|
 |
Book of Nails, Dan Essig, 2002 |
The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, July 3, 2004 - January 5, 2005
The exhibition illustrates the evolution of craft and object making in America and the unique role of North Carolina’s Penland School of Crafts in the development of craft education during the past 75 years. Approximately 130 objects will illustrate the creative process through Source (serendipity, spirituality, landscape, body), Skill (traditions & competence), and Culture (ethnicity, gender, age). (Co-organized by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design & Penland School of Crafts)
Penland School of Crafts, a national center for craft education located in the North Carolina mountains, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The school is marking the anniversary with a major craft exhibition at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte titled The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience, opening July 3, 2004, and running through January 30, 2005, and a hardbound, illustrated book of the same name incorporating images of craft with new writing on the subject. The exhibition will tell the story of the school, use Penland to explore the history, nature, and evolution of American craft education, and reveal the human creative process through craft.
This important exhibition includes 137 works by an outstanding group of craftspeople selected because they tell the story of the school as a cultural and educational force over the last 75 years. All media taught at Penland School -- books and paper, clay, drawing and painting, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood – are included and the work spans all eras of Penland’s history. (A complete list of artists is attached.) Craft luminaries such as woodworkers Sam Maloof and Wendell Castle, glass artists Harvey Littleton and Paul Stankard, ceramic sculptors Sergei Isupov and Michael Sherrill, and metalsmiths Arline Fisch and Heikki Seppa are represented.
The show is organized in sections around three principle themes: skill and its transmission, sources of inspiration, and expression of ideas. “Skill” celebrates mastery over material and examines the role of oral traditions in developing competence. “Source” looks at environment, the body, spirituality, and play as the foundations of creativity in craft. “Expression” demonstrates that craft can communicate ideas transcending traditional boundaries. “What we are trying to do,” says Ellen Denker who co-curated the show with Penland’s program director Dana Moore, “is get inside of the nature of craft. This means that chronologically and stylistically diverse objects are gathered to illuminate the same theme.” For instance, fiber artist Nick Cave’s Sound Suit, blacksmith Elizabeth Brim’s iron apron Catch, book artist Dan Essig’s Book of Nails, and Peter Gourfain’s terracotta arm Powerful Days are grouped together with a strikingly simple pewter pitcher, circa 1935, by an anonymous Penland metal worker to demonstrate the strength of their expression.
A fourth section shows work that has been made in response to Penland as a place and community. During the school’s seventy-five year history it has developed its own inclusive culture expressed in unique objects and rituals. A remarkable selection of Easter eggs made of glass, metal, clay and other materials created for Penland’s annual egg hunt are part of the exhibit. At this annual community event, lucky egg seekers can find tiny masterpieces hidden behind logs or under bushes. A group of unusual croquet wickets, which led to the birth of Penland’s respected blacksmithing program, are also included. In 1978, Bill Brown, Jr., son of Penland’s second director, organized an elaborate croquet game played with sledgehammers and cast iron balls. A makeshift forge was set up and, in typical Penland fashion, everyone in the community and on campus was invited to create a wicket. The result was a visually compelling and undeniable demonstration of interest in the field of iron. Penland’s first iron class was taught by Brent Kington, a sculptor who started the first university program in ironwork and whose work is also in the exhibition. The gate from Penland’s new iron studio, an award winning building that opened in 2000, is a spectacular example of shared skills, sources, and ideas that are the hallmark of Penland.
The selection of work is broad, inclusive, and sometimes surprising. An early weaving (1930s) by Penland’s first instructor Edward Worst, Fred Fenster’s pewter teapot, Billie Ruth Sudduth’s geometric basket, and Cynthia Bringle’s wood-fired, salt-glazed vessel -- the items on display bear witness to a common history and a tradition rooted in functional use. These shared roots bring an added dimension and complexity to the more contemporary pieces that share the gallery space. The artists in the exhibition honor Penland’s long history while illuminating the birth and growth of the studio craft movement itself.
The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the Mint Museum of Craft + Design (MMCD) in Charlotte, NC. MMCD has achieved national prominence for exhibiting and interpreting craft, and its permanent collection includes many Penland-related works of art. A team of craftspeople, scholars, and staff developed the concept for the exhibition, which was co-curated by Dana Moore, Penland’s director of programs, and scholar and curator Ellen Denker. Denker’s curatorial and literary experience reaches across the American Arts & Crafts movement, 20th century material culture, folk art, and the interrelationship between fine art, craft, and design. The exhibit team also included Jean McLaughlin, Penland’s director, Mark Leach, deputy director of the Mint Museums, Mary Beth Ausman, education resource coordinator for The Mint Museums, and Melissa Post, curator of craft and design for The Mint Museums. Barbara Perry, curator of decorative arts for The Mint Museums, served as advisor to the curatorial team. The project has formed a strong partnership between Penland and the MMCD as both institutions complement each other in scope and focus and are linked in their role as educators.
Founded by Lucy Morgan in 1929, Penland School was originally an outgrowth of a craft-based economic development project Morgan had started several years earlier. Today, Penland School of Crafts is a national center for craft education. Classes in book arts, clay, drawing, fiber, glass, iron, metals, paper, photography, print arts, textiles, and wood are held in 14 professional teaching studios. The school also sponsors artists’ residencies, an outreach program, and the Penland Gallery and Information Center. The school is made up of 45 buildings on 400 acres of land. Each year over 120 instructors from the United States and other countries teach at Penland; there is no permanent faculty. Penland welcomes serious students, age 19 and over, with all levels of experience from professional artists to absolute beginners.
The history of Penland reflects the evolution of American craft during the 20th century, and this story is fittingly told through objects. The exhibition presents a unique opportunity to explore the school’s history as a back drop for conveying the importance of object making. “For 75 years Penland School of Crafts has helped people reach across continents and time to connect with each other and with the material cultures of the world,” says Penland’s director, Jean McLaughlin. “Craft stands as a common denominator among peoples, as an act of invention, embellishment, and communication. To honor craft is to recognize the value inherent in the human spirit. To pay attention to craft is to learn from materials and process, to find joy in the utilitarian and the commonplace, and to realize that powerful ideas are made manifest through the work of the hands."
Altria Group, Inc. and Phillip Morris USA are the exhibition's sponsors.
------------------------------
FOR MORE INFO:
MMC+D exhibit: Contact Natasha
Rider, nrider@mintmuseum.org, 704-337-2009
Penland School: Call 828-765-2359 or visit www.penland.org.
Educational web site: http://www.mintmuseum.org/penland
------------------------------
Penland School of Crafts is a national center for craft education located in Western North Carolina. Penland offers workshops in books and paper, clay, drawing and painting, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. The school also sponsors artists’ residencies, community education programs, and the Penland Gallery and Information Center. Penland is a nonprofit, tax-exempt institution which receives support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Mint Museum of Craft + Design is located at 220 N. Tryon Street in downtown Charlotte. Admission is $6 adults, $5 seniors, $3 students and free for ages 5 and under and members. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday 12 – 5 pm. Admission is also valid on the same day at the Mint Museum of Art. For information call anytime at 704-337-2000 or check the museum website at www.mintmuseum.org.
|
|
|
|
