Office of Public Affairs

Community Relations

10/08/2009

Acclaimed Designer Opens Stewardship of Natural World Series at JMU

Michael Singer, an internationally recognized artist and designer, will present "Regenerative Design in the Public Realm," the inaugural Stewardship of the Natural World Interdisciplinary Public Lecture at James Madison University.

DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
TIME: 4:30 p.m.
LOCATION: War Memorial Auditorium, Memorial Hall, JMU

Singer is known for "melding sustainability and aesthetics with elegant solutions," said Dr. David H. Ehrenpreis, director of the Institute for Visual Studies and an associate professor of art and art history.

Singer has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. His work in the 1970s and 1980s focused on new possibilities for outdoor and indoor sculpture and contributed to the definition of site-specific art and the development of public places.

Since the 1990s, Singer's work has been transforming public art, architecture, landscape and planning projects into models for urban and ecological renewal. Among his projects are a massive waste recycling transfer station in Phoenix, a water-filtration riverine reclamation design in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a large interior sculpture garden design and installation at the Denver International Airport. To view images of Singer's work, check www.michaelsinger.com.

In his JMU lecture, Singer will discuss his innovative, aesthetically pleasing designs of buildings and landscapes, which include recycling centers, flood walls and public parks.

While at JMU Oct. 12-14, Singer will work with students in environmental design, environmental rhetoric, design studio and industrial design classes and will tour the JMU campus to help visualize possibilities for spaces. He will return to JMU in November to continue discussions and idea exchanges with students.

Admission to Singer's lecture is free. His JMU appearance is sponsored by the Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World, Institute for Visual Studies, College of Science and Mathematics, College of Integrated Science and Technology, College of Visual and Performing Arts, School of Art and Art History, Office of International Programs and University Studies.

# # #