Notre Dame Prep graduate Brian Widmaier (’01) has been a busy artist.
He completed an art project in Seattle this past fall that was part of an outdoor exhibition sponsored by MadArt, an organization loosely affiliated with the University of Washington that is rethinking how and where art is viewed in local communities. Widmaier had been a visiting artist and adjunct professor for U-W’s School of Art.
The 12-foot obelisks were created and installed by Widmaier to interact with the environment surrounding them.
Widmaier's piece was called “Burnt in Time,” and it was made from wood, fabric and photo-sensitive dye. He said he was inspired to work with the grids formed by the walking paths and sidewalks between buildings on the Washington campus. He then built the massive obelisk forms from wood and fabric that had been bleached by the sun.
The obelisks reached 12 feet in height and as they blocked sunlight they created moving shadows throughout the day. As each day progressed, the shadows moved to unveil the changing surfaces around them, allowing viewers to interact and witness the steady progression of time.
After graduating from Notre Dame Prep, Widmaier received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2005, followed by his Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills in 2010. It was while studying at Cranbrook that he spent multiple summers in Detroit working in an abandoned home where he stripped down the furnishings, built a kiln, and made ceramic plates that were used to serve food to the community.
He is currently a visiting faculty member with the 3D4M Ceramics program at the University of Washington School of Art. This is a relatively new program that explores interdisciplinary exchanges between ceramics, glass and sculpture, which are all reflected in Brian’s own work.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.