 September 2009
Greetings!
The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design (CCCD) sends you a monthly ENEWS to keep you current with our programs, exhibits and events, as well as other "happenings" in the world of craft. For the first time, we are asking that you show your support for our programs by making a donation. No donation is too small! Thank you for your support and enjoy our complimentary ENEWS.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Natasha Wozniak, Baroque Wrought Cuff 1, 2008, blackened silver, 3 x 2.5 x 2.25"
Albert Paley, Forged Andiron, 2004, forged steel, 28 x 36 x 24"
Different Tempers: Jewelry & Blacksmithing
Guest Curator: Suzanne Ramljak, editor, Metalsmith Sept. 1 - Dec. 1, 2009 Lecture by Suzanne Ramljak - Thursday, Nov. 12th While jewelry and blacksmithing are both grounded in metal, there is a curious gulf between the two fields. Just as George Bernard Shaw quipped that England and America "are two countries separated by the same language," Jewelers and blacksmiths remain foreign cousins in spite of their shared medium. Different Tempers will explore these two realms of metalsmithing to highlight their distinct properties as well as their commonalities. Showcasing the work of fourteen prominent and mid-career metalsmiths, the exhibition will reveal the engaging range of metal work emerging from both the jeweler's bench and blacksmith's forge. The traveling show, which opens September 2009 at the Center for Craft, Creativity & Design, will be accompanied by a catalogue with essays exploring the vital issues related to these two creative spheres.
In addition to underlining the shared aesthetic and formal language of these practices, Different Tempers will also provide a timely opportunity to examine issues of artistic difference. In this era of hybridization and blurring boundaries, there is very little premium placed on such distinctions. Yet the process of distinguishing dissimilar traits remains crucial to the full appreciation of any medium. Together, the approximately 40 objects will reveal the engaging range of work arising from both the jeweler's bench and blacksmith's forge, spanning wearable ornament to large-scale sculpture. The full spectrum of metals will also be represented, including gold, platinum, fine and sterling silver, pewter, iron, stainless steel, mild steel, and patterned steel, in tandem with other materials such as optical lenses, watch hands, and hair. OF RELATED INTEREST
5th Annual Potters Market Invitational presented by the Delhom Service League
Entry fee includes admission to the Mint Museum of Art and free parking.
Proceeds support the Museum's decorative arts collection.
Mint Museum of Art Saturday, September 12, 2009 10 am - 4 pm Rain or Shine Admission $10 ($8 after 2 pm) adults, $5 children Exemplifying the region's rich craft heritage, the Potters Market features 40 superb potters representing the state's most important pottery-producing areas: Seagrove, Piedmont, Catawba Valley and the mountains, including Penland and Asheville. Potters are selected on a rotating basis so that the opportunity to participate can be open to as many artists as possible.??This year's event features notable returning potters such as Ben Owen III, Donna Craven and Crystal King, as well as a select group of up-and-coming potters, all of whom are creating distinctive work that is gaining national attention. Seven of the selected potters recently participated in the 2009 Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C., a prestigious juried exhibition of fine craft: Michael Hunt and Naomi Dalglish, Carol Gentithes, Jim and Shirl Parmentier, Akira Satake and Liz Zlot Summerfield. New potters participating this year include the Parmentiers and Summerfield, as well as Steven Forbes de-Soule, Eric Knoche, Will McCanless, Kelly O'Briant, Michael Rutkowsky and Jenny Lou Sherburne. For more information go to www.mintmuseum.org/delhom-service-league.html CONFERENCES
Re-Viewing Black Mountain College
An International Conference October 9-11, 2009 The legacy of Black Mountain College continues to influence contemporary culture in multiple realms. This conference aims to investigate its history as well as the multiple paths of influence, actual and possible, identifiable in the contemporary world and beyond. Co-hosted by The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, and The University of North Carolina, Asheville Keynote Speaker: Dorothea Rockburne For more information contact The Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center at bmcmac@bellsouth.net or call 828.350.8484. 2009 American Craft Council Conference
"Creating a New Craft Culture" Oct. 15 - 17, 2009 Minneapolis, MN About the Conference: The three-day conference will bring together dynamic voices from the field and beyond to discuss craft's changing role and will feature keynote presentations, interactive panels and sessions. The star-studded line-up of presenters include Dr. Richard Sennett, professor of sociology at New York University and the London School of Economics, and author of The Craftsman; Rob Walker, columnist for the New York Times Magazine and author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are; and Garth Clark, esteemed curator, scholar, historian and gallerist. For additional details including how to apply and the criteria for student scholarships, as well as conference details and registration, please visit www.craftcouncil.org/conference09 Quiltfest 2009 - Recycling the Past
Sept. 24-26, 2009 Jacksonville, FL Quiltfest is an open judged show with over 400 quilts on display. There are classes (by Frieda Anderson and Judy Niemeyer), a silent auction, quilt appraiser Teddy Pruitt will be present, and much more. For more information go to www.quiltfestjax.com Admission: $8 daily; $15 multi-day pass REINVENTION
Conference, Tours, and Workshops in San Francisco, CA March 19 - 24, 2010 Co-sponsored by Surface Design Association, Studio Art Quilt Associates and San Francisco State University Textiles Surface Design Association, Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. and the Textiles concentration of the Art Department at San Francisco State University announce the upcoming conference, tour, and workshop program called "Reinvention". The location will be Seven Hills Conference Center, San Francisco State University Campus. Program dates for the conference are Friday and Saturday, March 19 - 20; Sunday, studio bus tour and de Young museum tours on Sunday, March 21; and three-day workshops on Monday - Wednesday, March 22-24. The program is intended for fiber studio artists, textile designers, art quilters, instructors, and people interested in the fiber field and looking for inspiration. Attendees must be members of either Surface Design Association (surfacedesign.org) or Studio Art Quilt Associates (saqa.com). Other interested parties are invited to join and attend. The theme Reinvention is described as follows: "Life in the arts is a constant process of invention and reinvention. Techniques change, new materials emerge, inspiration evolves along with the world in which we work. Artists reinvent themselves as they mature or change creative paths. It's an exciting time to be a creative individual and change is in the air." Highlights of the Planned Program KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Marci McDade, editor, Fiberarts magazine, Reinvention: Transforming the Face of Fiber Janet Koplos, editor, American Craft magazine, Reinventing American Craft SPEAKERS FROM MUSEUMS: Jill D'Allesandro, assistant curator, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, "From Micronesia to Paris, All in a Day's Work" Stefano Catalani, curator, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, the work of the fiber artists featured at Bellevue Arts Museum Jane Przybysz, executive director, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA, "What Makes Fiber Art?" There are many exciting panels and workshops as well. Conference brochure and registration will be available at saqa.com and surfacedesign.org after September 20th, 2009.
CODA - Craft Organization Development Association
Hosted by Georgia Made Georgia Grown LLC
And the Savannah College of Art & Design and the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs
Annual Conference: Aspects of Identity Savannah, Georgia April 6-8, 2010 As organizations struggle to market themselves, grow memberships, expand services, and attract customers and funders, establishing a clear understanding of the organization's identity is a critical step toward successfully reaching its goals. This identity embodies a deeper understanding of what organizations want to accomplish and who they serve and their ability to communicate that message effectively to their audiences. Topics addressed at the conference are "Challenges and Creative Solutions in this Current Economy," "The Savannah Story," "Transitioning Craft Students into the Workplace," and "Crafts and Arts in Education." For more information go to www.coda.org PUBLICATIONS
Studio Furniture of the Renwick Gallery: Smithsonian American Art Museum The eighty-four pieces of studio furniture owned by the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum constitute one of the largest assemblages of American studio furniture in the nation. Three former administrators-Lloyd Herman, Michael Monroe, and Kenneth Trapp-amassed a seminal collection that samples studio furniture's great diversity. From the carefully crafted stools of Tage Frid to the art deco chest painted by R ob Womack, from the one-of-a-kind Ghost Clock sculpture by Wendell Castle to the limited production stool by David Ebner, the collection highlights the astonishing variety of the American studio furniture movement. In this catalog, author Oscar P. Fitzgerald documents each piece of furniture in a descriptive, illustrated entry. He also recounts the history of the collection's formation in an introductory essay, which illuminates the rationale and aesthetic choices of each curator and notes various donors and support organizations. Finally, Fitzgerald's statistical analysis of the collection, formulated from detailed interviews with the surviving artists, casts new light on workshop practices, marketing concerns, and other aspects of the contemporary studio furniture movement. A foreword by noted scholar and curator Paul Greenhalgh gives readers a brilliant overview. This book is published by Fox Chapel Publishing and is available at www.foxchapelpublishing.com. Choosing Craft: The Artist's Viewpoint Choosing Craft explores the history and practice of American craft through the words of influential artists whose lives, work, and ideas have shaped the field. Editors Vicki Halper and Diane Douglas construct an anecdotal narrative that examines the post-World War II development of modern craft, which came of age alongside modernist painting and sculpture and was greatly influenced by them as well as by traditional and industrial practices. The anthology is organized according to four activities that ground a professional life in craft--inspiration, training, economics, and philosophy. Halper and Douglas mined a wide variety of sources for their material, including artists' published writings, letters, journal entries, exhibition statements, lecture notes, and oral histories. The detailed record they amassed reveals craft's dynamic relationships with painting, sculpture, design, industry, folk and ethnic traditions, hobby craft, and political and social movements. Collectively, these reflections form a social history of craft. Choosing Craft ultimately offers artists' writings and recollections as vital and vivid data that deserve widespread study as a primary resource for those interested in the American art form. This book is published by The University of North Carolina Press and is available at www.uncpress.unc.edu The Craftsman and the Critic When English craftsman, poet, and socialist William Morris advised consumers in the 1880s to "have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful," he prompted a movement for design reform in Britain, Europe, and America. Championing Morris's views, the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston led the quest for "usefulness and beauty" in the United States. As the oldest, continuously-operating arts and crafts organization in the country, it exerted considerable influence. Among the Boston reformers were design critics, whose profession became increasingly important in the nineteenth century. Many of them-including a number of prominent women-were also architects, designers, craft workers, educators, and theorists. Their views on design reform were substantive and often controversial. This richly illustrated book explores the interaction of craft workers and critics as they collaborated to improve the quality of the living and working environment in Boston and across the United States. Beverly K. Brandt examines multiple overlapping topics-the evolution of the profession of design criticism in the nineteenth century; Boston in the "Gilded Age" as a center for reform, epitomized by the Aesthetic and the Arts and Crafts movements; the formative years of the Society of Arts and Crafts (1897-1917); key personalities associated with that organization; the theoretical underpinnings of the Arts and Crafts movement; and a diaspora of Boston reformers who left the city to promote usefulness and beauty across the country and abroad. In an epilogue, she discusses the Arts and Crafts revival which has flourished since the 1970s and contemplates why the search for usefulness and beauty continues to resonate today. This book is available through the University of Massachusetts Press at A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression by Howard Risatti. What is craft? How is it different from fine art or design? Risatti examines these issues by comparing handmade ceramics, glass, metalwork, weaving, and furniture to painting, sculpture, photography, and machine-made design from Bauhaus to the Memphis Group. He describes craft's unique qualities as functionality combined with an ability to express human values that transcend temporal, spatial, and social boundaries. Craft must articulate a role for itself in contemporary society, says Risatti; otherwise it will be absorbed by fine art or design and its singular approach to understanding the world will be lost. Knitting America: A Glorious Heritage from Warm Sock to High Art. This is the history that Knitting America celebrates. The first fully detailed, full-color, comprehensive history of knitting in America from colonial times to the present, the book conveys the social and historical realities that the craft embodied as well as the emotional narrative that unfolded at the hands of the nations knitters. With vintage patterns and designs typical of each era, Knitting America comprises a knitted history of American society. Here are the trends and the shortages, the historical happenings and the social movements, the advertising and economic developments that affected knitting and style. Also included are 20 historic knitting patterns for todays knitters. Beautifully illustrated with vintage pattern booklets, posters, postcards, black-and-white historical photographs, and contemporary color photographs of knitted pieces in private collections and in museums, this book is a treasure of history and craft, an exquisite view of America through the handiwork of its knitters. Makers: A History of American Studio Craft At the first "Think-Tank" convened by CCCD in 2002, of craft faculty, museum director and curators, scholars and critics, the initiative ranked as most important to the advancement of the field was a history of American Craft in the twentieth Century. The journey toward making this a reality can be tracked on www.craftcreativitydesign.org/research/history.php. Makers: A History of American Studio Craft by Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf is with the publisher, the University of North Carolina Press. Long awaited, the book, researched and written under the auspices of CCCD, will include 500+ images and also serve as an undergraduate text. It will be released in 2010. The University of North Carolina Press is making craft history and criticism a focus of the Press. The Journal of Modern Craft, edited by Glenn Adamson, Victoria & Albert Museum, UK; Edward S. Cooke, Jr. Yale University, USA; Tanya Harrod, Royal College of Art, UK, is the first peer-reviewed academic journal to provide an interdisciplinary and international forum in its subject area. It address all forms of making that self-consciously set themselves apart from mass production - whether in the making of designed objects, artworks, buildings or other artefacts. Published three times a year in March, July and November. To place an order/subscription visit www.bergpublishers.com and download order forms or email custerserv@turpin-distribution.com. About Us
The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design is an inter-institutional Center of the University of North Carolina. The mission of the regional UNC Center is to support and advance craft, creativity and design in education and research, and, through community collaborations, to demonstrate ways that craft and design provide creative solutions to community issues. The mission of the nonprofit CCCD is to support the mission of the UNC center through funding, programs, and outreach to artists, craft organizations, schools in the community, region and nation. email: info@craftcreativitydesign.org |
