America at 250: Nebraska: The Cornhusker State
Antique Trader
By Elizabeth Heineman
9/4/26
July 2 – December 19, 2026: Material Nation: 250 Years of American Quilts. Part of the “Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026” initiative, the exhibit at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln International Quilt Museum examines creativity, life, and work in America through the nation’s history of quiltmaking.
Original, full article here.
16 ambitious art shows to see in and around L.A. this fall
Los Angeles Times
By Leah Ollman
9/4/26
‘Laura Andreson and Her Legacy’
Beverly Grove Exhibition
The 1950s were a pivotal decade for ceramics in Southern California, thanks in part to large, transformational work made by men like Peter Voulkos and John Mason. But things were actively percolating here a generation earlier, and the burgeoning of the clay scene in the ’30s owes much to a woman who sculpted small, elegant vessels sheathed in sumptuous color.
Laura Andreson (1902-1999) trained as a teacher at UCLA, earned her MFA in painting at Columbia, then returned west to lead the nascent ceramics program at UCLA where she taught until 1970. Andreson bristled at “superfluous” decoration, favoring distilled jar, box, bowl and vase forms influenced by her love for Scandinavian and Bauhaus design. She became a wizard with glazes, conjuring lustrous surfaces resonant with elements of the Southern California landscape. This show offers a rare opportunity to savor the gorgeous purity of her work, alongside that of several of her mentors and peers, such as Gertrud and Otto Natzler and Glen Lukens, as well as some of her students, including JB Blunk and Bernard Kester.
Where: Craft in America
When: Oct. 10-Jan. 9, 2027
Price: Free
Original, full article here.
‘Objects: USA’ revisits a landmark exhibition of American craft at the Museum of Craft and Design
The Voice of San Francisco
By Sharon Anderson
9/3/26
The Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) presents Objects: USA, on view from Sept. 5 through Jan. 17, 2027. This exhibition, organized in partnership with R & Company, a leading New York design gallery, revisits one of the most influential and ambitious craft exhibitions ever staged. Objects: USA examines its longevity and continued influence on American craft, material culture, and contemporary design worldwide.
Objects: USA 1969
In 1969, the Smithsonian brought together artists working in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood, enamel, and mosaic. Objects: USA became a landmark exhibition, bringing craft into the world of fine art while highlighting works with extraordinary originality in execution. The exhibition traveled widely and helped establish the studio craft movement as a vital force in American culture. The current iteration in 2026 expands on the original exhibition’s legacy for a new generation.
Participating artists from the 1969 show
The combination of historic and contemporary works in Objects: USA traces the continuum of American craft, from the rise of the studio craft movement to the expanded field of contemporary object-making today. Some of the original artists in the 1969 show were brought back to the current MCD exhibition, joining the past with the present.
Wendell Castle’s Tongue, 1969 is an orange, op-art-inspired table made of gel-coated fiberglass and reinforced plastic, rising from the ground and reaching out in a shape similar to a human tongue.
Marilyn Pappas’s Knapsack #1, 1971 takes the common utility of a backpack and adds embroidery and a shape reminiscent of a dream catcher.
Richard Marquis’s Hexagonal Stars and Stripes Bottle, 1969–70, and American Acid Capsule with Cloth Container, 1969 (featured image), both use his signature American flag, prompting us to consider how our relationship to this national symbol has changed since the late 1960s.
Contemporary artists
In the current era, the Haas Brothers’ quirky biomorphic furniture, reminiscent of cartoon aliens or insects, keeps playfulness in functionality, with works like Squid Vicious, 2016, a chair that appears like a grey, shaggy head with two black antennas.
Francesca Dimattio’s Black Lattice Mirror, 2025, created from glazed porcelain and luster, is covered with tiny flower images, leaves, and shells carved into the material, pushing traditional ceramics into unexpected places.
Jolie Ngo’s Table Lamp in Forced Perspective, 2024, takes the idea of a table lamp and, using stoneware, glaze, wire, luster, and PLA plastic, creates a series of vivid shapes and colors that look almost like a hallucination, or a wavy digital interference pattern.
Yet all of these seemingly incongruous parts fit together to create a single lamp, and perhaps that impossibility is the forced perspective.
Combining work from the past with present creators shows how craft’s dynamic language of invention and cultural imagination has evolved over generations.
Celebrating American craft
Presented during the nation’s 250th anniversary and as part of Craft in America’s Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 initiative, Objects: USA considers how makers have shaped and reflected American history and its culture across generations. The exhibition offers an expansive view of American making, one grounded in artistry, grit, and imaginative independence.
“Objects: USA arrives at a moment when competing expressions of power and taste are shaping the nation’s self-image in especially visible ways,” says Masha Berek, executive director of the Museum of Craft and Design. “Humans make Objects, and Objects make us human. They open a way into our relationships with beauty, tools, labor, and the body. The Objects we choose to value reveal what kind of culture we are building.”
Original article here.
Jennifer Ling Datchuk and Consuelo Jimenez Underwood: In Our Hands
Glasstire
9/1/26
September 16, 2026 – November 07, 2026
From Ruiz-Healy Art:
“Ruiz-Healy Art is pleased to present Jennifer Ling Datchuk and Consuelo Jimenez Underwood: In Our Hands, a two-person exhibition at our San Antonio gallery. In Our Hands will be on view from September 16 to November 7, 2026, with an opening reception on Wednesday, September 16 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Rooted in intergenerational empowerment, lineage, and a shared reverence for materials, the unique connection between Datchuk and Jimenez Underwood underpins this exhibition. Employing time-honored craft techniques and materials, Datchuk and Jimenez Underwood create work that uniquely balances fine art and technical skill. Their practice explores compelling themes such as migration, gender equality, and multicultural identity. Ruiz-Healy Art is proud to participate in Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, a nationwide initiative led by Craft in America to honor the handmade during America’s Semiquincentennial. Through both exhibitions, we join museums, artists, and organizations nationwide in celebrating craft traditions that connect us across history and time.”
Reception September 16, 2026 | 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Ruiz-Healy Art
201-A East Olmos Drive
San Antonio, TX 78212
Get Directions
Original post here.
‘Becoming Heirlooms’ @ San Diego Public Library
8/28/26
This striking and thoughtful exhibit just opened in the Judith Harris Art Gallery, the free, public gallery on the downtown library’s iconic top floor. It’s curated by Craft Desert’s Kerianne Quick and Adam John Manley, and is part of Craft in America’s Handwork 2026.
The works explore the significance, hope, and even the burden of the concept of heirlooms and inheritance, with a range of conceptual pieces and sculptures by artists Diana Benavídez, Matt Hebert, Michael Hernandez, Soyeon Kim (and her children), Christine Lee, Anna Mayer, Kaiya Rainbolt, Phil Rowland, India Thompson and Georgina Treviño. Thompson’s basketwoven, cardboard-style boxes and china tea sets imply a potentially unwanted inheritance. Benavídez’s “Relax, Hold Your Breath, Don’t Move” is a series of three paper breasts smooshed between bricks, suggesting a mammogram and the way breast cancer can also be passed down.
1-7 p.m. Tuesday; noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; through Nov. 7
MORE INFO
330 PARK BLVD
619-238-6659
Arts WACH: The body at work
By Brian Mcconchie
8/28/26
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) – In this week’s Arts WACH, William Starrett takes you to the Columbia Museum of Art to examine the work of art that is the human body.
The body is essential to craft. This particular genre of art is rooted in physical labor and material intimacy, and the pieces are often intended to protect our bodies or to assist in nourishing them.
The “Body Matters” exhibition presents works crafted out of wood, ceramic, glass, textiles, and sweetgrass.
The artists, both historical and contemporary, reveal their deep engagement with the body through representations and objects that address life cycles and support bodily functions.
“Body Matters” celebrates the importance of the hand in handwork and encourages people to consider their own relationships with objects both in and outside the art gallery, celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.
Original post here.
Community event to showcase Black creativity, innovation and leadership at Fitton Center
Journal-News
By Ginny McCabe
8/26/26
The Fitton Center and its partners will host a community celebration this month that highlights “The Soul of Black Folks: 250 Years of Creativity, Innovation and Leadership” exhibition curated by Carolyn L. Mazloomi of West Chester.
In partnership with Booker T. Washington Community Center, Learning Through Arts and Charles F. Kettering Foundation, the Fitton Center will present “Voices of the Soul of Black Folks” from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug 29.
Ebony Brock, executive director at Booker T. Washington Community Center and Community Quilt Facilitator for Learning Through Arts, said the event is a family friendly day, which includes gallery tours, a luncheon, artist talks, poetry readings, dance, music and a quilting workshop conducted by Learning Through Arts, Inc.
“I love bringing people together and hearing their lived experiences and walking them through what that looks like as far as our community,” said Brock. “I’m excited this exhibit is here. This exhibit could be anywhere in the country, or anywhere in the world, because Dr. Mazloomi’s quilts are pure art, and they are here in Hamilton.”
Food, art and other shared experiences bring people together, she said, whether it is through music, dance or poetry.
“Our Quilt Conversations provide space for people to share their unique stories, culture, and lived experiences, the things that make up the fabric of who we are,” said Brock.
“Together with our community partners, we can do great work. For this particular exhibit, there’s something powerful about seeing Black life being centered, and it’s not just our struggle, but our creativity, brilliance, leadership and our joy in the ways that we’ve continued to create, even when circumstances and systems have told us we shouldn’t be able to … So, for us to be able to partner in this capacity is really wonderful,” she said.
The Soul of Black Folks exhibition is part of Handwork 2026, presented by Craft in America. The City of Hamilton sponsors the Fitton Center exhibition series, with Neil and Honi Cohen as supporting sponsors, Penny Brooks as exhibition sponsor and it is running in partnership with YWCA Hamilton.
“The quilt art exhibition honors the voices, vision, and victories of Black history figures whose contributions transformed our nation and our communities,” said Wendy Waters-Connell, CEO, at YWCA Hamilton. “We are honored to be supporting this show and its message of hope and resilience.
“Together with YWCA Hamilton’s legacy of advocacy and empowerment, the Women of Color Quilters’ art manifests stories which remind us that when threads are woven together, they create something stronger, more beautiful, and lasting,” she said.
Earlier this month, more than 1,000 people attended the Fitton Center’s 2026-2027 Season Launch: An Evening of Wonder, which also served as an opening celebration for the exhibition.
“The exhibition opened last week, and it’s been an absolute blockbuster exhibition. It truly was the star of season launch, and we had people coming in from Columbus, Cleveland, and Kentucky to see this exhibition. We had over 25 artists from around the country come in for that exhibition. The exhibition itself is absolutely stunning, and it’s available to view at anytime,” said Ian MacKenzie-Thurley, executive director of the Fitton Center.
The Soul of Black Folks exhibition will be on view through Saturday, Sept. 12. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. A visit to the Fitton Center galleries is free and open to the public.
“It has really taken our galleries by storm. The exhibition is reflective of the history of the United States, and it is 250 years of creativity, leadership and innovation. It speaks to all of that and the women who have created these pieces have truly put their hearts and souls into this,” MacKenzie-Thurley said.
If You Go
Schedule for the Voices of the Soul of Black Folks event Saturday, Aug. 29:
12:30 p.m. – Galleries open (First- and second-floor galleries)
1-2 p.m.– Community luncheon (Ballroom, third floor)
2-2:30 p.m. – Gallery viewing (First- and second-floor galleries)
2:30-3:45 p.m. — Welcome and poetry-reading event (Second-floor galleries)
4-5 p.m. — Story quilt workshop with Kathy Wade (Ballroom, third floor)
Original article here.
Top 10 San Diego weekend arts picks
KPBS
By Julia Dixon Evans
8/26/26
‘Becoming Heirlooms’
This striking and thoughtful exhibit just opened in the Judith Harris Art Gallery, the free, public gallery on the downtown library’s iconic top floor. It’s curated by Craft Desert’s Kerianne Quick and Adam John Manley, and is part of Craft in America’s Handwork 2026.
The works explore the significance, hope, and even the burden of the concept of heirlooms and inheritance, with a range of conceptual pieces and sculptures by artists Diana Benavídez, Matt Hebert, Michael Hernandez, Soyeon Kim (and her children), Christine Lee, Anna Mayer, Kaiya Rainbolt, Phil Rowland, India Thompson and Georgina Treviño. Thompson’s basketwoven, cardboard-style boxes and china tea sets imply a potentially unwanted inheritance. Benavídez’s “Relax, Hold Your Breath, Don’t Move” is a series of three paper breasts smooshed between bricks, suggesting a mammogram and the way breast cancer can also be passed down.
A reception will take place from 4-6 p.m. Sept. 11, but the exhibit is already open and free to the public.
1-7 p.m. Tuesday; noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; through Nov. 7 | San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., downtown | Free
Original article here.
Columbia Museum of Art’s new ‘Body Matters’ exhibition features crafts dating back to 1650 BCE
The Post and Courier Free Times
By Tara McGee
8/25/26
Wood, ceramic, glass, textiles — these materials make up some of America’s most prominent crafts. But in the Columbia Museum of Art’s latest collection, “Body Matters,” with its 70 crafted pieces, they also reveal the layered human experience.
The galleries are a part of a larger initiative, “Handwork 2026,” a nationwide semiquincentennial project led by Craft in America that is “a yearlong collaboration among organizations, educators and makers to celebrate the diversity of the crafts that define America,” according to the organization’s website.
From a Egyptian headrest dating back to 1650 B.C.E to a mixed-media instillation to a blanket of quilted condoms, the exhibit encourages viewers to think about the physical engagement that shapes each piece as well as their own relationship with objects inside and outside of the exhibit.
Creating more than a craft
In a preview of the exhibit, Museum Curator Sadé Ayorinde — who previously worked at the American Folk Art Museum and The International Quilt Museum — said she wanted her first curated collection at the CMA to focus on people’s physical ties to handwork as well as bodies themselves.
“I really was drawn to the thing that connects us to craft,” Ayorinde said. “Craft is familiar to, I think a lot of people for various reasons, but I thought the connection I wanted to make was thinking about the body and our bodily relationship to craft.”
In Columbia’s “Body Matters” exhibit, each room focuses on a different aspect of that corporeal connection. Viewers travel from the outside to the inside of the body, to a familiar support of the body, to an actual bodily experience and finally to the reality of the vulnerability of a body.
The largest installation was done by a Columbia artist, Jordan Sheridan, commissioned specifically for the museum. The piece was installed over two and a half weeks and is made up of various fabrics and materials. Sheridan’s usual medium of paint was traded out for wool, glass and 3-D printed sculptures to create a crocheted menagerie.
Including the Sheridan piece, the CMA is adding four pieces to its permanent collection, additionally adding to the glass and contemporary collections.
Joelle Ryan-Cook, the museum’s deputy director, said that this addition is one of many.
“Often what we’re doing now as curators are building shows from (the artists’) vision (and) seeing what works might we want to acquire that help shape that story,” Ryan-Cook said.
After the final art installation, the collection ends with the audience themselves interacting with the materials of the entire exhibition. Visitors can touch, smell and even create with the materials that are a part of the project.
Ayorinde hopes that patrons will gain clarity of craft after viewing the collection.
“When you hold a cup in your hands or when you put on a piece of clothing, you don’t maybe automatically identify it as craft, but it’s in that family,” Ayorinde said. “What I’m hoping that people will understand and experience is this deep relationship that you have with these kinds of objects that you don’t really have with other kinds of art objects.”
“Body Matters” is on display at the CMA through Jan. 3. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays at varying hours. Find more information at columbiamuseum.org/view/body-matters.
Original article here.
Handwork 2026 Artist in Residence – Coulter Fussell
Mississippi State University
College of Architecture, Art, and Design
8/22/26
Location
MSU Department of Art and Old Main Gallery
Begins
September 7, 2026
Ends
September 11, 2026
The Mississippi State University Department of Art is pleased to host Mississippi-based artist Coulter Fussell for a visiting artist residency from September 7–11, 2026. This residency is supported through Handwork 2026, a national initiative celebrating the evolving field of craft and its vital role in contemporary art.
Working from her studio in Water Valley, Mississippi, Fussell has developed a distinctive practice that merges quilting, painting, sculpture, and photography into layered textile works that challenge traditional boundaries between craft and fine art. Drawing from donated and discarded materials, her work carries the embedded histories of everyday life, transforming familiar fabrics into complex visual narratives that explore memory, landscape, and the emotional terrain of the rural South.
During her residency, Fussell will engage with students through lectures, critiques, and hands-on workshops that foreground material experimentation and the conceptual possibilities of textile-based practices. Emphasizing process, improvisation, and community-sourced materials, her approach invites students to reconsider authorship, value, and the cultural significance of making.
The residency will include a public exhibition of Fussell’s work (August 15th – September 11th) , offering audiences an opportunity to experience her immersive quilt-based installations firsthand. These works—at once intimate and expansive—collapse distinctions between personal and collective histories, weaving together fragments of lived experience into richly textured compositions that are both visually striking and deeply resonant.
By bringing Fussell to campus, the Department of Art advances its commitment to connecting students and the broader community with leading voices in contemporary practice. This residency highlights the continued relevance of craft traditions within a global contemporary art discourse, while grounding that conversation in the cultural and material realities of Mississippi and the American South.
Original article here.