ATALM conference
We had the privilege to attend the International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries and Museums – ATALM – in Palm Springs last week. It was a fascinating few days including a presentation about the traveling glass exhibition Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, a talk by artist Lily Hope, and a full day workshop with filmmakers Ben West and Yancey Burns. We highly recommend their documentary entitled Imagining the Indian.
The Next Giant Leap: Lunar Quilt Block Challenge
Astronaut and quilter, Dr. Karen Nyberg, the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts, and NASA collaborated to create a new quilt block challenge to celebrate the space program’s return to the moon.
The Next Giant Leap: Lunar Quilt Block Challenge was launched as a STEM program to 7-12 graders in the United States last month. Due to the overwhelming, positive response from quilters around the country who learned about the program, applications are now open to all USA individual quilters, artists, and crafters.
Information, guidelines, and application forms can be found on the Kennedy Center website.
Nov 20, 2024: deadline to submit intent to participate
Dec 10, 2024: deadline to submit application/artwork
This initiative was launched in conjunction with the Kennedy Center’s upcoming EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky festival in March and April of 2025. A judging panel of astronauts and NASA and Kennedy Center executives will pick the best lunar block entry from each state. The 50 winning panels will be sewn into an official Lunar Quilt designed by Karen Nyberg. The Lunar Quilt will be displayed during the festival next spring at the Kennedy Center.
Smithsonian Craft Show May 1-5, 2024
THE SHOW
National Building Museum
May 2-4, 10:30 am-5:30 pm
May 5, 11 am-5:00 pm
TICKETS
Daily general admission: $20
Groups (10 or more) & students: $15
Preview Night Party: $250
Early Entry & Visionary Reception, Preview Night Party: $500
For tickets and more information, visit smithsoniancraftshow.org
PREVIEW NIGHT, May 1
From 5:00 pm-6:00 pm
First Look and Visionary Reception
Meet Smithsonian Visionary and SWC Delphi Award winners as you enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
From 6:00 pm-9:00 pm
Preview Night Party
Meet the artists. See and shop their work. Enjoy joyful cuisine from around the world.
EVENTS
May 2, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
Panel Discussion: Trio in Glass
Moderated by Stephanie Stebich, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this talk will feature Visionary and Delphi award winners Dan Dailey, Judith Schaechter and Norwood Viviano. Registration required.
May 4, 11:30 am-1:30 pm
Saving Culture and Art in Crisis
Light Lunch and Presentation by Dr. Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-large and founder of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, discusses their vital efforts to preserve cultural heritage under threat in our country and around the world. Cost: $50 includes Admission to the Show.
The Legacy of Lloyd E. Herman
We at Craft in America are saddened by the passing of Lloyd E. Herman. Lloyd was a pivotal force in the founding of our organization. He became a board member and an Advisory Council member and his insight and input was invaluable.
He was a true craft advocate, a font of knowledge and insight, and a friend who will be missed deeply.
During his twenty-year employment at the Smithsonian Institution, Lloyd Herman was the founding Director of the national craft museum of the United States–the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum–from 1971 until 1986. A specialist in art made from clay, glass, wood, fibers and metals, he was cited by the University of Washington Press as “one of the foremost authorities on America’s contemporary craft movement.”
After retiring from the Smithsonian Institution, he curated exhibitions on craft and design topics for such clients as the United States Information Agency, the Smithsonian Institution and various museums and traveling exhibition services. He lectured on American crafts throughout the United States, and in Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Japan, and juried numerous art competitions in the United States and abroad. He led craft tours to Bhutan, India, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, and Vietnam, and lectured on contemporary glass art for Elderhostel/Road Scholar programs in Seattle.
He was an honorary member of the American Society of Interior Designers, an Honorary Lifetime Member of Northwest Designer Craftsmen, an honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council, and trustee/secretary of the Highline Historical Society. Herman was decorated by the monarchs of Denmark and Belgium for exhibitions that he organized on the crafts of their countries. Herman published several books including; Art That Works: The Decorative Arts of the Eighties, Crafted in America, Trashformations; Clearly Art: Pilchuck’s Glass Legacy; Tales and Traditions: Storytelling in Twentieth Century American Craft and American Glass: Masters of the Art.
https://americanart.si.edu/blog/lloyd-herman
Filming with Nobuhito Nishigawara for the Craft Video Dictionary
It was our pleasure to film with ceramic artist and educator Nobuhito Nishigawara for the Craft Video Dictionary. Nobu demonstrated many wheel throwing techniques as well as hand building techniques and glazing.
The Craft Video Dictionary is supported by the Decorative Arts Trust’ Prize for Excellence and Innovation. To learn more about the Trust or to become a member, visit The Decorative Arts Trust.
Adam’s Forge Upcoming Events
Please join Adam’s Forge for their Equipment Fundraiser and Silent Auction on October 2, 2022 from 10am-3pm at Adam’s Forge (2910 Humboldt Avenue on the corner of 30th Street). This event is free. For tickets, visit adamsforge.org/class/equipment-fundraiser-free-event
Please join Adam’s Forge for Forge Festival 2022! on November 13, 2022, 11am-4pm at Heritage Square Museum. Watch as craftspeople demonstrate their skills in wood, leather, jewelry and glass. This event is free. For tickets, visit adamsforge.org/class/forge-festival-2022
IN MEMORIAM
IN MEMORIAM
PEGGY JOHNSON KAREN MC CREARY CAROLYN BENESH
The past six months have been witness to earth-changing events, a time of loss and hoped-for rebirth. This has been made all the more momentous these past weeks as we mourn the loss of three dear friends in the crafts: jewelers Peggy Johnson and Karen McCreary, and Carolyn Benesh, scholar, magazine publisher, lover of the handmade and fellow traveler in the world of craft. I am writing today to honor them.
PEGGY JOHNSON
Peggy Johnson was best known for her “Housewearables” jewelry which she lovingly fabricated first in Philadelphia, then from her home and studio in Portland, Maine. Since the early 1980s, we’ve carried Peggy’s Utensil necklace at Freehand, along with her pins: In Vino Veritas, Olive You, Toaster, Lettuce Love, Honeymoon Salad and Electric Mixer, among a myriad of others. They are physical manifestations of Peggy’s whimsical thought processes. Each piece was hand constructed, never cast and an always charming take on the quotidian life of the home. Her insects were made with love and affection for the smallest creatures. Her birds perch happily on a lapel, amazing us with their beautiful construction and lifelike attitudes.
Peggy sold her work through the American Craft Council Shows. Her booth always featured a doll house with her Housewearables jewelry properly displayed. Wonderful! Peggy’s empathy was somehow soldered into her perfectly fabricated pins, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Meant to amuse and function as adornment, her pieces have kept their beauty and their meaning over time. I enjoy studying the backs of her pieces, especially the bird series that took inspiration from the birds in her Portland neighborhood. Something gentle and refined and personal is captured in each piece. We will miss Peggy.
KAREN MC CREARY
Karen McCreary was a bold adventurer in the jewelry field, using acrylic and electronic technology to forge new paths. A native Californian, Karen epitomized the forward thinking aesthetic of California jewelry in the 1980s and her work evolved constantly over the forty years of her career.
In 2004, Karen was invited to participate in the 25th Anniversary exhibition planned by Gallerie Beeld und Ambeeld in Enschede, Holland. Karen included me in her project for the anniversary and created a brooch for me titled From the Heart, a sterling and acrylic wearable sculpture with an electronic, pulsing LED device that brings soft red light and life into the form. I accompanied Karen to Holland for the opening of the exhibition, where jewelers, collectors and curators from throughout Europe greeted her as the visionary jeweler she was.
One of my favorite pieces of Karen’s jewelry is the oversized, beautifully shaped acrylic bangle embedded with plastic charms and miniature electronic components: an invitation to attach personal stories to a wearable sculpture. Karen’s mind and creativity was focused on both art and science. It was always a treat to have her visit and show us her new pieces.
Both Peggy and Karen had the combination of talent, creativity and determination necessary to forge a career in the crafts. Making a living with one’s hands is indeed a challenge and these two jewelers, with grace and dignity, created a life for themselves and their jewelry. They brought years of joy to their many clients. We will miss them.
CAROLYN BENESH
Carolyn Benesh and her husband Robert Liu came into my life in 1980, when I invited them, as co-editors of Ornament Magazine, to curate our first jewelry exhibition at Freehand. The show they organized set standards for quality and cemented a lifelong friendship.
Carolyn traveled extensively, both within our country and internationally, documenting the finest expressions of the jeweler’s art and investigating the arts of textiles and clothing from all levels of world cultures; from royalty to the most humble artisans. She often visited festivals, fairs or shows wearing pieces from her extensive collection. Supporting the artists by purchasing their work was a personal practice for Carolyn, which led to many delightful pieces worn with flair and purpose. We will miss her eye and her sense of adventure. She loved beauty and saw it everywhere. She was a complex person, passionate about art, life, politics and culture. Her strong opinions and informed advice will also be missed.
The craft world is shaped and nourished by artists and educators like Peggy Johnson, Karen McCreary and Carolyn Benesh. Their contributions inform and inspire us. Their work is a vital part of the human expression that is craft.
Carol Sauvion
October, 2020
Bernard Kester
Bernard Kester has passed away at the age of 90. This venerated professor, master designer, artist, curator, writer, and inspirational mentor has left an estimable legacy at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum. He was a critically important figure in the California and national studio craft movement from the 50s to the 70s, and his indispensable contribution helped usher in an entirely new era for craft in the twentieth century. An accomplished ceramist, his work was shown in major regional and national exhibitions, including the Museum of Arts and Design (formerly the American Craft Museum), LACMA, the Walker Art Center, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Bernard earned his BA (1950) and MA (1955) degrees from UCLA and remained there teaching ceramics, weaving, and design from 1956 to 1993, chairing the Department of Art from 1972 to 1975. During his four-year tenure as Acting Dean of the College of Fine Arts, he oversaw the school’s restructure into the School of the Arts and the School of Theater, Film, and Television.
Kester considered textiles and fiber as fertile media for artistic experimentation. He initiated the fiber art program at UCLA and encouraged his students to think of fiber in sculptural terms and to see their endeavors as independent works of art. His groundbreaking 1971 exhibition, “Deliberate Entanglements,” is regarded as a benchmark in the history of fiber art. The professor fervently believed that “Learning to see is as important as learning to read” and was convinced that artists of any medium needed a universal liberal arts education to enlarge their worlds and enrich their capacity for creativity.
In his tireless promotion of craft as a respected art form, he introduced the nation to California and western craftspeople with his “Letter from Los Angeles” which appeared regularly in Craft Horizons from 1965 to 1979. He was a contributing artist of all the influential “California Design” exhibitions, and designed the 1968, 1971 and 1976 shows. Over his long career, Bernard received several honors. He was a Fellow of the American Craft Council and Trustee Emeritus of the Museum of Arts and Design. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Craft and Folk Art Museum and the Board of Directors of the UCLA Arts Council and was the recipient of the International Association of Designers award in textiles.
In addition to “Deliberate Entanglements,” Kester curated a number of exhibitions. His first, “Craftsmen USA ’66,” was shown on the occasion of LACMA’s opening. Crafts were celebrated in his “American Crafts ‘76” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and at two exhibitions at CAFAM—“California Women in Crafts (1977) and “Made in LA/Contemporary Crafts ’81.” He authored numerous book and exhibition reviews and catalog essays, lecturing widely and serving as a juror for selection and awards for national exhibitions.
As its principal exhibition designer, Bernard was legendary at LACMA. His architectural designs elegantly presented and enhanced the perception of artworks in the museum for more than fifty years; he designed over one hundred exhibitions there, tastefully reconfigured its many galleries, and oversaw the periodic rotation of the permanent collection. Such exhibitions as “Age of the Pharaohs” (1974), “The Great Bronze Age of China” (1982), “The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985” (1986), “Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries” (1991), “The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America: Design for the Modern World 1880-1920” (2004), and “SoCal: Southern California Art of the 60s and 70s” (2007) are memorable examples of Kester’s discriminating eye—his extraordinary mastery of light and space, appreciation of the art object, and grasp of the harmony and power of color.
A brilliant artist and designer–unfailingly elegant, articulate, and erudite–Bernard Kester will be missed by a host of friends and colleagues who have so greatly benefited, for so many years, from his passion and expertise.
We Got the Grant!
Craft in America is excited to announce that we got the grants! We are beyond thrilled that the California Arts Council will be supporting our Craft in Schools programming through an Arts Education Exposure grant. They will also be supporting our upcoming CALIFORNIA episodes through and Arts and Public Media grant! Stay tuned for more on how this funding will help provide for wonderful field trips to the Center and innovative approaches to California crafts. For more information, please visit: http://tiny.cc/CAC-G18
Getting Ready for Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA with Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
This past Friday the Center’s Education team met with artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, her mentee Sheila Rodriguez, Fairfax High School Magnet Coordinator Rochelle Labowitz and Teacher Kelly Cohen, and Clinton Middle School Art Teacher Ronieka Pinkney. We discussed Consuelo’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA exhibition that will be taking place at the Craft in America Center December 2, 2017 – January 20, 2018 the local schools’ role in the show.
What is so special about Consuelo’s upcoming exhibit is that the artist wants local middle and high school students to participate in the production of the artist’s “borderline” work, an impressive installation which will display the U.S./Mexican Borderline in a way that instigates ideas about the natural environments surrounding the border. The students at Fairfax and Clinton will be able to contribute to the installation by creating flowers and power wands.
The teachers we met with are more than thrilled to have their students participate in such an experience, especially since there is a clear ecological and political significance to Consuelo’s piece. Please stay tuned for more updates on our Pacific Standard Time:LA/LA Programming.
