say I followed some profound process picking where to study architecture, but I didn’t,” he said. “I was an international student at Tulane with a high GPA and no money. LSU had a far better academic scholarship package for students like me, so I transferred and moved to Baton Rouge.” “That was one of the best decisions I could have made as a college student.I met some of my closest friends at LSU, folks that I collaborate with to this day. Moreover, I now had a winning football team to support.”
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
“That was the year my mom gave me a copy of AutoCad to play around with as a gift,” he said. “I loved the idea of being able to imagine a space,
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“Studying architecture at LSU opened my horizons.”
JACMEL ORPHANAGE
Images courtesy of SamanHaus.
He also runs SamanHaus, a social architecture nonproft he launched in 2015 to provide pro bono architecture services to children’s institutions in Haiti. O’Garro’s passion for design and youth development helped him identify the need to couple
Ivan O’Garro. Image by Mark Finkenstaedt.
the two to create better living conditions for society’s most vulnerable members. He believes that “designing beautiful, safe spaces for Haiti’s orphans creates positive ripple efects on their life trajectories.” “In many ways, creating the nonprofit was the logical progression in a series of volunteer efforts that started for me in 2010 after the devastating earthquake. It was also a way to work with my close friends Mike Johnson and Robin Bankert on projects that used our skills and training to give others happiness.” Projects include the renovation & expansion of the Clermont Foundation Center for Homeless Youth in Jacmel, Haiti. The center provides food, shelter, healthcare, and education to homeless boys in Jacmel.
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He was able to work at one of the nation’s top design frms while he matriculated. The LSU School of Architecture’s consortium fellowship also enabled him to spend a year in Washington, D.C., studying architecture in an urban context. Since graduating, he has lived in Boston and D.C. and worked on projects on fve continents. He currently works in the nation’s capital at Smithgroup as a lead designer in the cultural studio. His practice group focuses on museums and other cultural edifces.
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FROM WHERE I STAND
“Ivan and I were in the same class at LSU SoA, and we’ve been close friends ever since,” said Mike Johnson (BArch 2012), Harvard Graduate School of Design graduate and SamanHaus lead designer. “In 2015, when we were both living in Boston, he ofered me an amazing opportunity to join him in a nonproft that he just started,” Johnson said.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
SamanHaus’s frst project was to renovate and expand the orphanage building at no cost to the orphanage. Johnson said they think of this project as a prototype for new construction in Haiti for many reasons:
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An innovative CEB structural system is safe for seismic loads and hurricanes. A bamboo façade encourages bamboo forestry to fight deforestation. Rainwater collection system provides free, safe drinking water. Solar panels produce continuous, stable power and sustainability.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL:
TO USE DESIGN AS A MEANS OF MAKING LIFE BETTER FOR ALL.
“Beautifully designed spaces significantly enhance the orphans’ experiences and lives,” Johnson said. “This nonprofit and this project epitomize Ivan as a person and as an architect. He is a good friend, from those closest to him to people in need in another country. He cares deeply about everyone, from fighting for safety in Haitian construction to fighting for racial justice at home. “
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“He advocates for sustainable design, from fighting climate change with renewable energy to designing healthy environments for those in need. Ivan is constantly innovating, he has tremendous design skills, and he has an extraordinary ability to connect with people – all people. I am so fortunate to be able to call Ivan a close friend and colleague, and I look forward to seeing what the next chapter brings us.”
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I Made That!
Alyssa Gill, She/They, Master of Landscape Architecture, 2022
PROJECT OVERVIEW I began this project as part of my master of landscape architecture water studio. The course challenged me to explore the intersections between water and race at the Mississippi River. Through my research I began creating a landscape for the Chinese Community in the Mississippi Delta. For my fnal project I proposed the creation of a walking path in Cleveland, Mississippi, that
connects Delta State University, a proposed Cultural Heritage Center, and a park on the site of the former Chinese Mission School. As landscape architects we represent our designs through a series of diferent graphics, each showing a diferent view of our proposed space. I have detailed my process for creating a section diagram for this project.
MATERIALS / HARDWARE Watercolor Paint, Guache Paint, Drawing Pencils and Photoshop
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PROCESS
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I used my own photos as well as reference imagery from Google Street View to locate my chosen site.
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a. This section looks south from about midway through the park. From here a neighboring church and trees can be seen, so I knew I needed to show this in my section.
b. Using watercolor paper and drawing pencils, I sketched out an outline of the topography and proposed ginkgo grove. The frst part of the section cuts through the topography, so you can see the soil beneath the created mound. I used watercolor and gouache paints to detail my design and identify its diferent elements.
I MADE THAT
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I repeated the above process until I had several more sections that show the rest of the mound and grove, as well as layers of the pollinator garden. I scanned each of these layers to my computer.
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Using Adobe Photoshop, I cut out each section as a .png fle with a transparent background. In a separate fle I began to align each .png on top of the others. When layered, the sections create a composite view of the park. From here I adjusted the brightness & contrast levels of each layer.
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Throughout this process I attempted to keep each of these elements on separate layers so that I could easily edit them as needed. For example, I use a
This fnal section is used in conjunction with my other drawings to communicate my overall design concept. While I presented a preliminary design at the end of the fall semester, I am still working with the community to create a fnal design that responds to their needs.
clipping mask and color adjustments to make sure I only change the color of my scale fgures without turning the entire section purple.
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I added .png fgures to demonstrate a family enjoying the park, as well as another child playing in the pollinator garden. These fgures are important to give the section a sense of scale.
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Class Notes Reed Hildebrand LLC Landscape Architecture, founded by Doug Reed (BLA 1978), won an American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2020 award of excellence in the residential design category for the Marshcourt estate. Design Workshop,
where numerous LSU alumni work, also won the ASLA honor award for “Afecting Change to Avoid Disaster: Communicating Efective Wildfre Planning Strategies.”
OJB Landscape Architecture won the 2020 National Design Award for Landscape Architecture awarded by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, honoring the practice’s transformation of public spaces nationwide. Led by founder
James Burnett (BLA 1983), FASLA and partner Chip Trageser (BLA 1990), FASLA, OJB has been challenging conventional boundaries of landscape architecture for more than 30 years.
Christine Cain, BID 1984, is principal and owner of Christine Cain Design Inc., with ofces in New York, New York, and Baton Rouge, providing residential interior design serives.
Interior design by Christine Cain Design.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Chad Lynch, BArch 1994, was appointed chief operations director of the Ascension Parish, Louisiana public, school system.
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Stephen E. McLaughlin, MLA 1994, RLA, ASLA, practiced landscape architecture for a quarter of a century before having to retire prematurely in 2020 due to advancing symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The last several years of Steve’s career were as a contractor with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, where he provided subject matter expertise in landscape architecture as a supervisor of site design for American diplomatic missions
worldwide, and served as a code ofcial or landscape -related design standards. Steve was previously employed with architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and other consulting frms of various sizes, serving abroad mix of governmental and private sector clientele on projects around the USA and abroad. He also worked in a self-employed capacity, designing residences, additions, decks, patios, and gardens. His frst career was as a U.S. naval ofcer, in both the Atlantic and Pacifc feets. He has been married to Sophia Wang McLaughlin since 1999, and they currently reside in Silver Spring, Maryland.
CLASS NOTES
Kenneth Wagstaf, BFA 1994, graphic design concentration, is owner of Wagstaf Design Creative Services in Knoxville, Tennessee, ofering web and graphic design services.
Scott Bellina, BFA 1998, graphic design concentration, is owner and executive creative director of BCBD. Before founding BCBD, Scott honed his craft as lead creative in top agencies located in New Orleans, Dallas, London, and New York City. Scott has provided awardwinning creative designs for clients such as Nike, Adidas, Cosmopolitan, Showtime, BBC Worldwide, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the National Hockey League, IFC, eMusic.com, Fuse, Samsung, Temple Turmeric, Qello Concerts, the New York Rangers, and the New York Yankees.
Coleman Partners Architects LLC has promoted Jonathan Heltz, BArch 1998, to principal architect. Heltz has been with the frm for 23 years and is a project manager for local and international hospitality projects.
chapter, where he was president of the executive committee. His years of experience include landscape architecture, urban design and master planning of public and private developments, as well as major urban design and mixed-use projects.
Photo courtesy of Bayou Gotham Hot Sauces.
In March 2019, Bellina partnered with fellow LSU design classmate, Scott Hodgin (BFA 1998) of Tilt Design, to develop branding for Bellina’s new handcrafted product line, Bayou Gotham® Hot Sauces.
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Noel Aveton, BLA 1995, ASLA, is vice president at CallisonRTKL in Dallas, Texas. Noel leads planning and landscape architecture eforts, working with clients around the globe. In addition to the development of projects, he served in various positions with the ASLA Texas
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CLASS NOTES
Erin Hill Morgan, BArch1999, was named partner architect at Tipton Associates, APAC, in Baton Rouge, where she leads the student-life studio in projects on campuses across the Southeast.
Christina Macaluso Hammock, BFA 2000, leads the journalism department at Geneva School of Boerne in Boerne, Texas. Under her leadership, her staf has been nationally recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Jostens, and locally by the Interscholastic League
Scott Smith, BLA 2006, is Director of Design & Estimating for Juniper in Cape Coral, Florida.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Satish Vayuvegula, MArch 2006, is Practice Leader – Architecture at ArchWert Planners & Designers in Pune, India.
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“The Castle” at University of Virginia. Photo by Cameron Triggs. In association with Clark Nexsen.
Press Conference (ILPC) and Texas Association of Private & Parochial Schools (TAPPS). She also leads the high school photo team and advises production of CSPA Crown Award winning quarterly magazine, as well as an annual literary magazine. She also works as an in-house designer for the school.
CLASS NOTES
Stacy Murphy, BID 2007, is national sales manager at Armstrong Flooring in Austin, Texas. Stacy holds two degrees in interior design, from LSU and from the New York School of Interior Design. She passed her NCDIQ and became licensed in
the State of Texas while working on large corporate ofce projects at Corgan and Benson Hlavaty Architects in Dallas, Texas. In 2012, she relocated to Washington, DC. Stacy was named a HiP Award Winner from Interior Design Magazine in 2019 and has served on boards for IIDA since 2013. At Armstrong, she currently executes commercial real estate strategies for national and global retail brands.
Amy Phillip, BFA 2009, graphic design concentration, is cofounder/design strategist of Cultiv8 Creative in Baton Rouge. As the design strategist at Cultiv8, she partners with other agencies to design marketing collateral, publications, social/digital campaigns, and advertisements. She has collaborated on a wide range of projects for companies such as Amazon, Azek, USG, Aon, and Max Digital.
Coleman Partners Architects LLC has promoted William Thibaut, BArch 2009, to principal architect. Thibaut has been with the frm 11 years and is a project manager of educational facilities, specializing in K-12 design.
Cody Arnall, MFA 2010, sculpture concentration, was awarded an artist’s residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York, February – March 2020.
The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came, Katrina Andry
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Katrina Andry: The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came by Katrina Andry (MFA 2010), (printmaking concentration), was on display at the Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, on view through March, 2021.
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CLASS NOTES
Louise Cheetham Bordelon, MLA 2010, received a PhD of geography & anthropology at LSU. Following a post-doctoral fellowship at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, Louise returned to the United States and now teaches in
the MLA program at University of Colorado – Denver as assistant professor and interim chair. Her research interests are centered on cultural landscapes, continuous networks of biodiversity, and visual thinking/research by design.
Katie Virag, BFA 2013, sculpture concentration, is completing an MFA in studio arts at the University of Syracuse in Syracuse, New York expected in May 2021.
She exhibited her installation “sub specie aeternitatis” at the Hotel Henry in Bufalo, New York in 2020.
Lane Rapier, BID 2015, received a Master of Architecture degree from Tulane University in 2018. She is a designer at architecture and interior design frm Farouki Farouki in New Orleans.
William Baumgardner, BLA 2016, is a PhD candidate in constructed environment at the University of Virginia.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Alex Morvant, BLA 2016, is a landscape architect at Ten Eyck Landscape Architects in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Tina Naraghi-Pour, BArch 2016, is an architectural staf member at Corgan in Houston, Texas.
Michelle Jones James, BArch 2018, is an assistant project manager at Arkel Constructors in Baton Rouge.
IVAN O’GARRO
HONORING SUE TURNER
Dr. Sue Turner (left) at 2017 LSU Commencement ceremony. Photo by Eddy Perez.
The LSU College of Art & Design presented Dr. Turner with the Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2017, honoring her long-standing philanthropic commitment to LSU and her exemplary support of the arts and culture of Louisiana. Her projects included Louisiana Art & Science Museum (LASM), which she helped get of the ground in the early 1960s. In the more than 50 years that followed, she played a role in securing
and renovating two historic buildings in downtown Baton Rouge for LASM’s home (the Old Governor’s Mansion and then the Illinois Central Train Station), building two planetariums, growing an art collection, and securing governmental funding that stabilized LASM through the decades. “Sue said that when she discovered museums as an adult it opened her world,” said Carol Gikas, who served as the president and executive director of the Louisiana Art & Science Museum for thirty-nine years. “She wanted Louisiana schoolchildren and families to have cultural opportunities that she wished she could have had as a child.” The LSU community respectfully honors the Turner family at this time of grief.
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The LSU College of Art & Design is saddened by the passing of Sue Turner, a devoted preservationist and philanthropist who supported LSU and the Louisiana arts community for many years. She was 93.
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Equipped with Josiah Phelps, Master of Art History Candidate MATERIALS
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ORIGINAL ARTWORKS [left] Painting The Wine Glass by Dutch artist, Johannas Vermeer (1660), which I feel, as a painter myself, infuenced the creation of the everyday life of the common people as the subject matter in painting. [right] Painting made by former LSU MFA student. The artist depicted the interior of Hagia Sophia, Byzantine architecture built by Roman Emperor Justinian I in 537 AD. [in foreground] Art piece by LSU Professor Paul Dean titled Evolvet (2005.)
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CERAMIC The ceramic is a Chinese teacup that I have for enjoyment. Though I did not personally create it myself, I do have a background in ceramics. The closest thing I have come to in Asian ceramics is Raku.
LSU COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
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BOOKS I consult a wide variety of books, such as the Benezit Dictionary of Artists for my scholarly research. Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s History of the Art of Antiquity helped direct popular taste toward classical art, particularly that of ancient Greece, which infuenced Western painting and sculpture. I use René Descartes’ The Passions of the Soul (1649) to better understand the knowledge of physiognomy and pathognomy to help further my research between science and art.
Josiah Phelps is an intellectual art historian who analyzes science and pseudosciences between 18th century European portrait and figure paintings. Josiah received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee.
Photo by Micah Viccinelli
Louisiana State University 102 Design Building Baton Rouge, LA 70803-70101 design.lsu.edu
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