ARTS&LIFE
DESIGN

46 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022 

us,” she said. “To achieve 
this, I am artistically 
exploring three major issues: 
gender equality, racial 
equality and healing the 
environment. At the nexus 
of these three issues, we find 
women.
“It’s time for balance,” 
added Earle. “Men need 
to share the mic. Women 
need to be able to speak for 
themselves, be heard and 
respected as equals.”

ART WITH A PURPOSE
January kicked off 
Earle’s year of presenting 
intensive, collaborative 
art installations. She first 
presented “Environmentally 
Speaking,” along with 
co-curators Leslie Sobel 
and Olivia Guterson, 
at the Janice Charach 
Gallery inside the 
Jewish Community 
Center in West Bloomfield. 
The exhibit addressed 
climate change, and Earle 
had several large-scale pieces 
on display.
To further address climate 
change, Hazon Detroit had 
Earle create “Elements of 
Life,” an interactive dance 
and sculpture performance 
for Tu b’Shevat presented 
at the Berman Center for 
the Performing Arts. Earle 
incorporated the elements of 
earth, wind, fire and water, 
culminating the performance 
at the “Tree of Life.”
 “It was a lovely 
experience of doing an 
artistic expression of the 
Jewish traditions — a 
big celebration of the 
environment and love of the 
Earth. It was truly ‘tikkun 
olam,’” Earle said. 

continued from page 45

Craft in the 
Digital Age

As her final participation with September’s Detroit Month of 
Design, Earle will have three of her furniture designs on dis-
play at “Craft in the Digital Age” at Edsel and Eleanor Ford’s 
historic lakeside estate in Grosse Pointe Shores. Craft in the 
Digital Age features over 70 works from 35 Detroit-area artists 
and designers throughout the main residence of Ford House.
“We chose Laura Earle’s pieces for their high-quality aesthetic, use of materials, 
imagination as well as the fact that they were produced using new technology,” said 
Andrea Bogart, founder of Embrace Creatives, whose company represents Laura 
Earle and a few other artists featured in Craft in the Digital Age.
Earle has an MFA in Studio Arts with an emphasis in furniture design from Eastern 
Michigan University. To create her three 
pieces of furniture for the exhibition, 
Earle used digital fabrication includ-
ing CAD, G-code generation, laser 
cutting, CNC router cutting and 
CNC plasma-cutting, along with 
contemporary materials like 
hydrophilic polymer.
“These pieces are at the 
nexus of sculpture and func-
tion and leverage an inno-
vative use of materials and 
technology,” Earle added. 
As part of the Detroit 
Month of Design, Craft in 
the Digital Age marks a col-
laboration with Lawrence 
Technological University’s 
College of Architecture and Design, 
Ford House and Design Core Detroit. 

Laura Earle’s Permeable 
Spaces Accent Table 
will be featured in the 
drawing room of Ford 
House in Grosse Pointe 
Shores, Sept. 1-30.

Laura Earle’s 
Gabo Chair will 
be featured in 
Edsel Ford’s study 
at Ford House 
in Grosse Pointe 
Shores, Sept. 1-30.

Laura Earle’s Torus 
Felt Ottoman will 
be featured in the 
Main Hall of Ford 
House in Grosse 
Pointe Shores, 
Sept. 1-30.

Where to See Craft 
in the Digital Age 
The event runs Sept. 1-30, 
2022, and is open during 
Ford House tour hours, noon-
4 p.m., Tuesdays-Sundays. 
Admission to the exhibition 
is included with a self-guided 
house and grounds ticket 
to Ford House, 1100 Lake 
Shore Road in Grosse Pointe 
Shores. To purchase tickets, 
visit https://secure.fordhouse.
org/events.

