Two new faculty members will present creative research and studio work from the Department of Art and Design during Thursday’s Big Brain Cafe.

The Big Brain Cafe in the Brunnier Art Museum is an event open to students, faculty, staff and the public that provides an artistic and cultural outlet for the Ames community, said Dana Michels, associate curator for University Museums. The program presents a different theme or topic each month followed by a reception. The program will begin at 7 p.m.

Teresa Paschke, assistant professor of art and design, and Chris Martin, assistant professor of art and design, will be presenting their work at this week’s Big Brain Cafe. The two professors recently became faculty members in the College of Design.

Michels said students in the College of Design may particularly enjoy the gathering.

“Big Brain Cafe is open to everyone and is particularly geared towards art and design students,” she said.

Michels said the program has a cafe atmosphere where people can get together and talk following the lecture. This month’s event is a great opportunity for students to meet the two new faculty members in the College of Design, she said.

Paschke said her favorite type of art is surface design.

“Surface design is manipulating the surface of cloth rather than painting or using dyes,” she said.

Paschke said she will be showing 30 slides of her work at the presentation and an overview of her work in the past few years, which may include screen printing and transfer prints.

“I also do a lot of dye discharge, which is the process of removing the dye, or a bleaching process,” she said.

Paschke said she has shown work all over the country and is currently in a show at the San Jose Museum of Textiles and Quilts. She said members of the ISU community will also be able to see her work during an upcoming show in the Gallery in the Round at the Octagon Center, 427 Douglas Ave.

Martin, who has been teaching at Iowa State since the fall of 1999, said he is going to show slides of furniture and his work from the past five or six years, including undergraduate and graduate work.

“My work is functional,” he said. “It’s furniture, more bordering on sculptural, and a lot of mixed materials, mostly wood and metal.”

Seattle and Hawaii are just a few of the places Martin said he has shown his work, adding that he has big plans for a more liberal gallery in New York.

“I’m going to do some wild stuff and try to do a big show out there,” he said. “You have to find the right gallery to show your work.”

Michels said he hopes the Cafe has a big turnout.

“We want people to feel comfortable and welcome,” she said. “Art is for everybody.”