I have enjoyed being a professor at the University of Iowa in the School of Art, Art History, and Design, since 1988. In 1983 I completed an MA in Sculpture and then in 1990 I completed my PhD, with my doctoral work and dissertation focused on metaphor and the work of Paul Ricœur, as applied to a philosophical conceptualization of artmaking.
  
Purposeful exploration is the essential condition for teaching, and for learning skills, concepts and tools including welding, modeling, design, fabrication, aesthetics, and materials. In 2010 I created a handmade bicycle curriculum, teaching Fabrication and Design: Hand Built Bicycle I, II and III. The University of Iowa Handmade Bicycle Program is comprised of art and engineering majors and has annually exhibited at the North American Handmade Bike Show, and Bespoked International.

As a professor I’m committed to the revitalization of handmade, with a focus on the value of craftsmanship. We are made to be creative and to make things that engage our being in the world. I consider myself an adventurer who designs and builds bicycles. A bicycle is an exquisite way of exploring a landscape. Adventuring in wilderness is a knowledge process. The concept “design, build, ride” centers on designing, then building, then riding a bicycle for a specific wilderness and purpose.

 

Two current projects are Design, Build, Ride, Canyonlands and Solar Eclipse, Iceland.