In 1962 he returned to lead the Weaving and Textiles program at Cranbrook . While there he curated several exhibitions of historic fabrics from the Cranbrook Museum collections as well as other Detroit institutions. In 1967 Design on Fabrics was published, which he co-authored with Meda Parker Johnston. This book served as a text in the study of a wide variety of surface design processes through both paperback and a 2nd edition for many years.
In 1967 he established the Fabric Design program in the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, retiring in 2008. While at UGA he developed courses in the history of fabrics and established a corollary fabric study collection of over 1000 examples. In 1999 he inaugurated a Study Abroad program in Japan that exposed students to Japanese culture and unique fabric processes. He guided this program until his retirement in 2008.
Kaufman’s international travels have had a significant impact on both his teaching and his creative work. During his year of study on a Fulbright grant at the Textile Department at the State School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen he traveled extensively in Europe. Subsequently, he had the opportunity in two separate years to pursue research in historic fabrics in the UK and the Continent. In 1979, travels to Japan, Hong Kong, Bangkok and India provided numerous opportunities to absorb entirely different cultural influences. He returned to Japan in 1983 and continued to create works and exhibit there continuously each year through 2019.
With studios in Georgia and Kyoto, where he worked for over 30 years, he has exhibited both nationally and internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Noted for many years for his work in precious metal leaf inspired by traditional Japanese fabrics, in his later years he concentrated on installations and collaborations.
PERSONAL
EDUCATION
POSITIONS
GRANTS
HONORS/AWARDS
MEMBERSHIPS
EXHIBITIONS (Solo Shows)
Note: Solo Shows marked with * were installations.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS – SINCE 1969
WORK IN COLLECTIONS
EXHIBITIONS AND PANELS SERVED AS A JUROR
PROFESSIONAL FABRIC DESIGN EXPERIENCE
LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
PUBLICATIONS
WORK ILLUSTRATED
REVIEWS/ARTICLES/BOOKS
Glen Franklin Kaufman, 87, UGA Professor of Art Emeritus, passed from this life on Jan 16, 2020 following a short debilitating illness. A resident of Athens, Big Canoe and Kyoto, Japan he was proceeded in death in 1983 by Charlene Page Kaufman, his beloved wife of 29 years.
Born in Fort Atkinson, WI on Oct 28, 1932 to Eli and Elynor (née Jensik) Kaufman he grew up in the neo-Tudor house his father hand built. A graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, he entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison on an Air Force ROTC scholarship and there met the love of his life Charlene Page. Immediately following graduation with honors, they were married in Kalamazoo, MI (1954). Stationed to Lockbourne AFB in Columbus, OH, he served in the pilot education office for Strategic Air Command. Following transition to the reserves, he entered the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI, earning an MFA in Weaving & Textiles (1959) and was a Fulbright Scholar at the State School of Arts & Crafts, Copenhagen, Denmark (1960).
Upon return to the US, he worked as a designer for Dorothy Liebes in New York City before returning to Cranbrook to head the Fiber Department. It was during this tenure that son Page was born (1962), and the family adopted their beloved Old English Sheepdog “Pip,” who became famous around Athens for taking in the wind and views through the open top of Char’s VW Beatle.
Hired to UGA by Lamar Dodd (1967), he quickly rose to the ranks of full Professor (1972) and subsequently spent a year as a Visiting Artist at the Royal College of Art, London (1976). During his 40-year tenure at UGA, he received numerous grants, including: NEA (1976, 80, 81, 82, 83, 90), Ford Foundation (1979), Georgia Council for the Arts (1991), and UGA Research Foundation (1992, 96). His numerous honors and Awards include: Honorary Life Member, Surface Design Assoc. (1983), UGA Research Medal (1988), Fellow, American Craft Council (1988), UGA M.G. Michael Award (1991), UGA Albert Christ-Janer Award for Creative Research (1992), Phi Beta Delta (1992), Study Abroad Director of the Year (2004), and Smithsonian Institution of the National Galleries of American Art James Renwick Distinguished Educator Award (2014).
His work appeared in more than 60 solo exhibitions in New York, Boston, Kyoto, Berkeley, Tokyo, Sapporo, Honolulu, San Francisco, Osaka, Nagoya, Seattle, Seoul, Busan, Atlanta and more than 130 group exhibitions in North America, Europe and Asia. His works are in the permanent collections of more than 20 museums, including the Museum of Art and Design, NY; The Art Institute of Chicago; Ba Tang Gol Art Center, Seoul; The Cleveland Museum of Art; Juraku Museum, Kyoto, Japan; Long House Foundation, East Hampton, NY; H.M. de Young Museum, San Francisco; Smithsonian Institution, Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC; Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL; and S.C. Johnson Collection, OBJECTS, Washington, DC. He served as a consultant/designer for numerous entities including: GM, Owens-Corning, Uniroyal, Regal Rugs, Northern Petrochemical, Surface Design Assn., and Juraku Int’l Textile Ctr. He presented at more than 90 lectures and workshops around the world and authored Design on Fabrics – a seminal reference on surface design – along with more than 30 articles in professional periodicals. Since 1983 he spent 4-6 months a year at his residence in Kyoto, Japan as a revered expert in Japanese fabric design techniques.
Survivors include beloved son and daughter-in-law Page & Jeanne Kaufman of Flowery Branch, grandson Lt. Lee Kaufman (USN) of Silverdale, WA, sister Karol Berhow (John) of Trinity, TX, nephew Kurk Anderson (Paula) of Kohler, WI, nieces Kris Anderson Lent of Potoski, MI and Kari Anderson of Whitewater, WI, cousin Vergene Kaufman Lueder of Whitewater, WI and dear and beloved friends, students and colleagues the world over.
The family will receive friends on Monday, Jan 27 from 6 to 7:30pm followed by a Rosary at Bernstein Funeral Home, 3195 Atlanta Hwy, Athens. A Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, Jan 28 at 10:30am at the Chapel of St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 958 Epps Bridge Pkwy, Athens (Note that seating in the School Chapel is limited). A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, Feb 16 at 2pm at the UGA Chapel, 109 Herty Dr, Athens, followed by a reception at the College of Environment & Design, 285 S. Jackson St, Athens. Parking is at the North Campus Deck.