UToledo Department of Art Brings Foundry, Faculty Expertise to Collaboration with Toledo Museum of Art

The University of Toledo fired up its foundry to assist an artist collective in dropping digital medallions into the smartphones of visitors to the Toledo Museum of Art.

The University of Toledo Department of Art played a pivotal role in an exciting collaboration with the Toledo Museum of Art, assisting an artist collective in creating digital medallions that visitors could drop into their smartphones.

The artwork, titled "The Queen's Medallion," featured a bronze medallion adorned with the regal profile of an imagined Ethiopian queen. It was showcased in the immersive installation "House of Yatreda," which was on display at the museum until Sunday, November 10.

Visitors to the installation could use their smartphones to claim a digital version of the medallion as a non-fungible token (NFT), thanks to the Toledo Museum of Art's Digital Artist in Residence program.

Artists worked diligently inside the foundry at UToledo's Center for Sculptural Studies to forge the bronze medallion. Photo courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art.

"University foundries are becoming increasingly rare," said Brian Carpenter, a senior lecturer in the UToledo Department of Art. He collaborated closely with the Ethiopian family artist collective Yatreda : ያጥሬዳ to cast the medallion in UToledo's Center for Sculptural Studies, a standalone facility situated near the art museum and the adjacent UToledo Center for the Visual Arts. "It's an exceptional resource that we can offer our students and community. We welcome opportunities to collaborate on projects like 'The Queen's Medallion.'"

Carpenter's attention was drawn to Yatreda as they were selected as the museum's 2024 Digital Artist in Residence. The Digital Artist in Residence program, established by the museum in 2023, invites international and community artists to integrate artistic practices with digital technologies, fostering their growth within the digital and generative art space.

"The resident artists gain access to the resources that we have available," said Sophie Ong, assistant director of strategic initiatives at the Toledo Museum of Art. "This includes our partners, which in this case meant the UToledo Department of Art."

The Toledo Museum of Art and the UToledo Department of Art share a close relationship, which is evident in the exhibitions curated by art students at the museum using works from its collection. This process necessitates close collaboration with museum staff.

The most recent student-curated exhibit, titled "Generational Echoes: Privilege, Power and the Transmission of Knowledge," was on display from April to July.

"The Queen's Medallion," 2024. Yatreda | ያጥሬዳ. (Ethiopian, established 2021) Bronze model for non-fungible token (NFT). Courtesy of the artist. Photo courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art.

When Yatreda shared their concept for "The Queen's Medallion" with Ong, she instinctively connected them with Carpenter, who coordinates the three-dimensional art offerings that UToledo primarily presents at its Center for Sculptural Studies.

The Center for Sculptural Studies, like the nearby Center for Visual Arts, which houses the UToledo Department of Art, was designed by the world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. It houses ceramic, sculpture, and wood studio classrooms in addition to the foundry.

Carpenter collaborated with Yatreda to cast four variations of the medallion in wax before forging them in bronze, culminating in the artwork on display in "House of Yatreda."

The installation, which is part of the exhibition "Ethiopia at the Crossroads," uses digital artwork and interactive experiences to imagine the journey of the ancient queen depicted on the medallion and her followers as they cross kingdoms and navigate mystical forests.

The medallion is presented as a crucial component of this lore.

When visitors claim it as a digital artwork, it serves as a diplomatic passport bestowed by the monarch herself, ensuring safe passage from ancient Ethiopia to Toledo.

"We're constantly thinking about integrating the physical and digital," Ong said. "The Queen's Medallion combines traditional and digital artforms through the expertise of Brian and Yatreda. The feedback from visitors has been overwhelmingly positive."

"House of Yatreda," an immersive installation within the exhibition "Ethiopia at the Crossroads," is on view at the Toledo Museum of Art, 2445 Monroe St., Toledo, through Sunday, November 10. Tickets for the exhibition cost $10. For more information, please visit the Toledo Museum of Art website.