2023 United States Artists Fellows

Congratulations to the 2023 United States Artists Fellows, especially ceramic artist Syd Carpenter who was featured in the HOME episode and Navajo weaver Barbara Teller Ornelas featured in the TEACHERS episode.

Uplifting Culture Documentaries to Binge Over Your Holiday Break

PEABODY FINDS – Peabody Awards Newsletter

December 26, 2022

‘Craft in America’ (2007-present)

Over 29 episodes since 2007, this series weaves a history of American handmade culture, exploring the artisans and techniques of craft. These stories take viewers to a diverse selection of regions and cultures and shows how craft intersects with identity, ritual, and creativity. Episodes explore jewelry-making, music and handcrafted instruments, storytellers, quilting, and craft visionaries, among other topics. This is the very definition of cozy, calm viewing that still has plenty to teach us. 

Where to Watch: CraftInAmerica.org

Read full newsletter here.

World-Renowned Sculptor Patrick Dougherty Retires

PRESS RELEASE December 9, 2022
Contact: Dorothy Juhlin, Executive Assistant to Patrick Dougherty

North Carolina artist Patrick Dougherty, builder of “Stickwork” sculptures around the world, is
retiring after a forty-year career. He has created over 330 monumental site-specific works, using
tree saplings as construction material. These temporary sculptures have entranced and
delighted visitors of all ages and conjured rich associations with childhood play while exploring
the relationship between architecture and art and the important role of Nature in our modern
lives.

From his earliest works, Dougherty has enjoyed bringing art to public places, where there is no
studio door to close. “Beyond the huge personal pleasure that I gain from working with the
simplest materials, I believe that a well-conceived sculpture can enliven and stir the imagination
of those who encounter it. For viewers the pleasure is elemental and beyond politics and
financial forces. I like activating public spaces and being part of the world of ideas. Sculpture has
been a transfixing and rewarding career and one that has allowed unique access to communities
across America and the world. I have harvested saplings by the truckload and made an equal
number of friends.”

Over the course of 2022, he and his son Sam created ten works at art centers, botanical gardens,
colleges, and universities. They consider these some of their very best works. For example,
The Rookery at the Chicago Botanic Garden features six tall thin towers (21 feet tall) with a
series of connecting hallways. “Using the yellow variety of willow provided by the Garden, we
were able to delineate a swirling wave to unite the hallways and towers. This wave swoops up
and down and all around to add visual excitement to the surface, and, together with golden
domes on each tower, calls to visitors to come check it out.”

The work in March, called Fly Away Home, has a footprint of three interlocking jigsaw pieces and
sprawls mazelike and whimsical.

The final “Stickwork” installation was completed on December 6 at Mounts Botanical Garden in
West Palm Beach, FL. “Fit for a King offers a mirage, a luxurious dream of a fantasy palace
placed among palms and flowering trees. Its central core has a high dome with a round window
or oculus at the highest reaches. It has a staccato of round windows high around the central
barrel and larger luxurious ones below. Its central volume has a grand feeling and can be
accessed from any one of four entry halls. I remain intrigued that Sam and I were once again able
to conjure and tease such a sculpture from the piles of small saplings which constituted our
building material. “

“2022 is my retirement year from traveling and building larger work. Sam will open a
traditional pottery in Stokes County NC. In 2023 Dorothy Bank, the heart of our operation in
Chapel Hill, will finally get a moment to herself, and I plan to produce work in my studio in
Chapel Hill, NC. I appreciate the enormous groundswell of interest in my work over the years.
Thank you. “
Patrick Dougherty

For more about Patrick Dougherty visit www.stickwork.net.

Inspiration and Home airdates

Craft in America’s newest episodes, Inspiration and Home, premiere on PBS broadcast starting Friday, December 16, 2022. View a list of airdates/times by PBS station below. (check local listings).

HOME / INSPIRATION Exhibits

As the longest Winter night in the Northern hemisphere approaches, Craft in America warmly invites you to our new exhibition from December 10, 2022 – March 11, 2023.

This dynamic show features woven and embroidered textiles, ceramics, woodwork, found object architecture,  and intergenerational talent from Anishinaabe knowledge holders, Hmong matriarchs, woodworking folk schools, rogue architects, and more.

View a sneak peek of this exhibition featuring work from our latest Craft In America episodes (linked here): HOME / INSPIRATION. Stay tuned for upcoming events and Artist-run workshops we’ll be offering in the new year! 

de la Torre Brothers Retrospective Exhibition

Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective
June 18, 2022–January 22, 2023

This exhibition is a retrospective exhibition of work spanning almost three decades by Einar and Jamex de la Torre at The Cheech, in Riverside, California. Their unique work is based on their Mexican-American bi-cultural experiences,  using a combination of glass, found objects, mixed media, and critical thinking. To learn more, visit riversideartmuseum.org/exhibits/collidoscope-de-la-torre-brothers-retro-perspective.

The de la Torre brothers were featured in the Pilchuck Glass School segment in the COMMUNITY episode.

In Memory of Garry Knox Bennett

The craft world has a lost a great artist in the passing of Garry Knox Bennett.  His masterful and irreverent use of wood, ColorCore Formica and all sorts of unusual materials, in combination with his unique skills, has forever changed the field of woodworking. His attitude towards life was provocative, his love for Sylvia, his life mate and his helpmate, was complete. Together they changed the way we think about the Modern Craft Movement.  We will miss Garry. We send our deepest condolences and our love to Sylvia.

STORYTELLERS & DEMOCRACY Air Dates ON PBS

STORYTELLERS and DEMOCRACY premieres on PBS starting Dec 11, 2020. Below is a list of air dates/times by state. Please check your local PBS schedule to confirm.