Jean Mandeberg
ARTIST STATEMENT, 2011
For the past thirty years I have been an artist, a teacher at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and a community arts advocate.
I was traditionally trained as a metalsmith to hammer sheets of sterling silver, copper, and brass into hollow vessel forms. Now I work with both fabricated/enameled metal as well as recycled metal that I gather in unexpected ways through a process that is often collaborative. My studio is stocked with printed tin, colorful wire, steel tree baskets and a collection of materials thanks to the generosity of others and discoveries during international travel.
I often treat found metal like fabric through cutting, embossing, shaping, and reassembling remnants over wooden forms. The layers of tin and upholstery tacks on an early series of wooden bowls simultaneously revealed and concealed an accumulation of printed and textured information.
Focusing on the vessel shape, my latest work begins with large wall-mounted metal baskets that are dynamic in their blurring of interior and exterior space. The steel frame of the basket holds, organizes and orients multiple pieces of printed tin combined with sections of enamel on copper. Everything is wired into place. The deliberate design and obsessive craftsmanship are contrasted with the blurring of spaces and slight shifting of shapes.
EDUCATION
M.F.A. Idaho State University, Metalsmithing and Jewelrymaking, 1977
B.A. University of Michigan, Art History, 1972
Additional studies
Bronze Casting, Fort Steilacoom Community College
Welding, South Puget Sound Community College
EDUCATOR:
1978 - Present The Evergreen State College (TESC), Olympia, WA,
Member of the Faculty, Visual and Environmental Arts
1997 - Faculty Exchange, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Teaching responsibilities in fine metalworking, sculpture, and design.
COLLECTIONS
City of Portland, Oregon
Tacoma Art Museum
Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound
SAFECO Corporation
The Evergreen State College
Washington State Arts Commission
Private commissions around the country; residential collections in Arizona, Illinois, New York, California, Michigan
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS
Artist Trust Fellowship in Crafts - Artist Trust, Seattle, WA
The Evergreen State College - Faculty Development Grant for
Travel in Spain
The Evergreen State College - Faculty Research Grant
The Evergreen State College - Faculty Development Grant for
Travel in Mexico
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Humor in Craft, Brigitte Martin, Schiffer Publishing, PA, 2011
500 Metal Vessels, Marthe LeVan, Lark Books, Asheville, N.C., 2007
Metalsmith, "Commissions", Review by Elizabeth Broadrup
Lieberman and Photographs by Roger Schreiber, 2002
Catalogue for "WASHINGTON: Voices in Contemporary Sculpture,"
Bellevue Art Museum, WA, 1993
Jewelry/Metalwork 1991 Survey, David LaPlantz, Bayside, CA
Metalsmith, Exhibition Review, Spring, 1990
New York Magazine, October, 1989
American Craft, "Commissions," Dec. - Jan. 1987
Contemporary American Women Sculptors, Virginia Watson-
Jones, Oryx Press, Phoenix, Arizona, 1986
Goldsmith's Journal, December, 1979
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR
The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
The Factory of Visual Art, Seattle, WA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010 Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Olympia, WA
"25 Feet of Art," Exhibit and Auction
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
"Chair Affair," Exhibit and Auction
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
Artist Trust, Juried Exhibit and Auction
2009 Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA, 12th Biennial International Juried
Enamel Exhibition, (Enamelist Society Conference 2009)
WA State Convention and Trade Center, Seattle, WA, "Viable
Resources: Artwork Selections from Regional Workplace Collections" (Americans for the Arts Conference 2009)
2008 Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, International Juried
Exhibition of Contemporary Craft
2007 Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR
2006 Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR
2004-05 Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA, "Northwest Designer Craftsmen at Fifty." Traveling to:
Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA,
Wenatchee Valley Museum, Wenatchee, WA,
Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery, Portland, OR
Center Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI, "Hammer & Hand:
Contemporary American Metal 2004"
Childhood's End Gallery, Olympia, WA, Arts Walk Exhibition
2002 Seattle Art Museum, Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle, WA
Artist Trust Invitational Exhibition and Auction, Seattle, WA
2001 Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA
Harper College, Chicago, IL, "National Exhibition: Small Works"
2000 Esther Claypool Gallery, Seattle, WA
Alysia Duckler Gallery, Portland, OR
1999 Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO, National Juried Metalsmithing Exhibit,
Society of North American Goldsmith's (SNAG) Conference
Governor's Gallery, Office of the Governor, Olympia, WA, Northwest
Designer Craftsmen Members Exhibition
Childhood's End Gallery, Olympia, WA
1998 Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, "Surface: New
Form, New Function" National Juried Exhibition
Yaw Gallery, Detroit, MI, Contemporary Metalsmithing Invitational
G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA, Mixed Media Group Show
• Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, "Recycle/Reinvent"
1995 John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, "Treasures"
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA, "NW International Art
Competition"
Bellevue Art Museum, Seattle, WA, "Pacific Northwest Annual"
SAFECO Mezzanine, SAFECO Corporation, Seattle, WA
1994 Clark Gallery, Boston, MA, Group Exhibition "Found Objects"
Allied Arts, Richland, WA, "Northwest Designer Craftsmen"
• Bellevue Art Museum, Seattle, WA, "WASHINGTON: Voices in Contemporary Sculpture"
Pennsylvania State University, Zoller Gallery, University Park, PA,
"Crafts National 27"
King County Arts Commission Gallery, Seattle, WA, Invitational
Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, "NW Designer Craftsmen"
1992 "Spirit of the West," Curated exhibition installed in a mobile art
museum, touring Idaho, Oregon, Washington, May-
September 1992
Pennsylvania State University, Zoller Gallery, University Park, PA,
"Crafts National 26"
1991 Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, TX, 5th Annual "Materials:
Hard and Soft"
Old Pueblo Museum, Tucson, AZ, "Copper 3" (Award Winner)
1990 Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Seattle, WA, Seattle Arts Commission
Juried Exhibit
Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA, "United States
Metal/Northwest Metal"
Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, "Northwest
Designer/Craftsmen Exhibition"
1989 Fortunoff's, New York City, NY, "Silver: New Forms and
Expressions," National Competition and Traveling Exhibit
Humboldt Arts Council, Humboldt, CA, "Excellence of the West"
(Award Winner)
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, "Washington Crafts Then and
Now," State Centennial Exhibit
Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA, "Artfest"
1988 Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, "1988 Visual Arts Show,"
Pacific Northwest Arts & Crafts Fair
North Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA, Metals Invitational
Marianne Partlow Gallery, Olympia, WA, "Valentine Variants"
1987 Significant Form Gallery, Seattle, WA, Seattle Women's Caucus for
Art Exhibition
Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS, "The Wichita National"
Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, "The Ubiquitous Bead"
Legler Barn Museum, Lenexa, KS, "Dimensions '87"
ADVOCATE:
Commissioner Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC), Appointed by Governor Gary Locke, 2004; Re-Appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire 2006, 2009; Commission Chair 2006-08
Commissioner Olympia Arts Commission, Olympia, WA, Member 1996 -2002; Commission Chair 1998
Presenter Society of North American Goldsmiths Annual Conference,
(SNAG) Chicago, IL, 2006
Guest Lecturer Enamelist Society Conference, Olympia, WA, 2003
Guest Lecturer Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, 2000
Board Member Capitol Area Regional Public Facilities District, 2003-04
RELATED ARTS EXPERIENCE
Juror Poetry Out Loud, sponsors NEA, WSAC, Poetry Fdn, 2009
Juror City of Olympia, Public Art Jury for City Hall, 2008
Juror WSAC, Art in Public Places Program Roster, 2006
Juror Artist Trust, GAP Grants, Seattle, WA, 2000
Juror Island Arts Council Fine Arts Exhibit, Whidbey Island, WA, 1996
Juror WSAC, Public Art Program,1994
Juror Annual Central Washington Artists Exhibit, Yakima, WA, 1987
Fabricator Backyard Productions, Chicago, IL, TV Commercials for Coca Cola, 1997
Panelist Women's Caucus for Art National Conference, Seattle,
WA, 1993
Guest Lecturer Boston Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, 1990
Art Representative Vehicle License Plate Centennial Design Selection
Committee, Washington State Department of Licensing, Olympia, WA, 1986
MEMBERSHIP
Artist Trust
Society of North American Goldsmiths
Washington State Arts Alliance
Northwest Designer Craftsmen
