Process & Presence: Selections from the Museum of Contemporary Craft March 15-July 4, 2011

hroughout history, hand skills Most individuals now learn craft processes and the ability to make things have been in academic environments, rather than within necessary for human survival. Before the the embracing context of ethnic or other cultural advent of industrial mechanization and traditions. The importance of individual expression the dawn of the digital age, all members of and experimentation has caused the contemporary anyT given community were craftspeople. Everything craft world to come alive with innovation and ever- that was necessary for life—clothing, tools and home changing interpretations of traditional styles, objects furnishings—was made by hand. In America, diverse and techniques. In recent years, the hallowed and populations—Native peoples, immigrant groups and often contentious ideological separation of fine art and regional populations—have preserved and shared craft has begun to ease. Some craft artists have been ancient and evolving traditions of making functional embraced by the fine art community and included in objects for everyday use. the academic canon. Many colleges and universities During the twentieth century, the mass now incorporate crafts education into their overall arts production of utilitarian wares removed the need for curricula and work by studio craft artists routinely functional handmade objects from modern society. appears in art galleries and art museums. This ultimately gave rise to the studio craft movement. Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft Unlike traditional crafts, studio crafts include visual has long been an important proponent of the studio values as a primary function of creative expression. They craft movement. The museum was founded in 1937 as may be desirable for use but are often non-functional. the Oregon Ceramic Studio (OCS), a volunteer-run organization that provided Depression-era support for regional artists—including those who had come to Oregon to work on Timberline Lodge. The OCS was built south of Portland’s downtown in the Corbett neighborhood using donated materials and WPA labor. During its early years, it provided ceramic artists with a place to buy clays and glazes. It housed a kiln in which they could fire their work and contained an exhibition space in which both regional and extra-regional work was showcased and sold. The OCS was also home to an educational program that provided the general public with a hands-on introduction to ceramics.

Peter Voulkos, Gourd Shaped Vase (left), 1952, clay, 15¾” x 6” diameter, Collection of Museum of Contemporary Craft, Gift of Dr. Francis J. Newton, 1998.93.47; Vase with Leaf (center), 1952, stoneware, 11” x 6” x 4”, Collection of Museum of Contemporary Craft, Gift of Rose Fenzl, 2001.10.01; Green Swirls Vase (right), 1952, stoneware, 15” x 10” diameter, Collection of Museum of Contemporary Craft, Osmon B. Stubbs Memorial Award Recipient, 1998.52.03. Photo by Dan Kvitka. The Oregon Ceramic Studio built a reputation home to a permanent collection of more than 1,000 for presenting first rate programs and exhibitions. objects documenting the role of the museum and the Working collaboratively with other regional arts Pacific Northwest in the evolution of twentieth-century institutions, it hosted workshops by important artists American craft. The collection contains work by and seminal exhibitions of objects worked in a variety many of the twentieth century’s premier craftspeople, of mediums. The OCS became Contemporary Crafts most notably clay artists Marguerite Wildenhain, Gallery in 1965 and the new name reflected the Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio, true breadth of the institution’s ongoing exhibition Robert Arneson, Paul Soldner, Ken Ferguson, Ruth program. It also signaled the end of clay sales and the Duckworth and Toshiko Takaezu. Works by artists in demise of the kiln room. However, a pottery studio was other mediums include those of Sam Maloof, Bob built in 1969 and a formal artist-in-residence program Stocksdale and Leroy Setziol (wood); Lino Tagliapietra was initiated at that time. A Craftsmen-in-the-Schools and Dante Marioni (glass); and Jack Lenor Larsen and program was begun in 1972 and remained active until Judith Poxson Fawkes (fiber). its oversight transferred elsewhere in 1996. Further Reading: During the 1970s, Contemporary Crafts Gallery hosted exhibits by many notable artists. In the mid Janet Koplos, Glenn Adamson and Namita Gupta 1980s, special attention was given to exhibitions of Wiggers, Unpacking the Collection: Selections from the studio glass—a medium that had been growing in Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland, OR: Museum popularity and importance in the Pacific Northwest of Contemporary Craft, 2008). for more than a decade. Contemporary Crafts Gallery MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT WEBSITE: was renamed Contemporary Crafts Museum & www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org Gallery in 2003. In 2007, it became the Museum of Contemporary Craft and moved from its original home in Southwest Portland to a facility in the city’s Pearl District. In 2009, the Museum integrated with the Pacific Northwest College of Art, making the joint institution one of Oregon’s largest organizations devoted to the visual arts. The Museum of Contemporary Craft currently hosts a dynamic changing exhibits program in a 4,500-square-foot gallery that is located at the corner of NW Davis Street and 8th Avenue, adjacent to Portland’s North Park Blocks. The museum is also

Sam Maloof, Double Print Rack, 1977, wood, 40” x 24” x 15”. Collection of Museum of Contemporary Craft, Contemporary Crafts Gallery Purchase, 1998.84.04. Photo by Dan Kvitka.

35 Maryhill Museum Drive Goldendale, Washington 98620 509-773-3733 www.maryhillmuseum.org

Support for this exhibit and related programs was provided by the Sam Hill Society, the Washington State Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.