Landscape Architect Selected for Lenfest Plaza - Pennsylvania ...

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Faculty Spotlight: Shane Stratton
While sculpture department faculty member
Shane Stratton “can still hardly believe” that he
is the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, the
award should come as no surprise to the artist
who was told that he drew before he spoke.
“Making things always felt natural and undeniable,”
says the artist whose earliest memory of
being interested in art was drawing on the floor
with crayons.
Having gotten off the floor and switching
mediums, when Stratton was a high school
senior, he saw an ad for PAFA in the back of
Art in America featuring a figure drawing by
Pat Traub. States Stratton, “I wanted to learn
to draw that beautifully.” After a trip to Philadelphia
and a visit to PAFA’s Annual Student
Exhibition, Stratton abandoned other school
plans and enrolled in the Academy’s Certificate
program. “It is among the best decisions of my
life.”
The Academy was a very supportive place
for Stratton, and he loved the emphasis on
learning real, applicable skills that pertained
both to the critical development of his work,
and to the techniques he would need to create
it. The degree to which the Academy prepared
Stratton to be a professional sculptor—everything
from learning how to cast bronze to presenting
his work in the Museum building during
the Annual Student Exhibitions—laid the
groundwork that he is still building on today.
Stratton graduated from PAFA in 1993 and
Shane Stratton, Oceanid, bronze, 90” x 52” x 45”
has been teaching here for the past seven
years, when sculpture department chair Robert
Roesch hired Stratton to replace Gary Weisman who had decided to step down from running
PAFA’s foundry. This semester, Stratton has more than 70 students in four classes: Foundry, Plaster
and Casting Techniques, and two sections of Introduction to Figure Modeling.
Stratton says his teaching style is “characterized by fostering the growth of the individual
student, with a focus on developing the particular skills, and personal vision, needed for each individual’s
work.” He teaches two days a week, and spends the rest of his time making his own work.
Stratton’s experience as a professional sculptor, living primarily from the exhibition and sale of his
work is foremost to what he has to offer as a teacher. He notes, “I love teaching at the Academy.
It is an inspiring, energetic place and I am constantly impressed with the caliber of our students.”
In Stratton’s own work, he was initially a figurative sculptor working from life, but in the last years
at PAFA he began inventing without models. His work continued in this vein, with a figurative
basis, for the next 15 years.
Three years ago, while on an artist residency on the coast of Maine at the Humboldt Science
Institute, Stratton began using natural structures as the basis for abstract sculpture. It was there,
sharing a field lab with the botanists in the program, that he first used a magnifying scope to examine
small, organic specimens. It revealed structures and patterns in botanical life that changed
the way he saw the natural environment in its entirety.
Stratton began researching how other artists have used abstracted natural forms, and this led
him to examine Islamic art and architecture. Stratton comments that “the experience of seeing the
patterns and structures of life, through the magnifying scope, provided the unlikely context for the
macroscopic vision of Islamic depictions of paradise. A primary element of my Fulbright research
in Turkey is the visual relationship between the patterns of organic life, and the patterns of the
arabesque.”
Of his Fulbright award, Stratton says that Turkey is a place that has long held a fascination for
him and the grant will allow him the opportunity to live and work in Istanbul for nine months starting
in September.
Perhaps after nine months in Istanbul, Stratton will believe that he is indeed a Fulbright Scholar.
Seletti’s Palace dinnerware collection dresses up a
table with sophisticated style, but the plates, bowls
and platters, all decorated with indistinguishable
lines and designs, also morph into mansions reminiscent
of ancient Rome (think columns and grand
archways) when neatly stacked.
$98.00 - 130.00 per set of 6
Visit or contact us at 215-972-2075 or www.pafa/shop.
Printmaking Department Update
The 2010 calendar year could be named the “international year of the print,” especially
for Philadelphia. That is because of the numerous printmaking dedicated events
that took place throughout our city under the auspices Philagrafika.
And what made this year even more exciting is that The Southern Graphics Council
hosted its annual conference in Philadelphia in March. The SGC was established in
1973 with the purpose of advancing the professional standing of artists who make
original prints, drawings, books and hand-made paper, as well as to increase public
appreciation of them.
Our printmaking department enthusiastically participated in the three-year planning
for the Southern Graphics Convention that was hosted by PAFA, Moore College of
Art & Design, The University of the Arts, University of Pennsylvania, and Tyler School of
Art. Each school scheduled an array of important panel discussions, lectures, and print
demonstrations for the conference and also exhibited many print portfolios associated
with the events as well as portfolios submitted by independent groups.
Over 1,400 people registered for the SGC convention and over 400 people registered
for some of the print shop demonstrations. The print shop space on PAFA’s 6th
floor was especially suited for the demonstrations. PAFA demonstrations included Dan
Miller’s, “Spooning Large Format Woodcuts,” Ron Wyffels’ “Lithography: Electric Press
and Large Format Printing Techniques,” and Tony Rosati’s “Intaglio: Viscosity Color
Printing-Single Plate/Multiple Colors.” Lisa Hamilton, printmaking faculty and our print
shop manager, steadfastly participated in numerous meetings related to planning all of
the above. Panel discussions that took place in the Annenberg Gallery included “The
Incomplete Printmaker” and “Uncertain Boundaries: Remarks on Contemporary Printmaking,”
while “Meet and Greet the Curators at PAFA” was held in the Maguire Lobby.
The printmaking department faculty and students were thrilled to be participants
in this confluence of so many print-rich events. We were delighted to be able to host
them in our fantastic school and amazing, spacious, and light-filled print shop. Our
printmaking curriculum includes courses in relief, intaglio, lithography, screenprinting,
book arts, letterpress, collographs, monotypes and monoprints, mixed-media prints,
and digital imaging courses. We believe that our curriculum reflects the wonderful
plethora of methods and concepts that were addressed by the festival of printmaking
in Philadelphia this spring.
The Caldwell Scholarship:
“A Golden Strand of Hope”
By Stan Greidus, Vice President of Admissions and Financial Aid
As many of you know, last fall, PAFA hosted a very successful celebratory event to
honor the Chairman of our Board, Donald R. Caldwell for his 15 years of dedicated
service to our community. This event raised $1 million for scholarships in the School of
Fine Arts. I have spoken on many occasions—too many to remember—of the importance
of scholarship support for our artists and scholars. The need is even greater this year and
likely to be a major challenge for us in the foreseeable future.
In December of 2009, the Office of Admissions received a record number of applications
for our Early Decision program. From that pool, several applicants with particularly
strong credentials were invited to apply for the inaugural Donald R. Caldwell Scholarship.
This application process required that those selected submit a second portfolio, called
the “Challenge Portfolio.” Of the 17 Challenge portfolios submitted, two candidates
were offered the Caldwell Scholarship, PAFA’s first named, full-tuition scholarship.
Both of our recipients, coincidentally, are from Maryland, one of whom had an interesting
story to tell in her thank you to PAFA. I think it best you hear it directly from her:
“The nomination for the Caldwell scholarship became my golden strand of
hope…My parents pointed out that the family vacation that we had planned a
year in advance conflicted with the period of time given to work on the scholarship
application. I asked to stay behind in order to put my best effort in the
competition (Challenge Portfolio)…My parents allowed me to stay behind
and I am grateful for that. Finding out that I received the Caldwell Scholarship
was one of the best days of my life…it is very possible that this scholarship
changed my life.”
What more can I add to that? The formula is an easy one. The more scholarship opportunities
we have, the stronger each class will be—academically and artistically. Our
classes will be more diverse, more national, more international, and simply more amazing.
I ask you to assist us in finding ways to increase our scholarship support and to help us
to continue to enroll the best and brightest.
How To Reach PAFA
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