KU News Release

KU metalsmithing students return from international exhibition in Germany

Ten KU students in metalsmithing and jewelry pose in the town square of Eutin, Germany, where they were invited to exhibt work in the annual international exhibition at the Ostholstein Museum. Back row (from left): Kaylin M. Hertel, senior, and Erica Stone Voetsch, junior, both of Leawood; Valerie Jean Metzler, Bonner Springs senior; and Juliette Elaine Cline, Lawrence senior. Front row (from left): Ali Louise Hansen, Brighton, Colo., senior; Britta LetitiaTobias, Osage City junior; Alexander Stewart Young, St. Louis, Mo., senior; Melanie Werts, Lawrence junior; Kerala Beth Erdman, Lake of St. Louis, Mo., senior; and Robert W. Goetsch, Overland Park junior.

LAWRENCE — Ten University of Kansas students majoring in metalsmithing and jewelry have returned to campus after exhibiting their work in an international show in Eutin, Germany.

KU and the Atella Savalon School in Mikkeli, Finland, were the only schools invited to participate in the annual show, held Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at the Ostholstein Museum in Eutin. The KU students are enrolled in an advance metalsmithing class taught by Lin Stanionis, associate professor of design.

Lawrence-area residents and KU visitors will have two opportunities to view the KU students’ work: Nov. 28-Dec. 6 at 6 Gallery, 716 1/2 Massachusetts St., and Dec. 7-13 in the display cases outside the gallery in the Art and Design Building on campus.

When the KU students left Lawrence for the “Kunsthandwerk im Museum” exhibition, they had raised about $14,000 to cover their travel and lodging costs abroad for 10 days. KU’s School of Fine Arts, Department of Design and Office of the Chancellor were their funding sources.

KU students set up their work at the Ostholtein Museum in Eutin, Germany. Erica Stone Voetsch, Leawood junior, watches as Robert W. Goetsch, Overland Park junior, places items in a display case. Kaylin M. Hertel, Leawood, and Alexander Stewart Young, St. Louis, Mo., both seniors, are working in the background.

A few KU students sold some of their work at the show, Stanionis said. For most of the students, the opportunity to exhibit abroad, meet with the students from Finland and visit museums and artists studios in Eutin and Berlin highlighted the trip.

A unique highlight was witnessing reaction in Germany to the U.S. presidential election.

“People seemed really curious about us as Americans asking who we voted for and what we thought of current affairs. We were in Berlin in a restaurant when we got the election results,” Stanionis said. “Our waiters greeted us with ‘Viva, Obama!’ ”

Stanionis and Gina Westergard, associate professor of design, accompanied the students. A third KU faculty member in design, Jon Havener, who is on sabbatical leave researching metalsmithing in Finland, also attended.

This was the second time that KU students and faculty have exhibited in Eutin, a sister city of Lawrence. KU was invited to the exhibition by Ostholstein Museum Director Klaus-Dieter Hahn. KU connection’s with the museum was forged in November 2000, when a visiting lecturer in metalsmithing and jewelry from Finland, Matti Matteson, realized that both Mikkeli, Finland, where he teaches, and Lawrence were sister cities to Eutin. Matteson asked Hahn and the Ostholstein Museum if the annual exhibition could include students from Mikkeli and KU.

This spring, as part of her research on cultural influences in art, Carol Ann Carter, professor of art, worked with Matteson and the special exhibits organizer for the Ostholstein Museum, Marlies Behm, to exchange exhibitions by artists from Finland, Germany, Kansas and KU. As the fall 2008 semester opened, Matteson and Behm were in Lawrence to visit KU classes and to exhibit in the Lawrence Arts Center show, “Metals in the Sister Cities: The Lawrence-Eutin Connection.” Carter and Stanionis curated Kansas artists in the exhibition with Behm, curator for the German artists.

KU students exhibiting in Eutin are listed below by hometown, level in school, major, parents’ names and high schools.

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence 66044
Juliet Elaine Cline, senior in art and design, daughter of Patricia Martin; Lawrence Free State High School.

From Lawrence 66049
Melanie Werts, junior in design, daughter of Robert and Deborah Werts; Lawrence Free State High School.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Leawood 66206
Kaylin M. Hertel, senior in art, daughter of Judy and Richard Hertel; Shawnee Mission East High School.

Erica Stone Voetsch, junior in art and design, daughter of William Voetsch, Shawnee Mission East High School.

From Overland Park 66213
Robert W. Goetsch, junior in art, design and trombone, son of David and Cari Goetsch; Blue Valley Northwest High School.

OSAGE COUNTY
From Osage City 66523
Britta Letitia Tobias, junior in design and art, daughter of Robert and Cynthia Tobias; Osage City High School.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY
From Bonner Springs 66012
Valerie Jean Metzler, senior in art and design, daughter of Suzane and John Metzler; Blue Valley Northwest High School.

COLORADO
From Brighton 80601
Ali Louise Hansen, senior in design, daughter of George and Kathy Hansen; Brighton High School.

MISSOURI
From Lake St. Louis 66367
Kerala Beth Erdman, senior in art and design, daughter of James W. Erdman; Wentzville (Mo.) High School.

From St. Louis 63141
Alexander Stewart Young, senior in design and art education, son of Donald and Kathleen Young; Parkway North High School.

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