Chicago and the Mosaic School
The Chicago Mosaic School was founded in 2005 by artist Karen Ami and now plays a pivotal role on the international mosaic stage. Classes run throughout the year on every aspect of mosaic making. The list of teachers and visiting artists who run workshops reads like a Who’s Who of everyone who’s anyone in the mosaic world. Thanks to a grant from Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund I spent five days there learning large scale mosaics with Gary Drostle.
Chicago. Say the word and what do you think of? You think wheat, you think wind, you think the Chicago Bears and you might think about that great big shining Anish Kapoor bean sitting in the middle of the Millennium Park. Now, if your mind runs along mosaic tracks you think: the Chicago Mosaic School.
There are, as Dr. Seuss would say, lots of thinks you can think. But it’s important to keep this think high up there on the think list. It wasn’t so long ago that if you had any interest in mosaics you would think of Italy, probably Ravenna first and Spilimbergo second. So the very fact that you are thinking about Chicago and mosaic schools in the same thought means that the mosaic world has shifted on its axis. Not just slightly, but one of those tectonic lurches that none of us can ignore.
My dream fulfilled
I have wanted to go to the Chicago Mosaic School for more years than I care to remember. To be fair, I have also wanted to study mosaics in Ravenna for about the same length of time. But when the moment came to apply for Creative Scotland Open Project funding to extend my mosaic practice into new territory, the Chicago Mosaic School won hands down. In fact, there wasn’t even a contest.
Crossing the Atlantic for Gary Drostle
The main reason was Gary Drostle and his course in large scale mosaics. I find it inconceivable that anyone reading this blog would not know Gary or his mosaics. But just in case you are a mosaic newbie, then let me just say that his public art works once seen are never forgotten. They range from the boldly iconic to the quietly nonconformist taking in courage, energy, delight and technical wizardry along the way.
He specialises in making large scale, site specific mosaics for landscapes and interiors across the UK and abroad. But if you want to learn his mosaic-making techniques, there is only one place you can go. The Chicago Mosaic School.
The force behind the school
The force behind the school is Karen Ami, a classically trained artist who switched to sculpture and ceramics after studying painting. ‘I would save all the pieces of my broken sculptures and then one day I attached a broken sculpture to a new sculpture and the [mosaic] obsession took hold,’ explained Karen.
Karen tried to find out more about mosaics, but hit a brick wall. The only places which offered serious courses were in Europe. So, undeterred, Karen began making mosaics out of her own studio which eventually led to her setting up her own mosaic school. ‘I was told that it was a crazy idea, but I needed to try. I knew that if I failed, at least I would have tried. This is not about me, this is about a community, a supportive collective which is not just local, but international.’
International artists
Karen’s determination, artistic rigour, mosaic focus and downright charm won the day. Her school now attracts renowned mosaic artists from all over the world.
I had to travel almost 6,000 kilometres from Edinburgh because Chicago is the only place that London-based Gary teaches his large scale mosaic course. Scottish slate artist Dugald MacInnes, Japan’s Toyoharu Kii and the Italian maestro Verdiano Marzi also run annual seminars there. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing programme of workshops covering all possible aspects of mosaic caters for every skill level and interest group throughout the year.
The mosaic course
So off I went, joining 13 other students from America and Canada most of whom were full time professional mosaic artists. But the group also included a mother and daughter team from Texas, an investigative journalist from Toronto and a publisher from Utah.
Ahead of us stretched a week of practical and technical instruction on the logistics of making big (that means big) mosaics. Up until now I have been concentrating on smallish domestic-scale pieces often on mesh . Panels for niches, kitchen splash-backs, fireplaces, that sort of thing. So the purpose of taking the course was to help me climb out of my tesserae-lined comfort zone and get familiar with different approaches.
The reverse method
Gary’s teaches the reverse method on paper. Since the technique is applicable to any size of mosaic, you learn big by working small. We approached our 30cm by 30cm panels in exactly the same way as we would if we were making a mosaic ten times the size. Dividing it up into smaller sections, numbering them and then rolling up the paper and unfurling it bit by bit as we applied the tesserae using flour paste glue.
Informal lectures and experiments
In-between mosaicking we had informal lectures from Gary on every conceivable aspect of making public art mosaics using his own works as examples. You name it, Gary covered it. Design, tesserae, health and safety, fixing mosaics, trouble shooting, weather conditions, grout colours, movement joints, substrates and packing.
The Chicago Mosaic School was in temporary premises when I was there. The new purpose-built school is now complete and open. That means we had the added bonus of being able to experiment with our new techniques with actual mosaics on actual walls (which will later be pulled down).
Used to working alone, I find it hard to conjure up the mental focus I need when making mosaics in a formal group setting. As a result my class mosaic wasn’t my best, to put it mildly. But I went to learn and learn I certainly did.
Now I need to head out, nippers in one hand, tile adhesive in the other, and start making my own great big beautiful outdoor mosaics. Needless to say, I’ll keep you posted!
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