Color Naming Book from 1955

I found this in one of the classrooms where I teach at the University of Minnesota:

Figure out your Munsell notation (something I became VERY familiar with
teaching Color Theory at CVA) and then turn to the correct page in this book.


Follow the Munsell chroma and value notation to get the "name" of the color


PAGES of color names!


Close-up of names.

Being so wrapped up in "true" Munsell color notation while teaching at the College of Visual Arts, I never thought about what you would "name" any of the given colors in his system. But this book does that... to an extreme measure!

A Memorial for a Photography Mentor

I posted last summer about the sudden loss of John Marshall, the head of the Photography Department at CVA when I was a student there. This past weekend, his wife hosted a memorial event for him at their home in Red Wing:

A young punk.




There was a short ceremony in the yard under a tent.




Ellen took over for John in CVA's final years, and we worked side-by-side!


Heidi, an undergrad photo friend.


Barb and Carol, the computer ladies at CVA.


CVA friend Graham.

His house was filled with his artwork, and Lisabeth told everyone to take a piece of his before we left:

John loved alternative processes - there were some large cyanotypes on clotheslines in the yard as well.


My senior thesis invite (from 2003!) was out on display! He'd kept a lot of student work.


The infamous "beefcake calendar."


I'm not showing any more beyond this. :)

You were one of a kind, John. We shared some laughs and goofy stories in your name this past weekend. Thanks for all you taught us.

More about John in this post from last summer.

College of Visual Arts Identity Package

In the last days of the Werner Design Werks exhibition "Werk Ethic" at Concordia University, I maaaaaybe did something a little sneaky...

Direct link: youtu.be/8fjBrClyLXY

It actually contained original files from 1995 - a handful of years before I was a student there. Here are some more photos of that wild exhibition.

Werk Ethic: The Work of Werner Design Werks

Concordia Gallery has a really interesting exhibition up through TODAY, so come check it out if you have a moment. It's a design exhibition called "Werk Ethic: The Work of Werner Design Werks." Here are a few photos I took last month:

The opening reception.


Some CVAers at the opening! Me, Rudy, Cory, Ian, Sarah, Liz, John, Abby, Carly, and Rosie.

I stopped by a few days later to walk through the show. It's a trip:

Old CVA branding.


That floppy on the wall contains CVA's "final identity" from 1995.


We all know that name!


Slightly older CVA branding.


Even OLDER "College of Associated Arts" branding (CAA became CVA).

And here are a few final shots that Concordia Gallery posted yesterday:

Check it out in the next 8 hours if you are nearby: 1301 Marshall Ave, Saint Paul, MN.

The Loss of a Photography Mentor

Word started spreading yesterday. In the late afternoon, it had been made official:

I posted a goofy photo of John on Facebook (because he's NEVER serious for a photo) and shared a story. Here's the story and people's responses - I took out the comments of people not associated with CVA, so these are only people who knew John in a similar capacity as I did:

Here are a few photos from social media of John and I over the years:

This one was captioned: "At the 2011 CVA Holiday Sale. Henry is
trying to figure out the art, and John is trying to figure out Henry."


Me holding year-old Henry with John smiling in the background at Ellen's house for an end-of-the-school-year party.


Same party. With students and Caroline.


A CVA meet-up at the MN State Fair a year after CVA closed. We're showing off our CVA shirts.


CVA crew outside of the Bailey House at the State Fair where some
Lowell Bobleter prints were on display. (The founder of CVA back when it was CAA.)

And just 3 months ago I posted about seeing Concordia University's darkroom which still had the enlarger stations that John had built for CVA 11-12 years ago:

And here are two of John from this big post of photos from CVA's history:

John talking as a dept head. (2011?)


Leading a critique. (2005-ish?)

Besides that long post, John's also seen helping out with his carpentry skills while hanging a CVA exhibition in 2015, and at the opening of the new CVA photo labs in 2011. And John was also mentioned in my recent interview about my education in the arts in the Concordia University newspaper.

A photographer friend shared this wonderful image of John, and I'll end this tribute with that photo: