CoD + Somewhere Appalachia to Transform Coal Mining Sites into Art Spaces – College of Design – 38°84° the power of place
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CoD + Somewhere Appalachia to Transform Coal Mining Sites into Art Spaces

How can the sites of former coal mines, those strange landscapes scarred by decades of digging and desecration, serve the public in a post-industrial America? That was the question posed to the students of The Somewhere Project, a design studio at the University of Kentucky College of Design, as they considered how to transform a prototypical mine site in the Appalachian Basin in Kentucky into a contemporary arts institution.

Led by Brent Sturlaugson, Jeffrey Johnson, and cofounders of Only If Adam Frampton and Karolina Czeczek, The Somewhere Studio brief was formed through a partnership with Somewhere Appalachia, an initiative established by Brook Smith that is currently seeking to transform a former Kentucky coal mine with an arts destination.

Students were also asked to design a space for Cripplewood (Kreupelhout) (2012-2013), a 59-foot sculpture of a fallen tree created by the artist Berlinde de Bruyckere that the artist first exhibited at the 2013 Venice Biennale and has since agreed to permanent display within a coal mining site through Somewhere Appalachia.

Visit https://archpaper.com/2020/04/university-kentucky-somewhere-appalachia-coal-mining-arts/ for complete studio details.

CoD + Somewhere Appalachia to Transform Coal Mining Sites into Art Spaces

The Appalachian Basin contains about 40 percent of America’s bituminous coal deposits, which has led to its widespread segregation by coal mining activities. (Courtesy Somewhere Appalachia)