Cranbrook Educational Community – Director of Schools – Position Statement 3
CRANBROOK EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY
It is crucial to understand that there are several parts to the whole when discussing Cranbrook. The Cranbrook Schools are central, to be sure, but the Schools’ sister institutions are critical partners in knitting together the fabric of the Community. The Institute of Science supports and expands the science education of Cranbrook students by affording them opportunities to participate in its exhibits, lectures and programs. Students have access to permanent and traveling exhibits – from the life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, to the live nocturnal creatures of the Bat Zone, to the state-of-the-art equipment in the Acheson Planetarium and Cranbrook Observatory.
them, often in a one-of-akind interactive classroom built into the center of the Collections Wing. The Museum itself is a work of art – the last major work of Eliel Saarinen, it was built in 1942 to house the Booths’ fine art collection and now showcases such artists as Saarinen, Carl Milles, Maija Grotell, Harry Bertoia, and Duane Hanson. These artists were influenced and inspired by their time at Cranbrook.
For more than 75 years, the Cranbrook Academy of Art has blazed a bold trail through art and design that has vaulted it to the forefront of American graduate schools in ten different disciplines. The Academy has produced many outstanding artists prompting the New York Times to note that“ The effect of Cranbrook and its graduates and faculty on the physical environment of this country has been profound. Cranbrook, surely more than any other institution, has a right to think of itself as synonymous with contemporary American design.”
Similarly, in the Art Museum students come face-to-face with some of the world’ s top artists and have the opportunity to view exhibits designed specifically for