Faculty Share Travel Inspiration in Fall Series

Born into a long line of steel workers from West Virginia, Brent Patterson, assistant professor of design and faculty in communication design, found everything changed with travel.

During a campus talk on Thursday, October 2, at 12:15 p.m., Patterson will discuss how his travels influence not just his work but his life. Patterson’s lecture is free and open to the public. It marks the first in the fall 2014 series, “Artists on the Road: Travel as Source of Inspiration” co-sponsored by the Design Department and the International and Exchange Programs Office. All of the lectures take place in Upton Hall 230.

His presentation, “The Death Road: There’s No Going Back,” features his service trip to the Andes of Bolivia with students. They taught English while staying with Aymaran natives in a location that was a three-hour boat ride away from the nearest hospital.

A media designer for more than 20 years, Patterson said, “Travel is the catapult for change—by putting myself in uncomfortable positions in order to make myself grow, by throwing myself into the proverbial fire in spite of misgivings, travel inspires works, but more importantly, becomes part of my make-up as a creative individual.”

Patterson’s video work is on view in the annual Design Faculty Exhibition through October 2 in the Czurles-Nelson Gallery. A reception with Patterson and the other faculty artists will be held October 2 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Coleen Toledano, assistant professor of design, will continue the “Artists on the Road” series on Thursday, October 23, at 12:15 p.m. Toledano will present “How to Make a Sink in Four Weeks,” focusing on her experience of working in the Laufen Factory located in Bechyne, Czech Republic.

The third and last presenter for the fall semester will be Alice Pennisi, associate professor of art education, with “Wherever I’m Not is Home” on Thursday, November 20, at 12:15 p.m. Pennisi said she feels “the most at home when in the place where I am packing to leave.”

For more information on the series, please contact Carol Townsend, associate professor of design and coordinator of design foundations, (716) 878-4986.