fullerCRAFT museum TM Let the art touch you Annual Report 2014 july 1, 2013 – june 30, 2014 exhibitions Galleries in Fuller Craft Museum over the past year were filled with sixteen lively exhibitions that attest to the creative energies and talents of curatorial and support staff. Nowhere else on the Atlantic seaboard is there a craft museum that produces as many exhibitions with such diversity of media and clarity of concepts as this museum. Made in Massachusetts: Studio Furniture of the Bay State, Reversible Reactions: Art Meets Science @ The MIT Glass Lab, Machines and Mechanizations: Explorations in Contemporary Kinetic Sculpture, and The Stories We Tell: Works by Tommy Simpson, Michelle Holzapfel, and Binh Pho were some of the more popular exhibitions. Fuller Craft Museum continues to build on its reputation for excellence in exhibitions nationwide. Exhibitions that closed in FY2014: All Things Considered VII: National Basketry Organization Juried Exhibition Sharing Inspiration: Work by Fuller Craft Museum Docents November 23, 2013 – February 23, 2014 March 12, 2013 – July 7, 2013 Machines and Mechanizations: Explorations in Bojagi and Beyond Contemporary Kinetic Sculpture October 6, 2013 – January 26, 2014 February 2, 2014 – June 1, 2014 Made in Massachusetts: SMARTS, Southeastern Massachusetts Arts Collaborative Studio Furniture of the Bay State February 9, 2014 – February 23, 2014 October 12, 2013 – February 9, 2014 The Stories We Tell: Works by Tommy Simpson, Michelle Across the Grain: Turned and Carved Wood Holzapfel, and Binh Pho April 7, 2013 – September 22, 2013 March 9, 2014 – June 15, 2014 About Face: Portraiture Selections from Fuller Craft Shine a Light: Artistic Expressions from Gateway Arts Museum’s Permanent Collection March 22, 2014 – June 29, 2014 April 30, 2013 – September 29, 2013 Brockton Youth Creates: Artwork by Brockton Public Exhibitions that opened in FY2014: School Students Small Expressions July 18, 2013 – September 29, 2013 June 12, 2014 – October 5, 2014 Reversible Reactions: Art Meets Science Dorothy Simpson Krause: Book + Art @ The MIT Glass Lab June 14, 2014 – November 9, 2014 June 8, 2013 – November 3, 2013 Annette Bellamy: Floating Art of Mosaics: Piecing It Together June 29, 2014 – November 2, 2014 July 3, 2013 – October 27, 2013 Mark Davis: Icarus – Ongoing Traditions & Innovations: Fuller Craft Collects – Ongoing our mission Fuller Craft Museum is a dynamic environment where craft is experienced through exhibitions, education, outreach, and collaboration. We explore the materials, techniques, and artistic expression that challenge the perception of craft, while honoring the achievements of the past. from the executivedirector director This was a thrilling year for the Fuller Craft Museum community, filled with outstanding exhibitions, well-attended receptions, exciting events, and terrific outreach. The staff, museum educators, volunteers, and board members all worked very hard with minimal resources to keep the important functions of the Museum going strong. We were rewarded with a boost in attendance from 15,083 to 18,000 visitors and blessed with steady Museum membership. Great moments this year include the reception for All Things Considered VII, sponsored by the National Basketry Organization with guest speaker Lois Russell. We also celebrated a wood art exhibition with a powerful narrative vein called The Stories We Tell: Works by Tommy Simpson, Michelle Holzapfel, and Binh Pho. Last fall, we had a beautiful wearable art fashion show called Fashion in Motion, featuring the work of Chunghie Lee, her exhibition Bojagi and Beyond, and the unveiling of her work Nameless Women, Blue Durumagi, 2001 – 2005, a CraftBoston 2012 Director’s Choice Award and our new acquisition. In January 2014, our exhibition Machines and Mechanizations: Explorations in Contemporary Kinetic Sculpture and Curator Beth McLaughlin were featured on Jared Bowen’s WGBH TV show “Open Studio” introducing scores of the WGBH viewership to our Museum. Across the Grain: Turned and Carved Wood brought major works by American woodworkers together in Stone and Barstow galleries. Made in Massachusetts: Studio Furniture of the Bay State featured contemporary studio furniture. That exhibition was our contribution to Four Centuries of Massachusetts Furniture, a consortium of a dozen cultural institutions throughout Massachusetts. Generous contributors made it possible for Fuller Craft to publish a 103-page, full color, illustrated catalogue authored by Jeffrey Brown and Pat Warner with support from Michael McMillan and essays by myself and Gerald Ward, designed by Cindy Randall. This landmark exhibition opened with a wonderful reception and lecture by Professor Brock Jobe, Curator of Winterthur Museum and ended with a closing reception with speaker Rosanne Somerson, interim President of RISD and studio furniture maker. Auction house, Skinner, Inc. included a Museum benefit in their 20th Century Design Auction for June 2014. The objects were solicited from both artists and collectors of contemporary crafts. Funds realized ($53,228.73) were dedicated to Museum operations. This was our first auction held in this manner—quite a success! There were some surprising developments as well. I was appointed Trusteeship for the estate of the late Joan Pearson Watkins who had a huge collection of artwork. Distributing these works of art to various 501(c)(3) or public historical societies, museums, and libraries brings considerable curatorial relevance and visibility to Fuller Craft Museum as well as new acquisitions to this Museum. I end this report by mentioning one of my favorite finds from the Joan Pearson Watkins collection. It is a sculpture and drawings by the artist Ruth Asawa of San Francisco (1926 – 2013). Finding this glorious treasure of artwork reminded me of how good fortune for Fuller Craft Museum waits just around the corner. Through diligence, hard work and perseverance, we may be rewarded by discovering the next treasure or the next welcome success. During this one, short, full-throttle year, the staff and docents here at Fuller Craft have certainly proven that. We will continue to strive for excellence as an institution and hope for continued public support and growth. Jonathan Leo Fairbanks Director, Fuller Craft Museum September 2014 3 collections During fiscal year 2014, fifty-nine items entered the collection. Thanks to the generosity of numerous donors and the focused purchase of selected artwork, the collection has grown. The Museum is grateful to all of the artists and collectors who have given work to the permanent collection. Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection 1. Hollie Ambrose and Wil Stubenberg Porcelain; 16” H x 12” W x 8” D 11. Karen Koblitz b. 1951 The First Milk on the Moon, 1995 Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Hollywood, CA Mixed media; 5 ½” H x 3 ¼” W 2013.7.7 Teapot Pouring Still Life, 1991 Whiteware, glaze Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 8. Andrea Gill b. 1948 14” H x 14” W x 3” D 2013.7.1 Newark, NJ Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 2. Hollie Ambrose and Wil Stubenberg Madonna, 1989 2013.7.11 Magellan Goes to the Moon, 1995 Clay; 24” H x 10” W x 8” D Mixed media; 6 ½” H x 2 ¼” W x 1 ¼” D Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 12. Dirk Staschke Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 2013.7.8 Vancouver, BC 2013.7.2 9. Rain Harris Anonym #3, 1999 Stone; 20” H x 15” W x 6” D 3. Hollie Ambrose and Wil Stubenberg Supine Form, 2000 Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Mothership, 1995 Stoneware, luster, flocking, sequins 2013.7.12 Mixed media; 7” H x 4” W x 3” D 21” H x 8 ½” W x 3” D Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 13. Paula Winokur b. 1935 2013.7.3 2013.7.9 Canyon Table, 1987 Porcelain, stains, glaze and 4. Christina Bertoni b. 1960 10. Doug Herren Green Industrial Teapot, 2007 ceramic pencil; 25” H x 12” W x 11” D Ascriber, 1992 Stoneware, sign painter's paint Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Terra cotta, acrylic paint 17” H x 15” W x 5” D 2013.7.13 6” H x 18” W x 7” D Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 14. Robert Winokur b. 1933 2013.7.10 2013.7.4 She Conducts, 2010 Whiteware, glaze; 14” H x 14” W x 3” D 5. Christina Bothwell b. 1945 Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Feet in Soil, 1996 2013.7.14 Raku, wood, wire 15. Janis Mars Wunderlich b. 1970 63” H x 19” W x 22” D Akron, Ohio Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Sewn Together, 1995 2013.7.5 Hand built Ceramic; 23” H x 10.5” W 6. Lisa Clague b. 1962 Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown My Little Darlings, 1998 2013.7.15 Raku, wood, wire 16. Jon Alley 6” H x 36” W x 3” D Bathing Pool, 1989 Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Mahogany, maple plywood, 2013.7.6a – c goncalo alves 7. Wladyslaw Garnik b. 1937 23.25” H x 37” W x 6.75” D Poland 10 Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown Clown I, 1991 2013.7.16 4 collections 17. Kim Kelzer Home on the Range, 1991 Poplar, plywood, aluminum, neon plexi-glass, rubber, plastic 21” H x 45” W x 16” D Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 2013.7.17 18. Thomas Loeser b. 1956 Boston, MA Rocking Bench, 2003 Mahogany, milk paint 17” H x 59” W x 14.5” D Gift of Gail M. and Robert A. Brown 2013.7.18 19. Marjorie Schick b. 1941 Taylorville, IL Platter with Armlet and Sticks, 1992 Bisque fired clay, Paper Mache, dowel sticks; 22” H x 8” W Gift of Gail M.