VCU news

Before and after photos demonstrate the transformation of a mug in a recent class project, "Ugly Objects," organized by Natalya Pinchuk, assistant professor of craft and material studies. Pinchuk matched 10 students — eight seniors and two master's candidates — with residents at the Dominion Place, a retirement community on West Grace Street. Each resident was asked to provide an individual object that they owned. The object was supposed to be something ugly that they had kept for years and could not convince themselves to throw out. Students talked with residents about the objects, their histories and why the residents had kept them. Then, each student took an object and transformed it, keeping the object's history and connection to its owner in mind. The object was ultimately returned to the resident. The project, in part, is about the role that memory plays in an object's aesthetic appeal. The mug in the photo belongs to Dominion resident Clara Winston. It was transformed by VCU student Kathleen Kennedy.