ChairMan
Standing in the center of a large, open space, Rachel Stadelmeier chats with a small crowd gathered around her. She wears a black dress, the gallery鈥檚 stark white walls in the distant background. It鈥檚 not the only paradox on display. Just outside the campus鈥檚 Regina Miller Gallery, students play ultimate Frisbee in T-shirts; inside, the patrons are dressed as one would expect for an art opening鈥攅vening dresses, business suits. Not insignificantly, within the gallery there鈥檚 no place to sit, which is especially striking in a room full of furniture.
As Stadelmeier describes it, the artist whose work is on display, George Nakashima, might have appreciated the irony. He crafted his pieces as a true artisan, but intended them always to be used as everyday furniture. When Warner Hall was built in 1966, Nakashima was commissioned to furnish it鈥攑ieces intended for offices rather than galleries. Forty-one years later, going inside that severe, metallic, modernist building, it鈥檚 easy to be struck by the warm and exotic wooden desks, tables, and chairs that are still very much in use.
鈥淚 think the first time I saw a Nakashima piece was probably the bench in the 麻豆村s Office,鈥� says Stadelmeier (A鈥�07). 鈥淵ou know, covered in magazines, people sprawled on it, this beautiful thing nonetheless.鈥� Since then, she鈥檚 gotten to know Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 collection鈥攖he bench and 60 other pieces鈥攊ntimately. She and a small cadre of classmates, as part of their Senior Studio project, spent a semester planning, designing, and executing the fall exhibition.
Watching the crowd filter through the exhibit, she looks equal parts relieved and overjoyed. 鈥淓very little thing had to be managed鈥� to bring it to life, she confesses. She remembers when the exhibit was a breadbox-sized model in a classroom, with Stadelmeier and other students fretting over it, rearranging, offering suggestions and criticisms.
Now, for the opening, she can finally relax. It turns out to be the largest in the gallery鈥檚 history. 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud,鈥� she offers, and as she scans the crowd her expression would indicate that she means it. 鈥淭hese are such beautiful pieces, so much amazing, one-of-a-kind furniture, and we should keep using it. But maybe,鈥� she adds, 鈥減eople will start using coasters.鈥�
She seems like she wants to add to that thought, but another patron taps her on the shoulder, wanting to congratulate her. Her smile widens, and she tucks some of her blonde curls behind her ear as the man talks about being inspired by a beautiful coffee table nearby.
鈥� Bradley A. Porter (HS鈥�08)
