Works by E. McKnight Kauffer and Don Shepherd are featured in the exhibition "Artist/Designer" in the gallery of the De Pree Art Center at Hope College.
There will be a reception at the gallery on Friday, Sept. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m., with remarks by guest speaker John Hetrick, who was a protégé of Shepherd's, at 7 p.m. The exhibition will continue through Friday, Oct. 5.
The public is invited to both the reception and the exhibition. Admission is free.
The exhibition features work in a variety of media, reflecting the diversity of work produced by the two artists.
E. McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954) was a graphic designer whose work included posters for clients ranging from London Underground Railways to American Airlines; as well as book covers for T.S. Elliot, William Faulkner and H.G. Wells; and costumes and sets for the Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre and the Royal Ballet. The exhibition features a number of his posters as well as other works including etchings, woodcuts, and pencils, inks and watercolors.
The gallery had previously featured an exhibition of his posters in the summer of 2006. The works by Kauffer featured in both the 2006 exhibition and the current exhibition are from the college's Maurice Kawashima Collection.
Don Shepherd (1930-2002) across his career worked in media and applications ranging from glass to architecture, interior design to textiles, metalworking to furniture, fine art painting to graphics, print making to sculpture in stone, metal, concrete and wood. His career took him from his native California to New York, Connecticut and, in 1989, to Holland, Mich., where he worked with Herman Miller as a designer. The exhibition emphasizes Shepherd's glasswork, and includes several objects as well as photos of architectural projects; the works are on loan to the gallery for the exhibition.
Hetrick was an intern at Herman Miller in 1994 when he began working with Shepherd on the research program "Ambient Design... towards the nurturing environment." They continued to work together when Shepherd established the Ambient Design Company in 1995. Shepherd was residing at WhitmoreLake on the east side of the state when he died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
The De Pree Art Center is located at 160 E. 12th St., on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The regular gallery hours are Mondays through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Gallery hours may be reduced during breaks and holidays. The gallery is handicapped accessible.