Wood to Discuss How Travel Informs the Artist

In October 2009, Robert Wood, professor of design, traveled to Japan to begin a faculty exchange between Buffalo State College and Kanazawa College of Art. During a campus presentation, "Japan: The Opposite Side of the World," Thursday, February 19, at 12:15 p.m. in Upton Hall 230, Wood will discuss how his travel has influenced his life and work.

Wood’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, marks the first in the spring 2015 series "Artists on the Road: Travel as Source of Inspiration," cosponsored by the Design Department and the International and Exchange Programs Office. 

The lecture highlights Wood's visit to Buffalo’s sister city of Kanazawa, Japan, to build upon the already established cultural exchange between the two communities. Funded by the Research Foundation and the International and Exchange Programs Office, the purpose of the partnership is to gain exposure to and a better understanding of the aesthetic and technical aspects of each institution’s artistic traditions. It also paves the way for future faculty and student exchanges.

For the past 28 years, Wood has served as coordinator of the ceramics program at Buffalo State, teaching all levels of ceramics and 3-D design. While attending the University of Dallas as an undergraduate, he spent a semester abroad in Rome, Italy.

"The world that surrounds us provides a rich source of reference and inspiration that influences the creative process," said Wood. "While we are heavily influenced by the visual content of different forms of presentation—print publication, television, and the Internet—all of our senses are not truly engaged. Nothing can supplant the immediacy of the experience we encounter when we stand before or engage the actual object, event, place, etc. Travel provides us with that felt-sensory experience that broadens our experiential knowledge."

This May, the Kenan Center Gallery in Lockport, New York, will honor Wood with an exhibition of his artwork and that of Buffalo State alumni, Extraordinary Forms IV: The Ceramics Legacy of Robert Wood. The exhibition will run concurrently with the juried 45th annual 100 American Craftsmen national exhibition taking place at the adjacent Kenan Center.

Alice Pennisi, associate professor of art education, will continue the “Artists on the Road” series on March 19. Pennisi will present “Wherever I’m Not Is Home” focusing on the many places in the world in which she has lived, especially Thailand. The third and final presenter for the spring semester will be Shirley Hayes, associate professor of art education, with “How Traveling Alone Can Be the Best” on April 23. She will focus on special places of beauty in Italy, including Cinque Terra.

All lectures in the series take place in Upton Hall 230 from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.

Pictured: Robert Wood with clay sculpture built at Kanazawa College of Art, Kanazawa, Japan, 2009