“Pathways” Stamps Grad show @ Culture Source
Classes at University of Michigan’s Stamps School of Art & Design are racing toward the end of a busy academic year, while the administration prepares for changes that will impact the coming one. The recently opened Stamps Gallery, situated in a pedestrian-friendly location on the first floor of the McKinley Towne Center at 201 S. Division St., creates new exhibition options. With nearly 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, the downtown location replaces the Stamps School’s Work Gallery (306 S. State St.) and Slusser Gallery (2000 Bonisteel Blvd.). The Slusser Gallery has been converted into fresh studio space, referred to as the “Work Commons,” for Stamps undergraduates—and is already abuzz with a variety of colorful final projects for sophomore studio students, and others.
A vision for the new gallery space is forthcoming, as Srimoyee Mitra, who comes to Stamps from her previous position as curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario, assumed the role of inaugural director of the new gallery as of April 3rd.
“Since the gallery is new and there is no established culture, I see this as an opportunity to develop a framework that is solid, robust, inclusive and deep enough that we can keep mining,” Mitra said, quoted in a press release from Stamps. “There is a sense of lightness, risk and possibility that we can create with this new space that is really meaningful, not just for students, staff and faculty, but for the wider community—locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.”