American Craft

Goods of Conscience
Fr. Andrew More O'Connor

As issues of sustainability become more and more prominent, join us for an evening exploring the relationships between craft, community, and the new eco-movement.

Father Andrew More O'Connor, a visual artist and Diocesian priest in the Bronx, will discuss his innovative project..., Goods of Conscience, which employs Guatemalan Mayan weavers to sew apparel collections that "look good, feel good, and do good." His talk will focus on the role of the handmade in social and environmental stewardship.

When: Wednesday, July 22, 6:30-7:30 p.m., reception to follow
Where: 72 Spring Street, 6th floor, New York, NY 10012.
Reservations are required and space is limited.
Price: $10; $5 for students with current ID.
To rsvp, contact Kate at intern@craftcouncil.org or call (212)274–0630 x272.

Save the Date! Wednesday, August 12, 6:30 pm: Bamboo Bicycles with Marty Odlin & Justin AguinaldoRead More

Present Tense: Embroidery in Contemporary Art

A Conversation with artists Elaine Reichek and Richard Saja. Moderated by independent scholar Vicki Halper.

Thursday, March 26
6:30–8:30 p.m.

The American Craft Council
72 Spring Street, New York City

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Join artists Elaine Reichek and Richard Saja for an evening investigating... the beautiful and satirical world of contemporary embroidery.

As a counterpoint to the Bard Graduate Center’s current exhibition of historic textiles, English Embroidery from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1570-1700: ’Twixt Art and Nature, this conversation, moderated by independent scholar Vicki Halper, will focus on the richness and diversity of contemporary embroidery and explore its capacity for expression.

This program has been organized in collaboration with the BGC.

Admission:
$25 general
$20 seniors, students, and American Craft Council members

For information and to register, please call 212-501-3011 or email programs@bgc.bard.edu

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About the Panelists:
VICKI HALPER (B.A., Oberlin College; M.A., University of Pennsylvania) is an independent scholar and former associate curator of modern art at the Seattle Art Museum. A recent James Renwick Senior Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, she is the author of Choosing Craft: The Artist’s Viewpoint, an anthology of post–World War II writings and transcribed interviews, to be published by University of North Carolina Press.

ELAINE REICHEK (B.A., Brooklyn College; B.F.A., Yale University) is a conceptual artist who uses embroidery to explore aesthetics in art. Her technically complex works are influenced by feminist critiques of traditional arts and incorporate historic imagery as well as computer assisted production methods. Her work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, among other institutions. In 2003 Reichek, who has exhibited for more than 30 years, created madamimadam, a virtual installation for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

RICHARD SAJA (B.A., St. John’s College) is an artist and founder of Historically Inaccurate Decorative Arts. He uses old stitching techniques, such as maritime crochet and cross-stitch, while substituting traditional design elements with comical and personal iconography. Known primarily for his embroidered embellishment of toile, he is currently working on pieces that explore the possibilities of the French knot. His most recent exhibition was at Spring Gallery in Brooklyn.

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The American Craft Council is a national, nonprofit public educational organization founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb. The mission of the Council is to promote understanding and appreciation of contemporary American craft. Programs include the bimonthly magazine AMERICAN CRAFT, annual juried shows presenting artists and their work, a leadership conference, the Aileen Osborn Webb Awards honoring excellence, workshops, seminars and a research library. For additional information about the American Craft Council, call 1-800-836-3470 or visit: www.craftcouncil.org.

http://www.americancraftmag.org/calendar-item.php?id=7043Read More

With the historic upcoming presidential election looming we felt it was an important time to examine the relationship that craft has to politics and the role that it can (and does) play in addressing issues of urgency in our world. With that in mind, we immediately knew whom we wanted to round up for this final edition... to our series.

Being big fans of the New York Times magazine’s “Consumed” column, we tracked down the man who pens the words, Rob Walker, and, knowing his interest in craft across the board, invited him to lead a conversation with makers Sabrina Gschwandtner and Liz Collins. Walker’s writing has focused on consumer culture, design, marketing and related subjects and he is the author of the new book, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. With craft lurking at the edges of so many conversations, we felt that Walker would be just the guy to draw some interesting conclusions—particularly if we put two smart and very forward-thinking and forward-practicing makers in the mix. So, without hesitation we asked Gschwandtner, of KnitKnit, and Collins, a knitwear designer and founder of Knitting Nation to join.

Gschwandtner has just finished a 16-city whistle stop tour promoting her book KnitKnit: Profiles and Projects from Knitting’s New Wave and her work has been exhibited in various international museums and galleries, including the Museum of Arts & Design, New York, and the Fleming Museum, Vermont. Collins is an artist and designer, who uses machine knitting to create groundbreaking clothing, textiles, and 3-D installations. She designs knitwear, collaborates with other designers and artists, and is an Assistant Professor in the Textile Department at the Rhode Island School of Design. Collins’s work was included in Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC (2007) and can be seen in the books Fashioning Fabrics and Knitknit.

So please join us (it is free after all) for some exceptional thinking and conversation this summer. Come for one or join us for all of the programs that bring the best of the old and new together. Don’t forget to sign up now as space is extremely limited and reservations are required: Contact Monica Hampton 212.274.0630x272.

Hope to see you there!Read More