Make the Jump: Shifting Artistic Ideas features presentations by artists Kipp Kobayashi and Clayton Merrell followed by discussion with the audience. Kobayashi’s and Merrell’s session will focus on needs, expressed by local artists, to learn how to make the leap from a solo studio practice to working on public art projects that involve navigating different environments, working with different materials, collaborating with design teams, and relying on installers.

Participants are encouraged to bring questions relating to this topic to the session.

This session will be held online via Zoom.

About Kipp Kobayashi
Kipp Kobayashi is an artist interested in the traces of human activity and how they transform the structures and systems of our physical world into living entities of our collective thoughts, action and experiences. His work stems from his background growing up as an Asian American which has led to a lifelong interest in deconstructing our preconceived notions of who we are and what we are; breaking them down into the most basic elements of human and natural factors to better understand the unique sets of combinations and patterns that define a more nuanced interpretation of identity and cultural belonging.

About Clayton Merrell
Clayton Merrell is a Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. He earned an MFA in painting from Yale, and has received awards/grants from the Fulbright Foundation, ProArts, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Skowhegan, Millay Colony, Blue Mountain Center, Vermont Studio Center, Artists Image Resource and Roswell Artist-In-Residence Foundation. He was 2005 Artist of the Year at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. His work is collected and exhibited widely, including exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution; Concept Gallery, Pittsburgh; A+D Gallery, Chicago; the Westmoreland Museum; the American Embassy in Belize; and Chautauqua. In 2015 the Pittsburgh International Airport installed a 69,000 square foot terrazzo floor based on his design.