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Cover: Arts/Industry artist Jim Neel (AL) opens a mold in the Kohler Co. Pottery, 2009.
These pages: A docent-led tour group explores Jim Neel’s installation, Babel (vitreous china, with audio), at the Arts Center, 2010.
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This page: Brooklyn artist Ann Agee at work on the Sheboygan
Men’s Room, one of six artist-made washrooms at the Arts Center, 1998.
Opposite: Jack Earl of Ohio, the first Arts/Industry artist in 1974, during
his second residency in the Pottery in 1976.
This page: Ann Agee (NJ) works on her Sheboygan Men’s Room, one of six washrooms at the Arts Center made by artists in Arts/Industry, 1998.
Opposite: Jack Earl (OH), who, as lead artist, helped to define the Arts/Industry program in 1974, is shown here refining a slip-cast clay form during a second residency in 1976.
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arts/industry: tHe story of a most unusuaL coLLaBoration
In 1973, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center
opened an eagerly anticipated exhibition titled
The Plastic Earth, an unprecedented survey of
contemporary American ceramic sculpture. Most
important, the exhibition heralded the beginning
of a collaboration between art and industry.
The Plastic Earth was sponsored by Kohler Co.
as part of its centennial celebration. At the exhi-
bition’s opening, the Arts Center and the com-
pany collaborated on a seminar that brought
many of the exhibiting artists for discussions and
demonstrations of the industrial technologies.
The seminar paved the way for the Arts Center’s
Arts/Industry program, which began in 1974
with a four-week pilot residency in the Kohler
Co. Pottery with artists Jack Earl (OH) and Tom
LaDousa (LA). Earl and LaDousa worked twelve- to
sixteen-hour days producing 120 witty sculptures
fashioned from plumbingware fixtures that they
cut apart and reassembled.
A spirited and controversial exhibition of the
major works led to a lively exchange among
ceramists across the country in “Letters to the
Editor” of Ceramics Monthly magazine. An un-
expected deep rapport that grew between the
artists and industrial associates proved crucial
for the future. The residency was so rewarding
for all involved that Earl and LaDousa were in-
vited to return late in 1974.
Because of the success of these activities, the
Arts Center was asked by the American Craft
Council to host a conference on the subject
in 1975. More than 150 artists participated in
intensive panel discussions and workshops in
six Sheboygan County industries: Bemis Mfg.,
Kohler Co., Nemschoff Chairs, Thonet Industries,
Vollrath Co., and Wigwam Mills. That conference
led, in turn, to a collaboration between two fiber
artists and Wigwam Mills.
In 1976, eight artists under the leadership of
Jack Earl participated in six-week to four-month
residencies at Kohler Co. The artists worked
primarily in the Pottery but made occasional for-
ays into the Enamel Shop where they enameled
cast-iron discards. Over the next eight years, six
to eight artists participated annually in summer
residencies in the Pottery. In addition, in 1978
and 1981 the Arts Center developed intense
two-week technical workshops devoted to mold
making and slip casting. Nearly 50 artists partici-
pated in each workshop.
Many artists expressed interest in year-round
residencies up to six months long. That became
a reality in 1984. Since then, approximately
sixteen artists have been in residence annually.
The year-round schedule has allowed greater
flexibility for artists and the opportunity to
undertake large-scale public art as well as a
continued emphasis on the exploration of new
forms and new ways of thinking. In the late 1980s,
extensive involvement in iron, brass, and enam-
el began. Since 1974, over 500 resident artists
have utilized the vast resources of Kohler Co.
Among them are Christina Antemann, Willie
Cole, Barbara Cooper, Kim Cridler, Martha
Glowacki, John Himmelfarb, Tom Joyce, Joyce
Kozloff, Beth Lipman, Ken Little, Arnoldo
Morales, Richard Notkin, Sandy Skogland, Tom
Spleth, and Tetsuya Yamada.
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JoHn micHaeL KoHLer arts center
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center and
Kohler Co. share the name Kohler as well as a
deep commitment to the support of artists from
around the world through Arts/Industry. The Arts
Center is, however, an independent nonprofit
organization established in 1967 by a group of
area residents in an 1882 home built by John
Michael Kohler (thus the Arts Center’s name).
They envisioned a thriving multi-arts complex
that would function as a center of cultural life in
eastern Wisconsin.
In fact, the Arts Center today attracts up to
218,000 visitors annually from throughout the
United States and beyond. It has earned interna-
tional recognition for Arts/Industry, its innovative,
thought-provoking exhibitions, its collection of
the work of artist-environment builders, and an
astonishing range of programming. Philosophi-
cally, the Arts Center is dedicated to bringing
artists and public together in programming that
impacts the lives of both.
Opposite: Michael Sherrill (NC) expanded the potential of enameling on iron for Arts/Industry artists during his 2006 residency.
This page: The washroom titled The Social History of Architecture, created by artist Matt Nolen (NY) for the Arts Center, was named “America’s Best Bathroom” on ABC’s Good Morning America and one of the three best bathrooms in the world on the Travel Channel.
KoHLer co.
Founded in 1873, Kohler Co. has become the
nation’s leading manufacturer of plumbing and
specialty products as well as the third largest
generator manufacturer in the world and a
major producer of four-cycle gasoline and diesel
engines. The company operates a distinguished
interiors business that includes, among others,
Ann Sacks Tile and Stone and furniture makers
Baker, Knapp & Tubbs, Inc. and McGuire Furniture.
Kohler Co. is also renowned for its successful
hospitality businesses: Destination Kohler, home
of The American Club—the Midwest’s only AAA
Five Diamond Resort Hotel—and Destination St.
Andrews in Scotland. Its four championship golf
courses are ranked among the best in the U.S. by
the leading golf publications.
Headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin, one of the
earliest planned industrial garden communities in
the country, Kohler Co. is among the oldest and
largest privately held companies in the U.S. Today,
it is truly a global firm, with 51 manufacturing
plants in 16 countries. It employs more than
29,000 associates worldwide, over 6,000 of whom
are located in Sheboygan County.
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tHe residency Program
Arts/Industry is often cited as the most unusual
ongoing collaboration between the arts and
industry in the United States. Conceived and
managed by the John Michael Kohler Arts
Center of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the program
is open to artists worldwide. It makes industrial
technologies and facilities available to artists
through long-term residencies, short-term
workshops, tours, and other programming so
that they may further their artistic explorations.
Major funding is provided by Kohler Co.
The primary component of Arts/Industry is a
residency program in the industrial Pottery, Iron
and Brass Foundry, and Enamel Shop of Kohler
Co. Artists have the opportunity to spend two
to six months creating works of art utilizing the
industrial materials and equipment. Participants
are exposed to a body of technical knowledge
that enables them to explore forms and concepts
not possible in their own studios and to undertake
fruitful new ways of thinking and working.
Above: Chris Lo Sze Lim (Hong Kong) (right) receives assistance opening a plaster mold to reveal the leather-hard clay form, 2007.
Opposite: Artist Fred Spaulding (TX) is shown, in the Foundry, enveloped by prototypes and cast components for his sculptures, 2007.
The residency program operates year round to
support approximately sixteen artists annually,
usually four in residence at a time. Participants
may develop a wide variety of work including
but not limited to functional and sculptural
forms, murals and reliefs, temporary or perma-
nent site-specific installations, and public art
commissions.
Artists-in-residence are given studio space
in the factory that generally is accessible 24
hours a day, seven days a week. In addition,
they receive free materials, use of equipment,
technical assistance, photographic services,
housing, round-trip transportation, and, for
American artists, modest honoraria.
Hundreds of emerging and established artists
have benefited from the Arts/Industry program
at Kohler Co. since its inception in 1974.
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faciLities and materiaLs
The primary studio space for work in clay is
located in the casting shop of Kohler Co.’s
Pottery, one of the largest potteries in the world.
Artists use a strong, off-white vitreous china
clay which is once-fired in oxidation to 2400°
F (cone 10). A kiln fired to 2100° F (cone 5)
is also available. The clay is superb for slip
casting and carving but is less effective for
throwing and hand building. It is in slip form
(liquid clay) and is piped under pressure to the
artists’ studio space. Artists use plaster to make
molds for slip casting their work. At times, a
limited amount of discarded production molds
and ware can be utilized. Cast pieces can be
assembled in various ways before or after firing.
Artists are encouraged to experiment with the
range of glaze possibilities. Color variations may
be made by adding ceramic stains (no oxides)
to a variety of clear and white glaze bases.
Kohler Co. has an extensive research and de-
velopment laboratory where artists are able to
develop glazes.
The Kohler Co. Foundry allows artists to cast
or free-pour iron shapes. Artists may create
their own patterns and molds, use production
discards, or incorporate scrap metal into their
work. An array of materials is available for
making patterns, including wood, plaster, clay,
metal, urethane, Styrofoam, and found objects.
Artists use resin-bonded sand to make molds
and cores. Ductile and enamel iron is used for
casting. Welding and cutting facilities may also
be used at certain times.
Artists working in the Iron Foundry may have
periodic access to the Brass Die Cast area where
they may cast forms in brass using resin-bonded
sand molds. At times, they may also add sprayed
metal surfaces to the iron. Carpentry shops
may be available periodically for fabricating
supports, patterns, and armatures.
The Enamel Shop allows artists to use enamel
powders directly on red-hot cast iron in single or
multiple applications. The Enamel Shop contains
36 large enameling ovens; artists may schedule
a limited amount of enameling. The Enamels
Laboratory allows artists to experiment with and
test the brilliant vitreous enamels available. Past
artists-in-residence have developed liquid and
paste enamels for use on somewhat cooler iron
and with a variety of stencils and drawing tools.
Arts/Industry provides nearly all materials and
equipment normally used in factory production
free of charge to artists for the creation of their
work. Tools and materials not normally used at
the factory must be approved by the factory and
provided by the artists.
The Arts Center’s technicians and Kohler Co.’s
industrial artisans and engineers provide tech-
nical information and advice to resident artists.
The artists do the actual work themselves.
Assistants are not available unless an artist makes
arrangements with the Arts/Industry coordinator
well before her/his residency begins; in such
cases, the artist-in-residence generally hires and
provides remuneration directly to the assistant
unless an intern is available.
Opposite: Denise Pelletier (CT) finishes hundreds of “feeders” for a large-scale installation.
This page: A Kohler Co. associate pours molten iron into molds for an artist.
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eLigiBiLity and guideLines for PreParing a ProPosaL
The Arts/Industry residency program is open
to all emerging and established artists work-
ing in any discipline. Applying artists need
not be trained ceramists or metal sculptors.
However, they must have the capability of
quickly mastering the industrial technologies.
Artists may choose to work in either the
Pottery or the Foundry/Enamel Shop or both.
Not everyone who selects both areas may have
the opportunity to work in both areas because
of space and personnel limitations. Propos-
als are accepted any time although there is a
yearly deadline. Visit the Arts Center’s Web site
to download the application, or contact the
Arts/Industry Coordinator.
Although certainly not mandatory, artists inter-
ested in a residency are encouraged to tour Kohler
Co. in order to increase their understanding of
the possibilities and parameters of the program
and in preparing an application. Arts/Industry
cannot fund such a visit, but the Arts Center staff
will schedule an in-depth tour and otherwise
facilitate an artist’s stay.
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traVeL, Housing, LiVing
Kohler Co., in the Village of Kohler (pop. 2,000),
Wisconsin, is less than one hour north of Mil-
waukee and 2½ hours north of Chicago. The
nearest city and home of the Arts Center is
Sheboygan (pop. 48,000), just five miles away
on Lake Michigan’s western shore.
Free housing for the four artists who are in resi-
dence simultaneously is available in a furnished
duplex near Kohler Co. Artists may bring fam-
ily members, but they are asked to cover the
resulting costs. The Arts Center provides bi-
cycles for the artists; however, the artists are
also encouraged to bring their own cars. Each
artist receives a modest bi-weekly honorarium
for food and personal expenses. Artists are re-
sponsible for expenses of packing materials
and shipping their finished works. Residencies
are two to six months in length, and a stay of
three or four months is generally most fruitful.
Program parameters are based on available
funding and other conditions and are thus sub-
ject to change.
internsHiPs
Internships are available for undergraduate and
graduate art students. Interns generally aid the
artists-in-residence and, in addition, may work
with Arts Center staff on various aspects of the
Arts/Industry collection. Interns usually have
some access to the industrial technologies for
their own art.
reVieW Procedure
The selection of resident artists is based upon
several criteria: quality of the artist’s work,
potential impact of the residency on the
artist and her/his art, ability of the artist to
work amicably and effectively with industrial
personnel and other artists as well as within
factory guidelines, and the artist’s own technical
capabilities. Proposals are reviewed by Arts
Center staff, past artists-in-residence, and
others. At times, ceramic or metallurgical
personnel are asked to review a proposal for
technical feasibility. The process also includes
an in-depth telephone interview with the artist
as well as with references. Contracts are sent to
artists who are selected. Upon their arrival, the
artists receive a thorough orientation to ensure
a productive residency.
education Programming
Artists-in-residence are asked to give one day per
month to educational activities such as lectures,
workshops, video interviews, and other activities
in the region. The artists are also expected to be
on hand to talk with the public during weekday
tours of the factory and the program. Through
these presentations, the artists expose the public,
the arts community, schools, universities, and
news media to their work and to Arts/Industry.
tHe artists’ WorK
All of the works of art produced by artists
during their residencies belong to them. Artists
are asked to donate two works: one to the
collection of the Arts Center and one to that of
Kohler Co. Much of the work produced during
a residency is photographically documented, a
copy of which is given to the artists.
Opposite top: Artist Lauren Grossman (WA) grinds the surface of a cast-iron sculpture, 2005.
Opposite bottom: Shawn Busse (OR) worked in slip-cast clay and cast-iron to create Metronome, 2000.
for further information about any aspect of
arts/industry, please contact the arts center’s
arts/industry coordinator at 920-458-6144
or [email protected], or visit www.jmkac.org to
download an application form.
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Arts/Industry artist Olen Hsu (ID) working in his studio space at Kohler Co. Pottery, 2006.
Back cover: Artist Lynne Yamamoto (MA) preparing her clay forms for drying and firing, 2007.
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insPiring
“[Arts/Industry] has inspired me to
greater performance as an artist and a
human being...”
—Bernard Williams, 2006
“Arts/Industry is...the total engagement
of the artist with the material in a unique
situation...and there is no place like it.”
—Ming Fay, 1995
“This has been the best, most intense,
most productive, most enjoyable art-
making experience I have ever had.”
—Tom Lauerman, 2005
“The generosity of the program
[Arts/Industry] is immeasurable.”
—Liz Quackenbush, 1990 and 1993