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NEWS
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News Release |
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Thomas Muir named BGSU Distinguished Professor BOWLING GREEN, O.—The Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees has named Thomas Muir a Distinguished Professor of
the Arts. An internationally known metalsmith who has worked in gold for more than 20 years, Muir has mentored some of the
most accomplished graduates of the BGSU School of Art.
Since 1985, Muir has participated in more than 300 exhibitions, in the United States and abroad. His and his students’ work
has been viewed by millions of people worldwide. Part of his personal mission is to educate the public about the ancient art
as it is practiced today.
Muir has long been a leader in the discipline of metalsmithing and is one of the foremost artists working in hollowware. The
recipient of several grants and fellowships, he has received eight best-of-show and 26 other awards. His pieces have been
purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Air
and Space Museum of the Smithsonian.
In 1993, his work was chosen for the White House collection of crafts holiday exhibit, which was seen by one and a half million
people.
A piece from Muir’s “Changing Hand” series was included in a major 2003 exhibition of German and American works, a collaboration
between the Klingspor Museum of Book Art in Offenbach, Germany, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
In addition to numerous galleries, his work has been shown at the Chicago Athenaeum and the Museum of Arts and Design (formerly
the American Craft Museum) in New York, and is included in “The Art of Gold,” a three-year traveling exhibition mounted by
the Crocker Museum of Art in Sacramento, Calif. With works by 82 nationally acclaimed metalsmiths, the show of fine jewelry
and objects is the first of its kind in 50 years and features contemporary American goldsmithing.
Articles about Muir and photographs of his work have appeared in many books and publications, from America to Australia. These
have included the New York Times and American Craft. Last year, a story in the South Korean magazine Crart featured Muir and
the BGSU metals program. In summer 2004, Metalsmith magazine, the premiere publication in the metal arts, published a retrospective
of his work over the past 20 years, focusing in particular on his contributions to the field of hollowware.
Muir furthers his educational mission with frequent lectures on art history and workshops on the craft of metalsmithing. At
the University, his “presence in the field has also been felt through the students whose careers have been launched in the
BGSU metals program,” according to School of Art Director Dr. Katerina Rüedi Ray. “Over the past 14 years, some 40 of his
students have exhibited in national and international exhibitions.”
A resident of Perrysburg, Muir joined the School of Art faculty in 1991 and since 1999 has been the chair of the 3-D Division.
He earned a master of fine arts degree in 1985 from Indiana University and a bachelor of visual arts degree in 1982 from the
Georgia State University.
(Posted June 24, 2005 )
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