 September 2010
Greetings!
Publishing Makers: A History of American Studio Craft, in a very unconventional process, is the capstone of my ten years with CCCD. It would take more than the page of acknowledgements in the book to mention the many who brought their energies, talents, and support to this project. With the book in hand and companion website, the tools are in place to change academia – for every college with a studio craft program to also offer a craft history course so students can place their work in context of the field. What a fantastic opportunity it has been to meet the nearly 100 craft leaders, from the U.S. and abroad, who have attended the eight annual North Carolina Think-Tanks. It is unheard of in today’s world of constant communication to have the luxury of spending two days with your peers, with no interruptions, discussing initiatives that will advance the field. These Think-Tank participants have helped shape CCCD programs, as well as their own projects that grew out of these discussions, contributing to the dramatic expansion of craft scholarship. Most of all I treasure the many board members, both nonprofit and university, who have become dear friends. We have shared the vision and risked raising the bar on what can be accomplished: the international residencies of David Nash, Nina Hole, and Patrick Hall; the international textile design conference; quality craft exhibits that traveled throughout the state and beyond to name a few. There is no other area of the country that can claim the number of fine crafts artists as Western North Carolina, and in my mind, there is no better place to live. Katie Lee and Terri Gibson are the staff everyone would choose to work with - bright, intelligent, tackling the largest challenges with a smile. Board members Stoney Lamar and Catharine Ellis were a part of the vision before there was a CCCD and continue to lead the field not just in North Carolina but nationally. John and Robyn Horn, and John Brown, shared this vision and without them it would have still been a dream. Thanks to all for a wonderful 10 years and as I retire and enter my "encore career" as a maker, I will remain a part of this community but no doubt be unable to resist a few projects along the way. Dian Magie, CCCD Executive Director, August 2000-September 1, 2010 
MADE IN NEWARK
Cultivating Industrial Arts and Civic Identity in the Progressive Era Rutgers University Press You can purchase this book on Amazon here. This publication received a 2008 Craft Research Fund grant. What does it mean to turn the public library or museum into a civic forum? Made in Newark describes a turbulent industrial city at the dawn of the twentieth century and the ways it inspired the library’s outspoken director, John Cotton Dana, to collaborate with industrialists, social workers, educators, and New Women. This is the story of experimental exhibitions in the library and the founding of the Newark Museum Association—a project in which cultural literacy was intertwined with civics and consumption. Local artisans demonstrated crafts, connecting the cultural institution to the department store, school, and factory, all of which invoked the ideal of municipal patriotism. Today, as cultural institutions reappraise their relevance, Made in Newark explores precedents for contemporary debates over the ways the library and museum engage communities, define heritage in a multicultural era, and add value to the economy. EZRA SHALES teaches at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He has worked as a museum educator at the Brooklyn Museum and the Katonah Museum of Art.
MAKERS: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN STUDIO CRAFT
Janet Koplos & Bruce Metcalf University of North Carolina Press Order Online today and get $10 off the cover price PLUS free shipping! This Book is a Project of The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design. IN THE GALLERY
Brent Skidmore, Blonde Variables of a Canyon, fiddleback English maple, walnut, basswood, maple and acrylic paints, 77 x 34 x 16", 2003
Catharine Ellis, 1,100 Steel Threads, wool, stainless steel, 103 x 32", 2008 Kate Vogel & John Littleton, What do you hold?, glass and metal base, 6 x 16 x 73/4", 2009 Terry Gess, Teapot, white stoneware, salted, 8 inches, 2009 Margaret Yackey, Neckpiece #6, cast polyurethane resin, sterling silver, mica bronze, 1.5 x 7", 2009 OUT OF THE BOARD ROOM & INTO THE STUDIO
Aug. 27 - Dec. 3, 2010 Opening Reception: Friday, Aug. 27 4-6pm With the mission “to advance the understanding of craft by encouraging and supporting research, scholarship and professional development," who better to serve on your board than some of the best artists, makers and thinkers in this region? That’s been one of the important components to the successes that have taken place over the past decade under the watch of Dian Magie, Executive Director, who retired September 1st. “Out of the Board Room and Into the Studio” is intended to feature the creative talent of The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design’s board and it’s retiring director, while also encouraging people to learn more about the organization. As a UNC Asheville Center, CCCD serves many audiences in the craft field, from students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, to leading scholars, curators and museums. Please stop by and learn more about our programs and our board! Featured in this exhibit: Other board members who provide exceptional knowledge and resources that are not featured in this exhibit: Denise Drury, Jenny Moore, Stan Hubbard, Leisa Rundquist, Jean McLaughlin and Lee Mulligan. CONFERENCES
2nd Annual Re-Viewing Black Mountain College Conference
October 8-10, 2010 The legacy of Black Mountain College continues to influence contemporary culture in multiple realms. This conference aims to investigate its history as well as the multiple paths of influence, actual and possible, identifiable in the contemporary world and beyond. Co-hosted by The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center and Keynote Speaker: Kenneth Snelson
Arrowmont to host Figurative Sculpture Symposium
Limited to 200 attendees
October 27-30, 2010 “Figurative Association: The Human Form in Clay” will feature eight internationally and nationally known ceramic and mixed media artists from six states who use the figure as the main theme in their sculpture. The artist/presenters include: The symposium is being coordinated by Arrowmont’s Program Director Bill Griffith with assistance from Debra Fritts, a noted Georgia ceramic artist and Arrowmont instructor and Thaddeus Erdahl, current Arrowmont Resident Artist in Ceramics. A series of lectures, panel topic discussions, demonstrations and gallery exhibitions will make up the three-day symposium. Additionally, each artist/presenter has invited an emerging figurative sculptor of their choice to be represented in the Invited Artists Exhibition, which will be one of the highlights of the event. Arrowmont and Debra Fritts will each also invite an emerging figurative artist to participate. “One vital, educational component of this symposium is the identification of 10 emerging artists in the ceramic sculpture field and the invitation to exhibit their work alongside the highly respected national Presenters Exhibition,” said Arrowmont Program Director Bill Griffith, adding, “This again speaks to Arrowmont’s commitment as a leader in education and support in promoting the careers of the next generation of artists.” PUBLICATIONS
A Chosen Path
The Ceramic Art of Karen Karnes Edited by Mark Shapiro This book was supported by CCCD with a 2008 Craft Research Fund grant. Another Scholarly Text on Craft - Hot off the Press in September! Receive a 20% discount – enter this Promo Code: 01ENEW at checkout when you pre-order with UNC Press today. Renowned ceramic artist Karen Karnes has created some of the most iconic pottery of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The body of work she has produced in her more than sixty years in the studio is remarkable for its depth, personal voice, and consistent innovation. Many of her pieces defy category, invoking body and landscape, pottery and sculpture, male and female, hand and eye. Equally compelling are Karnes's experiences in some of the most significant cultural settings of her generation: from the worker-owned cooperative housing of her childhood, to Brooklyn College under modernist Serge Chermayeff, to North Carolina's avant-garde Black Mountain College, to the Gate Hill Cooperative in Stony Point, New York, which Karnes helped establish as an experiment in integrating art, life, family, and community. This book, designed to accompany an exhibit of Karnes's works organized by Peter Held, curator of ceramics for the Arizona State University Art Museum's Ceramic Research Center, offers a comprehensive look at the life and work of Karnes. Edited by highly regarded studio potter Mark Shapiro, it combines essays by leading critics and scholars with color reproductions of more than sixty of her works, providing new perspectives for understanding the achievements of this extraordinary artist. About Us
The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design is Center of the University of North Carolina Asheville. The mission of the Center is to advance the understanding of craft by encouraging and supporting research, scholarship and professional development. The mission of the nonprofit CCCD is to support the UNCA center through funding, programs, and outreach to national and regional artists, craft organizations, schools, and the local community. email: info@craftcreativitydesign.org |
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