News : Artist Lindsey Renken plans to become art teacher at new Vinton studio

Lindsey Renken has three of her art projects on display now at US Bank.

College art assignment: Replicate a tool and its moving parts, using paper....

.. then use a part of that tool to create another work of art.

Lindsey used a part from her paper vice grip to create this hanging work.

L1: When viewed from the other direction the Lindsey Renken's first chair resembles a cursive "L".

A still life charcoal drawing: Lindsey used a sheet over a box for this up-close depiction.

Artist Lindsey Renken hopes people will sit in the chair she built; it's currently at US Bank.

You walk into the U.S. Bank lobby and see a large wooden lounge chair that you've never seen before. You stop for a closer look.

Then you see a painting and a framed charcoal drawing, all made by the same artist whose name is on a small sign behind the chair.

"Go ahead," says a bank employee. "Sit."

But you're not supposed to sit on an art display, are you?

In this case, the answer is yes.

"I hope they do sit in the chair," says the artist, Lindsey Renken. "There's a reason I didn’t put a rope around it."

Lindsey, the daughter of Kimmit and Judy Renken, graduated from Iowa State in May; the chair was a senior project in her ISU furniture design class. I remembered taking photos of her art about seven years ago, when she was still in high school. She graduated from Vinton-Shellsburg in 2005.

Lindsey spent two years at Simpson, studying art, though she went to that college on a vocal scholarship and says she chose Simpson because of its volleyball program. She then began working on her degree in Interior Design from ISU. In August, she began working for the Ar-Jay Center in Cedar Rapids, where she help building contractors choose the lighting for new projects.

Early beginning

And it all started in preschool, in Manson, Iowa.

"Every day when we started preschool, they would give us a shape and a color, and tell us to go to the work station that matched that shape and color. My favorite was the "red triangle," because that's where they had the crayons and Play-Doh," Lindsey recalls. "Except back then, I called it 'clay.'"

Lindsey took every art class she could. In high school, she focused on painting. She also worked with clay, charcoal drawing and other media.

A fear

While she loved art, Lindsey also said she dreaded the idea of becoming a "starving artist."

"I would paint all day if someone paid me to do it," she said.

But realizing that few people have that kind of opportunity, Lindsey decided to put her artistic talents to use in other ways.

"I always wanted to build things," she said, explaining why she chose an interior design major.

Her father and grandfather were cabinet builders; Lindsey at times uses her dad's workshop, which is located next door to their family home.

Interior design, she explains, is about way more then decorating a room.

"Don't ask me to pick out curtains for you," she says. "I want to do more than paint a room; I want to gut a space and redefine the way you move through that space."

L1

We begin the interview in the Renken living room, where Lindsey shows me her first college furniture project; a TV stand. I ask if she hopes to one day have a room full of things she built. She says yes.

I then ask about the chair.

My first question: "Is it as comfortable as it looks?"

The answer: Yes. That's when Lindsey says that she hopes many people will sit in it.

Lindsey calls her chair "L1." The short, simple name has a simple explanation.

"I call it 'L' because from the right side, it looks like a cursive L," she says. "And I call it L1 because I designed it to be mass produced."

The name, however, came after she finished designing the chair.

"I didn’t start out to make an 'L' shape," she adds.

Lindsey has a jig set up so she could easily cut another 75 pieces of Baltic Birch to match L1. However, she can also customize each chair to fit its owner, the way she made L1 specifically for herself.

"I made my chair to be ergonomic as well as aesthetic," she explains. "Sometimes when people build for ergonomics they give up some of the aesthetic value. I am trying to build things that are both ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing."

Lindsey spent approximately three months of her 4-5 month Furniture Design class working on the computer and CNC machines, designing the shape and style of L1 and making a small model. She then spent a couple weeks cutting the wood before assembling the chair over a single weekend. That was followed by weeks of sanding, grinding and finishing. The model is now at her work site, where it holds her business cards.

I had taken a photo of the chair -- and turned down the invitation to sit in it -- before meeting Lindsey. But as we discuss L1, it occurs to me that it's silly to continue the discussion while Lindsey and L1 are in different buildings. Lindsey agrees, and we walk to the bank.

As she sits on L1, Lindsey explains how she cut and connected the 75 pieces of Baltic birch. It takes two people to move L1, which weighs about 150 pounds. She explains how she curved the back of the chair both for comfort and appearance. While L1 is not for sale, Lindsey would consider requests to build L2.

While explaining how she finished L1, Lindsey says there is another benefit to having people sit on a wooden chair: Much use smoothens the surface of the wood, making it even more comfortable.

"I will love to see how this chair looks and feels in 20 years," she says.

Art student and teacher

Behind the chair is a long painting called "Woman." Lindsey made it in high school, with some guidance from "Miss D," art teacher Ann Diedrichsen. While Lindsey loved studying art, she also loves sharing her knowledge and skills with other artists. For three years at ISU, she was in the mentor program, helping other students with their projects, and encouraging their efforts.

Lindsey will be one of the instructors at the new Creartivity Studio in downtown Vinton, just a couple of doors to the east of the bank. That business -- with construction delayed by the impact of the storm on the availability of contractors, is expected to open before Thanksgiving, said Creartivity owner Don Eells. Eells has a daughter about the same age as Lindsey, and remembers her and her family from those high school years.

As a student, one of the projects Lindsey was most proud of was her "tool art" project. Part of the core art classes at ISU, the tool art project requires a student to take a tool --for Lindsey it was vice grips -- and replicate that tool in paper. Then, each student used a piece of the tool and used it for a separate art project. After finishing her vice grips, Lindsey replicated one of its sections many times to form a hanging work of art that she suspended in a clear cube.

The tool art project challenged Lindsey as both a student and a teacher. As an art student tutor at ISU, she encouraged many fellow students by telling them that the tool art project was worth the challenge as she helped them.

Like working with wood, teaching art also runs in Lindsey's family; her older sister, Amanda Nelson Giesmann, teaches art in Portland, Ore.

At Creartivity, Lindsey says she plans to teach intermediate and advanced classes, helping those who have a love of art and a basic knowledge of its principals to hone their skills.

Lindsey is also helping with the remodeling of the studio: She and her company will be designing its lighting.

"Lindsey is a very exciting artist," said Eells. "She has a lot of great ideas and she is very eager to share them."