28

Jun

Cranbrook, a Home Away from Home: My Senior May Experience

Each May, the Center is honored to host an outstanding senior from Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School for a three-week immersive internship.

The Center’s 2024 “Senior May” Sav Hayward writes about their time working with the Center team.

I hit the ground at my Senior May running. The very first day, I had to help prepare for the Center’s annual House Party gala. This year it was held at Thornlea House which needed a lot of TLC before the event on Saturday. During my first week, I worked all over the house to help prepare it. Things like vacuuming (Ed. note: No one, in the history of the universe, was as excited as Sav about vacuuming), wiping windows, sorting cupboards, cutting ribbons, crafting decorations, and going to Cranbrook Archives to help move items from the collection for displays. Once everything was completed the final product was extremely satisfying, and I heard many wonderful things about the night. I had to decline my invitation to the House Party in favor of my Senior Prom.

Cutting ribbon to create bunting for the House Party. Photograph by Leslie Mio, May 2024.

The following two weeks, I never had the same task twice in a row. Some of my favorite days consisted of working in the Archives with Deborah Rice and Laura MacNewman, helping around in the Annex offices with the Center’s Registrar, Leslie Mio, and going on random little trips.

In the Archives, I helped organize and re-box some items we got out for the House Party. There was a very relaxed environment there, and it was cool seeing all the documentation Cranbrook has about our history.

The following day I helped Kevin and Leslie take the painting A Hunter of Taos by Oscar Edmund Berninghaus from the Cranbrook Kingswood Middle School for Boys and drive it to a conservation studio in Detroit. When we were finishing our visit, the conservator, Ken Katz, told us to go upstairs and check out the exhibit being set up at the Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit (MM-O-DD). There we met some cool people, including the Founder/Executive BOD President Leslie Ann Pilling and Chuck Duquet of Collected Detroit, who took us downstairs and showed us artwork stored there.

Standing around looking at the framing studio. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, May 2024.

While looking around I saw pieces by many Cranbrook Artists, including some that had been loaned to Cranbrook Art Museum’s recent exhibition LeRoy Foster: Solo Show. I also saw an amazing painting of Eero Saarinen as a boy, painted in Finland by his father (and architect of Cranbrook) Eliel Saarinen.

Kevin admires Eliel Saarinen’s painting of his son Eero at Collected Detroit. Photograph by Leslie Mio, May 2024.

Ever since I started going to Cranbrook, I have dreamed of going up into the old astronomy tower at Hoey Hall. I was able to achieve this dream thanks to Kevin. He was working with photographer James Haefner to document the tower after some recent cleaning. Luckily, I was invited to join Kevin and see how the entire photshoot process worked. I helped do some tasks, like dusting, carrying equipment cases, and bringing water up to the ridiculously hot rooms.

Standing next to the upper door in the Cranbrook Campus tower. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, May 2024.

On the last day of Senior May, I joined Leslie and Kevin on a trip to Hagopian World of Rugs in Birmingham. We met with architect Erinn Rooks of Cranbrook Capital Projects to pick out colors for a reproduction rug. Suzanne Hagopian, Executive Vice President, brought out a test sample made a while back to see if the colors matched the original and if it was what we were looking for.

When we looked at the sample, we realized that the colors were lacking, so we all sat around and debated over small tufts of colorful yarn samples. What was nice was that these color samples were neatly lined up in multiple boxes. After a while, we finally decided on more vibrant colors compared to the sample, but this was to help make the carpet pop. Ed. note: Sav’s knowledge of color theory and use of technology to compare color tones greatly assisted in this project.

Erinn, Leslie, and I examine carpet and color samples. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, May 2024.
Kevin and I take a “magic carpet ride” while looking at yarn samples. Photograph by Leslie Mio, May 2024.

I will always remember this Senior May and how fun it was. The people I met during this time are amazing and I will miss seeing them every day. While some of my classmates went off campus for their Senior May, doing mine on Cranbrook’s entire campus felt like I was a part of one large family. I have never felt more connected to Cranbrook, its history, and its legacy.

– Sav Hayward, Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School Class of 2024 and Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research 2024 Senior May

Editor’s Note: Sav Hayward is a member of the CKU Class of 2024 and a proud resident of Lansing, Michigan. In Fall 2024, Sav will continue their education at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where they will study Interior Design. CCS is the modern iteration of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, co-founded by George G. Booth in 1906. Sav is hoping to land a paper route for the Detroit News to complete the Booth trifecta.

Another day, another lunch break. The Center feeds its Senior Mays well – Sav was treated to lunches at some of the staff’s favorite local eats, including Panera, 29º 41º Mediterranean Street Food, Green Dot Stables, and Paris Baguette Café (pictured here on their last day with us). Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, May 2024.

1 year ago Short URL 2 Comments

Archives/Arts and Crafts/collections/Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research/Cranbrook School/Cultural Properties/George G. Booth/Historic Properties/Thornlea House

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17

Feb

Photographing the Rugs of Studio Loja Saarinen

In 2021, the home of Loja Saarinen at Cranbrook Academy of Art, which she shared with her husband Eliel, was designated as a site in the Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios program. As the team at the Center were going through the process of researching Loja, the too-often-overlooked designer of textiles, gardens, and clothing, we were constantly reminded that the rugs created by Loja and her professional weaving studio, Studio Loja Saarinen, were poorly documented in our records.

Studio Loja Saarinen made rugs, window treatments, wall hangings, upholstery fabrics, and more at Cranbrook between 1928 and 1942. Many of the Studio’s largest rugs were made for Kingswood School for Girls between 1930 and 1932. Because of the fragility of the rugs, and through natural wear-and-tear, almost all of the original Studio Loja Saarinen rugs were put in storage at Cranbrook Art Museum in the 1970s and 1980s.

Loja Saarinen, circa 1934. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives.

We have excellent archival records about the operation of the studio, including records of yarn orders and charts of the time spent weaving rugs (it was a lot!). But the rugs are very large, and often, we only had black-and-white photographs of the rugs on the floor in the 1930s. Color photographs were limited to poorly distorted slides, or photographs of portions of the rugs taken on early digital cameras while the rugs were half-rolled-up in storage.

We had almost no ‘born digital’ high-resolution photographs of Loja’s work–these are the best kind of photographs for sharing her work in slides, online, or in print. The lack of excellent, high quality images limited not only how we at Cranbrook understood and shared Loja’s legacy, but also made it difficult for students or scholars researching Loja Saarinen to get a complete sense of her artistic output.

This winter, as the Center prepares for our next fundraiser, A House Party at Cranbrook Celebrating Loja Saarinen on May 21, 2022, it has become mission-critical to get better documentation of Studio Loja Saarinen’s rugs.

Enter in our latest project!

Jim Haefner and his assistant set up the camera in Cranbrook Art Museum’s Vault. Photographer Kevin Adkisson, Courtesy of Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Jim Haefner checking his image of Kingswood School Rug No. 31, Reception Hall Rug, Auditorium Lobby Rug. Photographer Leslie Mio, Courtesy of Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Kingswood School Rug No. 31, Reception Hall Rug, Auditorium Lobby Rug. Photographer Kevin Adkisson, Courtesy of Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.

On January 7, 2022, photographer James Haefner and his assistant Erik Henderson, with the help of Center Curator Kevin Adkisson, Center Associate Registrar Leslie Mio, Cranbrook Art Museum Registrar Corey Gross, Cranbrook Art Museum Head Preparator Jon Geiger, and Jon’s installation crew embarked on a very ambitious project: documenting all the Studio Loja Saarinen rugs in the Cranbrook collections.

First, we had to take the several-hundred-pound rugs down from racks where they are stored, rolled. Then, we covered the floor in clean plastic drop cloths. With a camera bolted via a vise-grip to the ceiling of the Cranbrook Art Museum Collections Wing, and controlled via computer from a remote workstation, we unrolled, photographed, and rerolled over forty works of Studio Loja Saarinen’s functional art.

Kingswood School Rug No. 3, 1928-1929; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Loja Saarinen (designer); Linen warp, wool weft; 66½ x 49 inches (168.9 x 124.5 centimeters); Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls. Photographer James Haefner.
Curator Kevin Adkisson and his attention to detail. Photographer Leslie Mio, Courtesy of Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Maker’s label on Kingswood School Rug No. 3, 1928-1929; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Loja Saarinen (designer); Linen warp, wool weft; 66½ x 49 inches (168.9 x 124.5 centimeters); Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls.

No detail went undocumented, from weaver’s signatures knotted into the face of a rug, to maker’s labels written and sewn on by Loja herself.

Below is just a fraction of the forty-plus pieces photographed:

Kingswood School Rug No. 31, Reception Hall Rug, Auditorium Lobby Rug, 1931; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Loja Saarinen (designer); Wool pile, wool weft, linen warp; 312 x 144 inches (792.5 x 365.8 centimeters); Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls. Photographer James Haefner.
Detail of Kingswood School Rug Number 28, Library Rug, 1931; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Maja Andersson Wirde (designer); Wool pile, wool weft, linen warp; 243½ x 96 inches (618.5 x 243.8 centimeters); Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls. Photographer James Haefner.
Detail of Kingswood School Blue Rug for Reception Room I, 1931; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Maja Andersson Wirde (designer); Wool pile, wool weft, linen warp; 183 x 142½ inches (464.8 x 362 centimeters); Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls. Photographer James Haefner.
Rug with Animal Motif, 1932; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Maja Andersson Wirde (designer); Linen warp, wool weft, wool file; plain weave with four picks of weft between each row of knots; 151½ x 108 inches (384.8 x 274.3 centimeters); Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum. Photographer James Haefner.
Detail of Kingswood School Rug No 29 – Rooftops, 1931; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Maja Andersson Wirde (designer); Wool pile, wool weft, linen warp; 85 x 137½ inches (215.9 x 349.3 centimeters); Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls. Photographer James Haefner.
Rug, 1932; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Maja Andersson Wirde (designer); Wool and linen; 119 x 98 inches (302.3 x 248.9 centimeters) including fringe; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum. Photographer James Haefner.
Detail of Rug with Tree Motif, 1930; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Maja Andersson Wirde (designer), Lillian Holm (weaver), Lilly Bjerken (weaver); Wool and linen; 131 x 54½ inches (332.7 x 138.4 centimeters); Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum. Photographer James Haefner.
Detail of Studio Loja Saarinen Rug No. 2, 1929; Studio Loja Saarinen (maker), Loja Saarinen (designer/weaver), Eliel Saarinen (designer), Walborg Nordquist Smalley (weaver); Cotton warp; wool pile; plain weave with ten picks of weft between each row of knots; 110½ x 39 inches (280.7 x 99.1 centimeters); Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum. Photographer James Haefner.
Tree of Life Tapestry, circa 1933; Loja Saarinen (designer/weaver); Linen and wool; 60½ x 54 inches (153.7 x 137.2 centimeters); Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum. Photographer James Haefner.

It was a joy to unroll and see these pieces up close after knowing many of them for years through black-and-white images. While even these photographs do not do justice to seeing their beauty in person, having such high-resolution photography of Studio Loja Saarinen’s rugs means that future scholars and fans of Loja Saarinen will be able to have a richer understanding of her, and Cranbrook’s, remarkable legacy.

For even more Loja Saarinen, join the Center in person or online on May 21, 2022 for A House Party at Cranbrook Celebrating Loja Saarinen. We’ll be premiering a new, thirty-minute documentary about Loja, produced by the Center, at the event–you don’t want to miss it!

– Leslie S. Mio, Associate Registrar, and Kevin Adkisson, Curator, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research

4 years ago Short URL 4 Comments

Archives/Cranbrook Art Museum/Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research/Cultural Properties/Images/Kingswood School/Saarinen House/weaving

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