Michigan videographer, sculptor directs campus art gallery
August 18, 2005
KOKOMO, Ind.—Gregory Steel has been named director of the Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery. The former director of the University of Michigan School of Art and Design's Work exhibition space, Steel succeeds Minda Douglas, who guided the IU Kokomo gallery since 2001. Douglas is teaching full time as a lecturer in fine arts. Steel will also serve as an arts lecturer, teaching 3-D design and sculpture courses.
Steel's video work and small conceptual sculptures have been selected for more than 30 exhibitions across the United States and Europe, including 6 video festivals in 2005. Steel's videos “Teeth,” and “when I'm not there” will be screened at the International Art Expo's video festival in Kalingrad, Russia, on September 30, and he has one-man shows scheduled in 2006 in Barcelona, Spain and Grand Rapids, Mich.
Born and raised in Detroit, Steel was an auto worker and largely self-taught artist before being hired in 1991 as an illustrator, graphic designer, and photographer for Electronic Data Systems (EDS). His factory experience came in handy when, through EDS, Steel worked on several promotional project teams for Cadillac Motor Car Division. He helped develop the division's prototype Web site, the first such venture for a major U.S. auto manufacturer. He subsequently contributed to Web site and Internet commerce promotions for several General Motors divisions.
While working full time, Steel took classes toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) at Detroit's Center for Creative Studies. He completed his B.F.A. in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan in 2001. Over the past five years, Steel has been an adjunct faculty member for both institutions, teaching classes in sculpture, drawing, and experimental media.
Steel welcomes proposals for exhibitions and other creative activities at the 10-year-old IU Kokomo Art Gallery. “My hope is for the gallery to have more than just exhibitions,” he said. “ I want to do performance nights, experimental videos, poetry readings—things that bring people into the gallery space.”
In the future, Steel would like to lead class projects that take students into the community for art inspiration. In similar projects in Michigan, Steel had students work side-by-side with farmers and commercial bakers. The students documented their experiences in writing and translated what they'd learned into art, sometimes in collaboration with the community people.
Steel said that the resulting art had “a connection to the real world” that “made sense” to both the student artists and their community partners. “It's a way to make art do something it really should—reach people and bring them together. Students could sense who they are in relation to the world.”
The IU Kokomo Art Gallery's next show, the IU Kokomo 60th Anniversary Art Exhibition, runs August 26–September 20. It features 60 works of art donated by local professional artists, with each work for sale at $100 and all proceeds benefiting the gallery. For more information, visit www.iuk.edu/gallery or call (765) 455-9523.
