‘Between the Lines’ opening reception opens today at Craft in America Center
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Craft in America Center is opening Between the Lines, a two-person exhibition featuring master glass sculptors John Luebtow and Stephen Edwards. These two maverick sculptors have shaped the field of glass through potent artwork and technical prowess. Constantly innovating, they use glass in ways that defy expectations— bending, casting and cutting it into astounding forms that push the material to its limits. Over the decades, both their intimate and monumental works address relationships with nature, spirituality, and family.
Line is the guiding force shaping the form of each work. Line and form relay philosophical signifiers stemming from the artists’ personal experiences and outlooks. Responding to concepts through abstraction, glass becomes a material for echoing dynamics of the natural world.
This exhibition pairs these two luminaries who are also tied by a teacher/student relationship: Edwards was once a student in Luebtow’s high school art classes. Insatiably curious about process, both artists consistently push the boundaries of technical development and have created significant facilities, both of their own and at institutions. In addition to illustrious art careers, the two masters have been instrumental in creating education programs and facilities in glass, and have taught scores of art students; Luebtow at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, and Edwards at Alfred University in New York.
With more than a century of knowledge between them, these objects are a glimpse at how these artists create abstract forms with powerful, transcendent ideas about beauty, conflict, tension, nature and existence.
John Luebtow has become one of the most respected names in contemporary glass sculpture over the past forty years. He developed innovative techniques in glass-making, introducing and incorporating gestural and expressive qualities into impeccably finished sculptural components. He holds a BA from California Lutheran College, and two MFAs from UCLA (one in ceramics and one in glass).
Stephen Edwards built one of the largest hot glass programs in the nation at Alfred University, where he taught for 22 years. Prior to that, an early stepping stone was working as an artist-in-residence at the Penland School of Crafts. Near Penland, he established his first private glass studio in Micaville, North Carolina in 1982. Edwards graduated from Illinois State University with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1980.
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 9, 3:00–5:00pm PST Artist talk: Saturday, April 27, 3:00pm PST
Original article here.
Craft in America Hosts Two Innovative Glass Artists
The Craft in America Center will host “Between the Lines,” a two-person exhibition featuring master glass sculptors John Luebtow and Stephen Edwards from March 9 through May 25.
The two sculptors have shaped the field of glass through their own work and their technological prowess. With a constant desire to create and innovate, they both use glass in ways that defy expectations – bending and cutting to give it shape. They walk the fine line of pushing the material to its limits. Over the decades, they have created work that pertains to their relationships with nature, spirituality and family.
Art begins with the line for both artists. It is the guiding force for shaping the form of each work. Responding to ideas through abstraction, glass is a material for echoing the natural world.
The exhibition pairs the two luminaries, who are also tied by a teacher-student relationship. Edwards was once a student in Luebtow’s high school art classes. Insatiably curious about processes, the artists consistently push the boundaries of technical development and have created significant facilities, both of their own and at institutions. In addition to illustrious art careers, the artists have been instrumental in creating education programs and have taught numerous art students – Luebtow at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles and Edwards at Alfred University in New York.
Original post in the Beverly Press here.
See portraits of Black life, as told by puppets, at new LA exhibit
The new “Spirit of Play: Craft and Imagination” exhibit at Craft in America is running through Saturday, March 2.
When puppets speak, people listen, says artist, educator and puppeteer Schroeder Cherry.
Cherry uses puppet play to teach people about the U.S. African diaspora. Organizers of his new “Spirit of Play: Craft and Imagination” exhibit, featured at the Craft in America nonprofit center in Beverly Grove, say that Cherry uses the “disarming quality” of play to both educate and engage viewers. His “family of idiosyncratic characters” tackles topics like the history of slavery, and contemporary life in America as a Black person.
The new Los Angeles exhibit — now running through Saturday, March 2 — showcases realistic-looking puppets and assemblage to educate both children and adults about Black culture and history in the U.S.
Read the full article in the Los Angeles Daily news here.
Capture the ‘Spirit of Play’ at Craft in America Center
The Craft in America Center has announced the group exhibition, “The Spirit of Play: Craft and Imagination.” The exhibition runs through March 2.
“Spirit of Play: Craft and Imagination,” now showing at the Craft in America Center in West Hollywood, provides the perfect family activity that can delight, entertain and educate, with free admission.
Craft in America Executive Director, Carol Sauvion, Receives American Craft Council Award of Distinction
Congratulations to Craft in America Director, Carol Sauvion, for her Award of Distinction from the American Craft Council! This biannual award recognizes an organization, institution, corporation, or individual who has made significant contributions to the field of craft with a minimum of 25 years of service.
Carol Sauvion is the creator of the Peabody Award winning PBS series Craft in America. The documentary series celebrates American craft and the artists who bring it to life. She is also the Executive Director of the Craft in America non-profit organization which has the mission is to promote and advance original handcrafted work through educational programs in all media. Craft is Sauvion’s lifelong passion. For over 40 years she has been the director of Freehand, her Los Angeles gallery specializing in functional craft. Prior to opening Freehand, Sauvion was a professional potter for ten years. Sauvion has her degree in Art History from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. She has served on the boards of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund and the American Craft Council.
In addition, the ACC awarded a Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship to Craft in America artist, Wendy Maruyama. Craft in America artists Syd Carpenter, Michael A. Cummings, Einar and Jamex de la Torre and Diego Romero were added to the American Craft Council’s College of Fellows. Congratulations to all!
Read the full article here.
Craft in America in the Los Angeles Times
Craft in America ‘Turn On’ TV Recommendation in the Los Angeles Times
by: Robert Lloyd
Jan 12, 2024
“Craft in America” (PBS)
One of the lesser-known gifts from PBS to you is the long-running “Craft in America,” a colorful, fun, inspiring and at times deeply moving celebration of making things. They only produce a couple of episodes a season, but each hour is packed with thematically-related content that covers a range of media, cultures and current and historical practitioners. The latest episodes, which may be streamed from www.craftinamerica.org, www.pbs.org/craftinamerica or YouTube, along with those from past seasons, are “MINIATURES” and “PLAY.” The former includes the jeeps and trucks of Cuba’s Leandro Gómez Quintero, made from cardboard and found objects, and the perfect tiny replica antique furniture of miniaturist Mark Murphy; the latter encompasses piñatas — hands up if you knew L.A. had a Piñata District — Schroeder Cherry’s African American puppetry and the Skirball Museum’s environmental Noah’s Ark installation. Every artisan comes with a story, and community is an issue throughout — both of craftspeople among themselves, and in the wider world. (Locals can also visit the Craft in America Center, currently featuring works from the above episodes, 8415 W. Third St., open Tues.-Sat., 12-6 p.m.).
Read the full post here.
“Spirit of Play” now open at Craft in America Center
For artists, play can mean serious work. Play allows the mind to roam and encounter unusual solutions, whether it be in process or concept. The processes of making and imagining work in tandem for these artists, where grand, exquisite, whimsical and magical forms emerge from diligent exploration.
Influences/Influencers at Craft in America
California Fibers, a historic organization at the forefront of contemporary fiber art in Southern California, showcases the remarkable work of its current members in Influences/Influencers, currently at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles, California, through December 2, 2023. Curated by Emily Zaiden, Craft in America’s director and curator, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the vast influences that have shaped fiber art today.
Founded five decades ago, California Fibers has a rich legacy of pushing the boundaries of fiber art. Zaiden aptly describes it as, “a historic organization that has been pivotal in advancing contemporary fiber art not only in Southern California but also across the state and far beyond. Over the years, its members have consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to innovation and creativity within the realm of fiber arts.”
KRQE shares: New Mexico artists, museums featured in PBS show “Craft in America”
New Mexico artists, museums featured in PBS show “Craft in America”
by: Fallon Fischer
Nov 14, 2023
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Artwork from the New Mexico Museum of Art’s collection and the Museum of International Folk Art’s collection were featured in the PBS series “Craft in America.”
The Museum of International Folk Art will host the national premiere screening of the episode, followed by a panel discussion in the museum’s Vernick Auditorium. There will be free museum admission all day, including to the screening and panel discussion.
“Craft in America” staff and film crew traveled to New Mexico twice in 2022 to film the “MINIATURES” episode. The public broadcast of “MINIATURES” on PBS will take place on Dec. 29, 2023. All episodes are available for streaming on the PBS App, craftinamerica.org, and pbs.org/craftinamerica.
Read the full article here.
For more information on the event, click here.
Quilts That Keep You Up at Night
Congratulations to Craft in America artist, Michael A. Cummings, of the QUILTS episode! Mr. Cummings is the subject of an article in The New Yorker Magazine, October 23rd, 2023:
“Quilts that Keep You Up at Night,” was written by Nina Mesfin and illustrated by by João Fazenda.
“Michael A. Cummings, a seventy-seven-year-old quilt artist based in Harlem, is the only person he knows of who has slept beneath one of his works. ‘I have put my quilts on my bed when I was cold,’ Cummings said the other day. ‘When I first got to New York, I was putting layers on top of me on the bed, and I couldn’t move, hardly, because it was so heavy. But I was warm.’ Eventually, his mother and his sister told him about electric blankets. Over the years, he has made some quilts for friends with babies, but none made it into a crib. ‘One woman I know, she just put it on the side of the baby bed, and the baby looked at it,’ he said.”
Read the full article here.