{"id":21159,"date":"2016-09-12T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/designlife\/?p=3221"},"modified":"2016-09-12T13:22:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T17:22:00","slug":"design-that-lives-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/2016\/09\/12\/design-that-lives-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Design that Lives On"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Frank Lee Craig [B.Arch. \u201977] passed away in 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer, but the work he made in his final years lives a life of his own. On September 16, a curated sample of his art\u2014accompanied by an opening that will feature his music\u2014will be included in an exhibition in Bottrop, Germany.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe [Frank] was limitless in his creativity, and he experimented with whatever was at hand,\u201d says Associate Professor of the Practice in Architecture, Dr. Margret Kentgens-Craig, as she describes her late husband. Craig was principal of Cline Davis Architects, but after his diagnosis he dove into his passion for the fine arts and produced what Kentgens-Craig describes as \u201ca massive collection of works that range from multi-media collages, photography, sculpture, paintings, drawings, and music.\u201d The breadth and scope of his collection is enormous.<\/p>\n\n<p>Kentgens-Craig speaks fondly of her late husband\u2019s capacity to churn out works of art even with his illness. \u201cHe was constantly in motion. It was breathtaking to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition, which will run from September 19 through October 14 at the St\u00e4dtische Galerie, will include 16 multi-media collages and 31 photographs in a myriad of formats. This will be Craig\u2019s third exhibition in Germany. It came about from a request by the Mayor of Bottrop, who contacted Kentgens-Craig. Bottrop was home to the Craigs for a lengthy period of time, and Kentgens-Craig, a German expat, still has close ties to the area.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BerkeleyGig23.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3243\" src=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BerkeleyGig23-300x204.jpg\" alt=\"berkeleygig23\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" \/><\/a>\u201cOne of the unique features during the opening of this exhibit is that there will be a \u2018Musikauff\u00fchrung\u2019 [musical performance or band] that will play Frank\u2019s music. They took the time to learn some of his songs,\u201d Kentgens-Craig says. This is yet another testament to the widespread influence Craig had on so many people. In addition to his massive collection of art, he also has two albums, \u201cThe Distance Is So Near\u201d (2011) and \u201cCrack in the Sky\u201d (2013), which Kentgens-Craig had professionally produced after Craig\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n<p>Kentgens-Craig painstakingly selected each of the pieces to be displayed during the exhibition. Her selection was based on works that are currently located in Germany. It was necessary to consider pieces already housed in Germany due to cost, logistics, and the possibility of damage during transit. The artwork is irreplaceable and any loss would be devastating.<\/p>\n<p>Kentgens-Craig speaks highly of the School of Design, which became the College of Design in 2000, and the period in which Craig attended. \u201cYou can\u2019t make talent, and you can\u2019t produce an artist, but if someone is highly creative and you put them into an environment with great influence, such as the classroom of George Bireline [a professor at the School of Design from 1955 to 1986] or Joe Cox [a professor of the School of Design from 1954 until 1980], you can develop an artist,\u201d she says. \u201cThe program at the time was truly a vehicle to pull out the talent in people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bireline and Cox have been noted as beloved and influential teachers and often had waitlists for admittance to their classes. One of Cox\u2019s courses, \u201cDesign Fundamentals: Color and Light,\u201d provided students exposure and training in the physical nature of these elements and how to incorporate them into their works.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201c[Frank] experimented with styles and composition, which was the modern part of his work that he learned here [while at the School of Design]. The elements of line, structure, color, harmony, balance, and proportion\u2014all the basics they taught students in the studios.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3230\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3230\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/FLC-while-in-Design-School.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3230 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/FLC-while-in-Design-School-300x198.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3230\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Lee Craig during his time at the School of Design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Under Dean Kamphoefner, \u201cthere were artist-painters whose training went back to the Bauhaus approach, where students were introduced to the basic elements and laws of design. These are applicable and common with any form of design, even architecture. Frank was a student of this period and so strongly connected to the Bauhaus-based curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kentgens-Craig has meticulously documented and compiled Craig\u2019s vast collection, and can speak about specific works in detail. She describes, for example, how his \u201cabstract work makes you think about figurative content and makes you start to speculate. When he [Craig] is [designing in the theme of] nature, he goes from the abstract to the identifiable and from the identifiable to the abstract.\u201d Kentgens-Craig has photographed and created a \u201csimple\u201d system of identifying each of the pieces, in this way preserving Craig\u2019s many years of accomplishments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart of the allure of these images is that they pull you in\u2014you can\u2019t just sit. It\u2019s not like a poster that is informative\u2014each image requires a closer look and examination.\u201d His work is mesmerizing and beautiful, from the juxtaposition of photography and painting in many of his multi-media collages to the unique composition and perspective of many of his industrial texture photographs.<\/p>\n<p>If Craig were still alive, he would probably be thrilled to hear about the exhibition\u2014and then to return to his studio and continue working. \u201cHe didn\u2019t look at himself much, he just worked,\u201d says Kentgens-Craig. \u201cIt was not about ambition or exposure, he just really was involved with the work itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n","protected":false,"raw":"Frank Lee Craig [B.Arch. \u201977] passed away in 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer, but the work he made in his final years lives a life of his own. On September 16, a curated sample of his art\u2014accompanied by an opening that will feature his music\u2014will be included in an exhibition in Bottrop, Germany.\n\n\u201cHe [Frank] was limitless in his creativity, and he experimented with whatever was at hand,\u201d says Associate Professor of the Practice in Architecture, Dr. Margret Kentgens-Craig, as she describes her late husband. Craig was principal of Cline Davis Architects, but after his diagnosis he dove into his passion for the fine arts and produced what Kentgens-Craig describes as \u201ca massive collection of works that range from multi-media collages, photography, sculpture, paintings, drawings, and music.\u201d The breadth and scope of his collection is enormous.\n\n[gallery ids=\"3223,3224,3225,3226,3227\"]\n\nKentgens-Craig speaks fondly of her late husband\u2019s capacity to churn out works of art even with his illness. \u201cHe was constantly in motion. It was breathtaking to see.\u201d\n\nThe exhibition, which will run from September 19 through October 14 at the St\u00e4dtische Galerie, will include 16 multi-media collages and 31 photographs in a myriad of formats. This will be Craig\u2019s third exhibition in Germany. It came about from a request by the Mayor of Bottrop, who contacted Kentgens-Craig. Bottrop was home to the Craigs for a lengthy period of time, and Kentgens-Craig, a German expat, still has close ties to the area.\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BerkeleyGig23.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3243\" src=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BerkeleyGig23-300x204.jpg\" alt=\"berkeleygig23\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" \/><\/a>\u201cOne of the unique features during the opening of this exhibit is that there will be a \u2018Musikauff\u00fchrung\u2019 [musical performance or band] that will play Frank\u2019s music. They took the time to learn some of his songs,\u201d Kentgens-Craig says. This is yet another testament to the widespread influence Craig had on so many people. In addition to his massive collection of art, he also has two albums, \u201cThe Distance Is So Near\u201d (2011) and \u201cCrack in the Sky\u201d (2013), which Kentgens-Craig had professionally produced after Craig\u2019s passing.\n\nKentgens-Craig painstakingly selected each of the pieces to be displayed during the exhibition. Her selection was based on works that are currently located in Germany. It was necessary to consider pieces already housed in Germany due to cost, logistics, and the possibility of damage during transit. The artwork is irreplaceable and any loss would be devastating.\n\nKentgens-Craig speaks highly of the School of Design, which became the College of Design in 2000, and the period in which Craig attended. \u201cYou can\u2019t make talent, and you can\u2019t produce an artist, but if someone is highly creative and you put them into an environment with great influence, such as the classroom of George Bireline [a professor at the School of Design from 1955 to 1986] or Joe Cox [a professor of the School of Design from 1954 until 1980], you can develop an artist,\u201d she says. \u201cThe program at the time was truly a vehicle to pull out the talent in people.\u201d\n\nBireline and Cox have been noted as beloved and influential teachers and often had waitlists for admittance to their classes. One of Cox\u2019s courses, \u201cDesign Fundamentals: Color and Light,\u201d provided students exposure and training in the physical nature of these elements and how to incorporate them into their works.\n\n[gallery columns=\"2\" size=\"medium\" ids=\"3228,3229\"]\n\n\u201c[Frank] experimented with styles and composition, which was the modern part of his work that he learned here [while at the School of Design]. The elements of line, structure, color, harmony, balance, and proportion\u2014all the basics they taught students in the studios.\u201d\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_3230\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/FLC-while-in-Design-School.jpg\"><img class=\"wp-image-3230 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/FLC-while-in-Design-School-300x198.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" \/><\/a> Frank Lee Craig during his time at the School of Design[\/caption]\n\nUnder Dean Kamphoefner, \u201cthere were artist-painters whose training went back to the Bauhaus approach, where students were introduced to the basic elements and laws of design. These are applicable and common with any form of design, even architecture. Frank was a student of this period and so strongly connected to the Bauhaus-based curriculum.\u201d\n\nKentgens-Craig has meticulously documented and compiled Craig\u2019s vast collection, and can speak about specific works in detail. She describes, for example, how his \u201cabstract work makes you think about figurative content and makes you start to speculate. When he [Craig] is [designing in the theme of] nature, he goes from the abstract to the identifiable and from the identifiable to the abstract.\u201d Kentgens-Craig has photographed and created a \u201csimple\u201d system of identifying each of the pieces, in this way preserving Craig\u2019s many years of accomplishments.\n\n\u201cPart of the allure of these images is that they pull you in\u2014you can\u2019t just sit. It\u2019s not like a poster that is informative\u2014each image requires a closer look and examination.\u201d His work is mesmerizing and beautiful, from the juxtaposition of photography and painting in many of his multi-media collages to the unique composition and perspective of many of his industrial texture photographs.\n\nIf Craig were still alive, he would probably be thrilled to hear about the exhibition\u2014and then to return to his studio and continue working. \u201cHe didn\u2019t look at himself much, he just worked,\u201d says Kentgens-Craig. \u201cIt was not about ambition or exposure, he just really was involved with the work itself.\u201d\n\n[gallery size=\"medium\" ids=\"3231,3232,3233,3234,3235,3236,3237,3238,3239,3240,3241,3242\"]"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The work Frank Lee Craig [B.Arch. \u201977] made in his final years is living a life of its own.  A curated sample of his art and music will be included in an exhibition in Bottrop, Germany this September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":21468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-21159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-experience","category-uncategorized","tag-architecture"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}