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Craft in Schools: End of School Year Student Showcase

In the last week of Craft in America’s Permanent Collection exhibition, we proudly feature artwork made by students from our Craft in Schools program. The student art on display includes completed projects from school-workshops, virtual workshops, and school field trips to the Craft Center led by teaching artists. We’d like to extend a big thank you to Rosewood Elementary, Fairfax and ArTES Magnet High School classrooms for participating in this end of semester Student Showcase.

Over the last six months, 300 students from over six schools engaged in Craft in America’s Exhibition key concepts, vocabulary, art discussions, and artist workshops. K-12 students collaborated with teaching-artists Mandora Young, Victoria May (of Craft in America), Joe Cunningham, Carrie Burckle and the inspiring work of Diedrick Brackens. Featured mediums in this Student Showcase include compact card-loom weavings, quilting, and Hmong Paj Ntaub embroidery as explored in our previous exhibition Inspiration and Home: Highlights from the Episodes.

Craft in America wishes all students and their families a happy end of the school year! We hope to collaborate with more LAUSD schools in the coming school year! For future Craft in Schools-program inquiries, please contact both: Education Programs Lead sam@craftinamerica.org and Craft Center Director emilyzaiden@craftinamerica.org

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.

jra.org/jracraftnews/legacy -of-lloyd-herman?mc_cid=3d2377793a&mc_eid=a93f662185

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 25^th 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

Video Technique

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Artist Name: Toshiko Takaezu

Tools: POSTS

Material:

Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026

Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 will be a year-long, nationwide celebration to spotlight the importance of original handcrafted work and to honor the diversity of makers and making, past and present. A project of Craft in America, Handwork 2026 will include a significant online presence and focus its activities on several core initiatives, including:

National Grassroots Campaign: A campaign in partnership with local, state and national organizations, with a strong social media component that underscores the importance of handwork to both the history and contemporary culture of America in our Semiquincentennial year. A national, 250th Anniversary event to advance the crafts and local creative economies. A grassroots initiative that will also work in the digital realm to broaden access to craft programs and happenings nationwide.
Core Exhibition: A diverse and inclusive survey, presenting the finest work being done in all craft media and materials, augmented by regional exhibitions that will become destination events showcased through the Handwork 2026 website.
Book: Presenting the extraordinary range of craft’s presence in our nation, the book will serve as a catalog for the Core Exhibition. It will also showcase craft history, artists, materials and processes, focusing on under-told and overlooked craft stories, with essays by leading craft experts.
Three-Part Documentary Film Series: produced by Peabody-Award winning Craft in America, which airs nationwide on PBS and presents a rich exploration of craft and craft makers through the spectrum of traditional, studio, ethnic and contemporary practices, including new technologies.
Education: Interdisciplinary learning initiatives at all levels of the education system, with a special focus on grades K–12, taking a wide look at the history, traditions and impact of craft in the United States, from Indigenous origins until today. Education guides will include hands-on craft activities and will be available online.

Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, an idea envisioned by a group of dedicated craft professionals and artists, takes its inspiration from a similar project, Year of American Craft 1993, that benefitted millions of artists, makers and appreciators. Much has changed in America since 1993, but the practice of making things by hand endures.

Craft makes us unique and unites us. From home-based, to workshop-based, to culture-based, to studio- based practices, craft brings people of all backgrounds and beliefs together. Nationwide programs will honor American makers, then and now, pointing the way to a robust future for the crafts and the country.

Please join us in honoring the handmade during our Semiquincentennial year by contacting us at handwork2026@craftinamerica.org.

HANDWORK-2026-PROPOSAL-rev-MAR-2023-0404

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.

Excellence in Fibers IV: Juried Exhibition at the Craft in America Center

We are so proud to host Fiber Art Now‘s Excellence in Fibers IV next year from May 11 to July 6, 2019! We encourage any and all of our fiber artists to apply.

All the information about submitting to be potentially chosen for this exhibition can be found here: http://www.fiberartnowentry.net/

Deadline: Midnight (CDT), Sunday, September 2, 2018

New Venue!
This year, selected work will be shown at the Craft in America Center, Los Angeles, California, May 11/19-July 6/19!

Work does NOT have to be available for the Craft in America exhibition to be juried into Excellence in Fiber. It still can be shown in the magazine and receive publicity and prizes.

Categories
Excellence in Fibers is organized into five categories. The function emphasis of the five categories puts the focus on the makers’ intentions and can incorporate the vast range of fiber mediums.
• Wall/Floor Works
Two-dimensional works, including quilts, tapestries, weavings, carpets, or works in any other fiber-related medium or technique that are intended for wall or floor display.
• Sculptural Works
Three-dimensional works in fiber.
• Vessel Forms/Basketry
Functional work and sculptural expressions of the vessel form.
• Installation Works
Three-dimensional work created as an environment.
• Wearables
Body adornments, including wearable art clothing, accessories and jewelry.

The number of works selected for each category will be in relation to the number of works submitted. For example, if more works are submitted for the Wall/Floor Works category, more works from that category will be juried into the exhibition. This will ensure even consideration for artist work in every category.

Prizes
There will be a total of $2000 in prizes, including a $300 prize for each of the five categories, with a $500 Award for Excellence in Fibers, selected by Paul J. Smith from all entries.
Selected works will appear in the Fourth Annual Excellence in Fibers catalog which will be presented to curators and directors of 300+ museums and galleries that feature fiber work and a select group of fiber and fine craft collectors. It will be integrated into the special expanded winter issue of Fiber Art Now, a subscriber-supported publication that also is sold on over 400 Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and Dick Blick newsstands in the US, Chapters Books in Canada, and select newsstands in the UK.

Note that Fiber Art Now regularly draws on the EIF entrants for consideration for magazine content throughout the year!

Important Dates
Submission open: Now
9/2/18 Submissions close
9/5-10/5/18 Jurying block
10/15/18 Selected works announced/Notifications sent
11/15/18 Exhibition catalog released

Entry Requirements
• Entries must be original work completed after January, 2015.
• Artists must be 18 years of age or older.
• Collaborative works will receive recognition as one entry.
• Work of any size will be accepted.
• Work must be original in concept and design and not be the result of a class or workshop.
• All work must include either fiber in content or executed with at least one fiber technique.
• Each artist may submit up to three artworks (one full and one detail image for each work), but only one entry. For example, one artist may not enter twice, for six possible works.

Note that entry into another exhibition or catalog does not limit entry into Excellence in Fibers or impact the jurying process.

Submission of Digital Images
Submit one overall digital image and one detail digital image for each artwork.
Digital images must be saved as a high quality JPEG file (No TIFF files).
Finished images should be at least 3000 pixels on the longest side.

Catalog
A full color catalog of the exhibition will be published within the winter, 2019 issue of Fiber Art Now magazine. It is essential that the image provided is of a quality that will reproduce accurately and meet the high standards of a professional art publication. Exhibiting artists will receive a complimentary copy. Catalogs will also be available for purchase.

Fees

For Fiber Art Network Members or Fiber Art Now magazine subscribers Entry Fee: $25
Not a member or subscriber? Entry Fee: $40

If you are not a member yet, now is the time to join. Fiber Art Network membership brings benefits all year long! Membership includes:
• Subscription to Fiber Art Now magazine (and full access to all digital archives)
• Grants & Awards
• Partner organization discounts
• Ongoing exhibition opportunities and opportunities to have work included in Fiber Art Now magazine
• Professional benefits for professors and workshop teachers

Ready to join? Click here.

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