The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design (CCCD) has launched ENEWS to keep you current with all our programs, exhibits and events. ENEWS will be sent out monthly with most news linking to more lengthy information found on our website www.craftcreativitydesign.org. Announcements cards will still be mailed for upcoming exhibits and talks. If you are on our mailing list to receive an announcement card for exhibits and would prefer to receive the information through ENEWS, please let us know and it will save us a stamp!

The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design opened in April 2001. This summer and fall our board and outside reviewers will evaluate CCCD's six-year program history and develop a strategic plan through 2010. YOU CAN HELP! Please take a few minutes and email your thoughts to dmagie@craftcreativitydesign.org

How have you been involved with CCCD? (artist, neighbor, visitor, faculty, student, grant recipient, retreat attendee, etc.)

Which of the CCCD programs do you think have been most successful and why? (see below or on the website)

IT'S ONLY NATURAL: Current work by Artists of the Rudnick Nature Trail is on display throughout the month of July. The Perry N. Rudnick Trail showcases work that demonstrates the ability of public art to interpret and/or enhance the natural environment for trails and greenways. Hike the Trail, bring a lunch and enjoy the outdoor picnic tables, and see the exhibit. A great outing if you live in Hendersonville and have out-of-town visitors.

The exhibit showcases recent work by 11 of the 14 artists whose sculpture comprises the public art residing on the Perry N. Rudnick Nature Trail and 50-acre grounds of the UNC Asheville Kellogg Center in Hendersonville. David Nash, Harry McDaniel, Sean Pace and J. Roberts (2003) and; Roger Halligan and David Tillinghast (2005); as well as Fred and Kato Guggenheim, Dan Millspaugh, Scott Strader and Cynthia Wynn (2006) are among the featured artists in this exhibition, whose works range from the Minimal to the whimsical.

Elegant Minimalist compositions range from the clean geometry of Fred and Kato Guggenheim's concrete, glass and steel sculpture The Chains that Bind Us to the Daniel Millspaugh's tributes to Modernism, the richly textured, organic cast bronzes Saarinen's Harem and Homage to Man Ray.

Roger Halligan employs surface as a source of exploration with color saturated, mixed-media "cement" drawings Untitled with Blue Vertical and What's Inside serve as spontaneous sketches. He describes them as "a random search of symbols, owing as much to early cave art as [they do] to the Abstract Expressionists."

David Tillinghast will be creating two site specific installations within the CCCD galleries, drawing his materials of choice directly from the environment.

Sculptures by Harry McDaniel, Cynthia Wynn, and Sean Pace exude freshness and whimsicality. McDaniel employs humor to make a poignant commentary on the modern-day, pill-popping culture in Fetishes; explores a clean, Calder-inspired aesthetic in his mobile Nebula II; and transforms a child's toy into visually compelling Op Art Jack-In-the-Box. Wynn weds form, function and fantasy in her furniture. Comprising wrenches ranging from the diminutive to the colossal, her iron and steel Wrench Chair, will delight tool and furniture aficionados alike and conjure the kid in all of us! Perhaps the most intriguing among them is Sean Pace's kinetic Death Slapping Machine, in which a rubber chicken collides repetitively with a smiling skull. Perhaps laughing in the face of death is the best medicine?

In 2002, The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design received a multi-year grant from The Perry N. Rudnick Foundation for the design and construction of the Trail; the commissioning of eight of the fourteen currently existing sculptures. A second grant was awarded to the Center in 2007, supporting the publishing of public art trail maps; two large kiosks outlining the history of the trail and its properties; and signage about the plants found therein.

The CCCD gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 1-5pm. For a map and directions see the CCCD website: www.craftcreativitydesign.org

Asheville artist Harry McDaniel will discuss works in the exhibition as well as "Fiddleheads", an environmental art installation of seven monumental, polychromatic reinforced cement sculptures of abstracted ferns unfolding. "Fiddleheads" was the first public art chosen by a jury to be commissioned for the Public Art on the Trail program at the Center, an annual program with funding from the Perry N. Rudnick Foundation. The presentation will be followed by a reception and the opportunity to meet the artist. He is among the ten artists featured in the exhibition IT'S ONLY NATURAL: Current work by Artists of the Rudnick Nature Trail, on display through July 27 at the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, adjacent to the Kellogg Center in Hendersonville.

Harry McDaniel was born in Wichita, Kansas and raised Missouri, New Jersey, and North Carolina. His varied talents in deconstructing and reconstructing objects and writing as well as his environmental concerns fueled his interests in creating art. Initially, he parlayed his energies into making instruments, "assisting in the construction of Baroque bassoons, Renaissance recorders, and a few other woodwinds" and eventually slit drums. Courses in painting and sculpture as well as opportunities to pursue public art projects confirmed his desire to become a sculptor.

The recipient of two North Carolina Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowships and several public art commissions, including: "Eclipse" a 55-foot long mobile for the outpatient lobby of Moore Regional Hospital; Pinehurst, NC (1999) and "Agrisculpture," a nine-piece suspended sculpture commissioned by the Maryland National Capital Parks & Planning Commission; Derwood, MD (1988), McDaniel is also an award-winning artist. Among his numerous honors are the Award of Excellence; Roanoke Art Show; Art Museum of Western Virginia (1997), First Prize--Other Media; 64th Art Association of Harrisburg Exhibition (1992); and R.A. Rathbone Prize; 85th New Haven Paint and Clay Club Exhibition (1986). McDaniel's work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and in 2000, three of his mobiles were purchased for X-Files set, episode "All Things," which aired April 9, 2000. A student of Ecology (Warren Wilson College; Swannanoa, NC) and Human Ecology (College of the Atlantic; Bar Harbor, ME), McDaniel is a member of the Tri State Sculptors.

In IT'S ONLY NATURAL: Current work by Artists of the Rudnick Nature Trail, McDaniel captivates his audience with his fresh and whimsical sculptures, employing humor to make a poignant commentary on the modern-day, pill-popping culture in Fetishes; exploring a clean, Calder-inspired aesthetic in his mobile Nebula II; and transforming a child's toy into visually compelling Op Art Jack-In-the-Box.
www.HarryMcDaniel.com

Beginning this month, there will be a focus feature on one of the ten 2006 Windgate Fellows, the first year of the program that awarded $15,000 fellowships to graduating studio art seniors. - a year or more after receiving the grant. What successes and challenges did they face? You can see the images, and read the proposals and journals of all ten 2006 Windgate Fellows at http://www.craftcreativitydesign.org/research/windgate2006.php

Mark A. Reigelman II (www.reigelman.com)
A 2006 Windgate Fellow Focus
Since receiving the Windgate Fellowship in 2006, I have pursued what seemed at times to be an unobtainable dream. However, with a healthy dose of perseverance and the help of many people along the way, I am happy to announce that the "Stair Square" project will finally become a reality.

Beginning with my interest in public space and interaction, the "Stair Squares" have developed into a full-scale, site-specific, public art/design project slated for installation in Brooklyn, New York. The past year has been dedicated to the surprisingly difficult task of locating a suitable site. After dozens of rejection letters and denial calls from potential institutions, coupled with a real-world crash course in the challenges facing a public art project of this nature, I began to lose hope. It wasn't until I experienced Brooklyn's historic Borough Hall that I knew I'd found a match.

With its classical facade and magnified step-sitting qualities, Brooklyn's 'front stoop' is an unequaled partner for the 'Stair Square' project. Following Borough Hall's acceptance of the proposed installation, I spent weeks making presentations to New York City safety, production and engineering professionals in an effort to obtain approval for the installation. Once consent was given, production of the 'Stair Squares' began, setting in motion a complex sequence of events ranging from CNC machining and nuclear welding to precision forming and powder coating. Although much has been accomplished thus far, there is still much to complete for the August 17-26 "Stair Square" installation.

The "Stair Square" project seeks to address and facilitate public interaction, not only in its final state but also throughout the conception and making process. Professionals ranging from Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Greg Peckham, director of Cleveland Public Art, have contributed their knowledge and expertise to bring the "Stair Square" project to fruition. It is with their help, and that of so many others, that I am able to fulfill this ambitious undertaking and install the "Stair Square" project in New York City.

Receiving the Windgate Fellowship in 2006 not only allowed a concept to become reality, but has also greatly impacted how I view, interact with, and respond to public art and design.

The Windgate Fellowship Award program was established to help encourage and advance the development of serious, innovative artists in the United States whose work is in some way related to, or informed by, the process, material, or idea of craft. The 55+ partner institutions across the country develop a careful selection process to identify two graduating seniors who best meet the following criteria:

Their work must demonstrate a balance of content and design and a mastery of materials
Their work must in some way be informed by craft process, materials, traditions and/or sensibilities
Successful applicants will demonstrate innovation and curiosity, be committed to growth of their own work, and show evidence of how their work might stimulate creative thinking or dialogue among other artists.

Following a national search, UNC Asheville announced Brent Skidmore has been appointed Director of the UNC Asheville Craft Campus, and Jon Keenan is Assistant Director. (read full press release)

Brent Skidmore, whose work has been exhibited in dozens of solo and group shows throughout the U.S. and abroad, was a full-time studio artist in Charlotte for six years prior to accepting a teaching position at the Kendall College of Arts and Design, Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition, he has taught workshops throughout the country, including Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts and the Appalachian Center for Craft. He has served as a member of the Energy Xchange planning board, the Penland School of Crafts woodshop planning committee and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design advisory board. He is a founding member of the Furniture Society in Free Union, Virginia, and is a member of the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Murray State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University.
www.brentskidmore.com

Jon Keenan, whose ceramics have been exhibited in over 60 solo and group shows in the U.S. and Japan, has been a professor at Colby-Sawyer College since 1990, where he chaired the Fine and Performing Arts Department for eight years. Keenan has served as a visiting artist at the University of Leeds in England, the Federal University of Brazil, Dartmouth College, and most recently, as visiting professor at UCLA's Department of Chemistry working on the development of new nanofiber surfaces to protect outdoor bronze sculptures from environmental damage. He was awarded a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship in 2005 and has worked and studied under seven master artist-potters in Japan and the United States. Keenan has given lectures and workshops at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, School of Visual Arts in New York, Stanford East Asian Studies Center in Japan, International School Bangkok, Thailand, and American International School in New Delhi. He holds bachelors' degrees in East Asian studies and studio arts from the University of New Hampshire, and Masters in Fine Arts in both art history and ceramics from the Kyoto City University of Fine Art Graduate School in Japan.
www.jonkeenan.com

Through a generous lease arrangement with Buncombe County, UNC Asheville's Craft Campus will be located on a 153-acre site along the French Broad River, four miles north of UNC Asheville's main campus. The facility will feature a set of interconnected studios for wood and metal sculpture, ceramics and hot glass, as well as center where visitors will learn about the cultural heritage and economic impact of craft in Western North Carolina. The Craft Campus will be a fully "green" facility, including energy sources, building materials, toxic waste recycling and studio operations. Methane from Buncombe County's nearby former landfill will be used to power much of the campus. The Craft Campus will be built through private funding and is expected to open in three to four years.

University/Community/Craft partnership - Collaborators in the creation of the Craft Campus, in addition to The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, are Buncombe County, Penland School of Crafts, HandMade in America, the Western North Carolina Green Building Council, and the Energy Xchange in Yancey County, a prototype for the project.
www.energyxchange.org

The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design is an inter-institutional Center of the University of North Carolina.

The mission of the regional UNC Center is to support and advance craft, creativity and design in education and research, and, through community collaborations, to demonstrate ways that craft and design provide creative solutions to community issues. The mission of the nonprofit CCCD is to support the mission of the UNC center through funding, programs, and outreach to artists, craft organizations, schools in the community, region and nation.