SNAG Alive and - American Craft Council

83
American Craft
wants to see
your slides and
photographs
Young Americans:
Metal competition
opens, entries
due October 15
87
Sales figures:
American Craft
Enterprises
Baltimore Market
85
84
N EA grants for
craft artists,
galleries and
organizations
86
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JUNE! JULY 1979
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PUBLICATIOI\J OF THE AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL
Last year's Northeast Craft
Fair at Rhinebeck drew an
estimated 50,000 people.
The 497 participating craftspeople each averaged $5,092
in sales, which totaled
$2,531,068. This year, bigger
figures are expected at both
the wholesale days, June 19
and 20, and retail days, June
22, 23 and 24. For a bus ride
to Rhinebeck, see page 84.
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§ SNAG Alive and
6 ~~"
~ Well in Boston
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American Craft Museum Hardwood Galas: A Joyous,
Crowded Housewarming
The American Craft Museum
threw open its doors for the first
time in a series of previews of
"New Handmade Furniture:
American Furnituremakers Working in Hardwood."
The April 30 private preview
drew passersby on the street as
the party gleamed through the
museum 's two-story glass facade
and spilled onto the apron , into
the warm evening.
A preview to the trade May 1
welcomed members of the American Society of Interior DeSigners,
the American Institute of Archi-
tects and the National Home
Fashions League. Open house
for ACC members was May 2,
one day before the show opened
to the public .
For more pictures of our new
museum , see page 86.
The 1979 conference of the
Society of North American Goldsmiths, "SNAG It in Boston,"
brought together 300 metalworkers for three busy days, April
19-21. The program planned by
George McLean and his committee took advantage of the many
attractions of Boston and
environs specifically related to
the metal arts, as it moved
continued on page 87
84
ACE News
Buyers' Book Out
The first volume of its kind,
American Craft Enterprises' The
Buyers ' Book of American Crafts
catalogs approximately 475
craftspeople and their work.
After screening by an ACE selection committee, each craftsperson chosen is represented in the
book by a photograph of his / her
work, a short description of the
object along with its price, and a
brief resume of the artist's career.
The Buyers ' Book is organized
alphabetically by media groups:
ceramics, fibe~ jewelry, wood ,
leather. glass and mixed media.
Appendices include a glossary
of terms for each medium, an
overall alphabetical listing of participating craftspeople, an alphabeticallisting of the artists state
by state, and a list of commissionable producers. This resource publication, available
only to the trade, will be on sale
at the Northeast Craft Fair at
Rhinebeck, and through ACE,
Box 10, New Paltz, NY 12561 .
Board Meets on
New Markets
The May board meeting of
ACE discussed the planned expansion of craft markets Into Los
Angeles, Dallas-Houston and Atlanta . ACE is also investigating
opening a permanent sales
showroom in the Los Angeles
Gift Mart .
Again at the May board meeting , ACE investigated the possibility of packaging a marketing
seminar for craftspeople to be
oHered in various locations
around the country. Topics would
include wholesale, consignment
and retail selling; copyright,
trademark and design patents for
craftworks; craft fair participation;
how to take eHective slides; plus
information on total visual presentation, portfolios, booths, and
business cards. Additionally, the
ACE board is considering staging a major conference on craft
marketing focusing on where to
sell work, to be held in Los Angeles ir:l early 1980.
"
.....
Crowds browse through booths at ACE's 1978 Northeast Craft Fair.
Buses Ferry Visitors to Rhinebeck From NYC
Beat the crowds and take the
bus to Rhinebeck. June 22, the
American Craft Council will run
buses from the American Craft
Museum to the Northeast Craft
Fair before the weekend crush.
The convenient round trip excursion departs at 8:3C from the
front of ACM in midtown Manhattan, and includes in-transit re-
freshments, admission to the fair ,
and an ACC representative on
each bus to answer your questions about the fair-all this for
$25. Buses return to the museum at 6:30. Another bus departs
from Cross County Shopping
Center in White Plains. For reservations, call Rufus Crown at
(212) 397-0604.
-DREWRY HANES
Winter Market Final-Sales Figures
Bargain Babies
Figures released by American Craft Enterprises, Inc., show total sales
at 1979 Baltimore Winter Market up 17% over 1978, with 305 out of
325 exhibitors reporting. Projected total sales came to $1,174 ,000.
Average sales per craftsperson in all media was $3,600. The chart
below gives sales figures for this year's Baltimore Market by media:
Attention, parents of June
babies. Celebrating its 150th anniversary June 12, Rochester Institute of Technology will award
$1 ,500 scholarships to 150 newborns arriving on June 12,1979.
Scholarships go to the first 150
respondents (or rather, the birthday babies of the first 150), who
will enter the class of 2001 as
McClure Scholars. Mr. and Mrs.
Warren J. McClure established
the $225,000 scholarship fund .
Write: RIT McClure Scholars, RIT
(1829), 1 Lomb Memorial Dr,
Rochester , NY 14623, as soon
as possible, and before October
1, 1979.
Medium
Ceramics
Fiber
Jewelry
Metal
Glass
Wood
Leather
% Increase/Decrease
+29%
Average Sale
per person, Wholesale
& Retail
$5,452
+41%
$4,128
+25%
-42%
$3,988
$2,805
+ 13%
+ 75%
even
$6,013
$7,662
$5,235
85
\
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L
Regional News
The annual conference of the
Southeast Regional Assembly of
the American Craft Council at
the Arrowmont School of Arts
and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, October 10-13, was announced by
Sandra Blain, ACC trustee and
acting director of the Arrowmont
School.
Keynote speakers are Harvey
Littleton CArts Explosion, the
Studio Movement in Glass," October 11) and Ted Nierenberg
("The American Craft Council,"
October 1 2).
Demonstrations, slide lectures and panel discussions in all
media are conducted by the
conference faculty, including
fiber artists Ed Lambert, Henry
Entry forms are now available for North American Goldsmiths) and Easterwood and Margaret WinACC's "Young Americans:
Albert Paley (State University of
deknecht; ceramists Bill Gordy,
Metal" competition. Open to all
New York, Brockport) reviews
Sally Prange , Jamie Davis, Wally
craftspeople 18-30 years old,
work initially by slides. Paul
Smith, Julie and Tyrone Larson
the competition considers metal- Smith, American Craft Museum
and Rick Berman ; basket and
work executed in traditionC'.1and/ director, is advisor to the commitfiber structuralists Jimmie Beneor experimental techniques, extee, and supervises the
. dict , Gary Trentham and Bryant
cluding large-scale purely
competition.
Holsenbeck; textile artists Lenore
sculptural pieces.
For entry forms , write: YA:
Davis, Vic toria Rivers and Dick
The selection committee of
Metal, American Craft Museum ,
Daehnert; photographers Bill
Alma Eikerman Ueweler, metal44 W 53 St, New York, NY
Lauer, Vina Schemer, Nellie
smith and ACC Fellow), Mary
10019. Deadline for entry forms
Lynch and Lawrence T Dixon;
Lee Hu (president, Society of
is October 15.
metal artists and enamelists Bill
Helwig , Jim Wallace, Jamie BenAmerican Craft Museum National Calendar
nett and Mark Baldridge; wood-------------=------:---:---:--:----::----- workers Steven Crump and Bob
May 3-July 15 "New Handmade Furniture American FurnitureBrunk; plus Harvey Littleton and
makers Working in Hardwood" at American Craft Museum,
Dede Groves
Council Board Taps
Marks, McNeil
The Board of ACC has named
two new trustees, Nancy McNeil
of Philadelphia, and Nancy
Marks of Kings POint, NY
Young Metalworkers Competition
New York, NY
May 27 -July 8 "The Dyer's Art" at Brunnier Gallery, Iowa State
Center, Ames.
June 17-July 29 "Young Americans Fiber/Wood/Plastic/Leather"
at Brunnier Gallery, Iowa State Center, Ames.
July I-August 5 "The Great American Foot" at Milwaukee Art
Center, WI.
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The conference is open to all.
The conference brochure will be
mailed directly to ACC members
in the Southeast region . Others
should write for a copy to ACCSE Conference, Arrowmont, Box
567, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 .
Flo rida Craftsmen has pu t to-
Nancy McNeil
Trustee Nancy McNeil cochairs the Philadelphia Craft
Show in 1979, As a member of
the Executive Committee of Religion and Art of America, she
chaired "Craft Art and Religion"
at the Vatican in 1978. A
member of the Fine Arts Committee of the Department of State
of Pennsylvania, she has served
the Philadelphia Museum of Art
as a guide and member of the
women's committee for over 20
years. She majored in art at
Bradford College.
--
at American Craft Museum, New York, NY
gether a file of in-state workshop
leaders in various media. Write :
Mary Dorst, 618 NW High St.
~G~a~lIe~ry,'fl-,~C~a~lg~a~ry,t!...,~C~a~na~d~a::,(~e~nd~o~ft~o~u:.Lr),-:, ----::::----::-:-:--.~___._:-;-- Boca Raton 33432.
August 26-0ctober 7 "Young Americans Fiber/Wood/Plastic /
Leather" at Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN.
ACC Library Keeps
September 9-0ctober 13 "The Great American Foot" at Joe L .
Saturday Hours
Evins Appalachi an Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN.
Thanks to a $3,763 grant from
October 15 "Young Americans: Metal" competition entry form, fee
the New York State Council on
and slides due at American Craft Museum , New York, NY
the Arts through its Visual Arts
October 30-December 4 "The Great American Foot" at Brunnier
Services Program, the ACC liGallery, Iowa State Center, Ames.
brary is open Saturdays. For
ACC members, the Saturday
American Craft Council Calendar
hours are 10-4:30, and librarian
Joanne Polster recommends you
June 19-24 Northeast Craft Fair at Dutchess County Fairgrounds,
call ahead for an appointment at
Rhinebeck, NY Wholesale: 19-20; Retail : 22-24.
(2 12) 397-0637. During the
August 2-5 Pacific States Craft Fair at Fort Mason facilities, San
week, the library stays open 12Francisco, CA. Wholesale: 2; Retail : 3-5.
430, Tuesday, Wednesday and
October 1 Application deadline for Baltimore Winter Market
Friday.
October 10-13 Southeast Regional Assembly of the American Craft
Council at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg , TN.
~~~~~~~~~~=~~~7-:-::--:-::-::-::-'--;:::-::-;;:-=-=-:-:August 5-September 16 "The Dyer's Art" at Alberta College of Art
Nancy Marks
Native New Yorker Nancy
Marks runs her own interior design firm in Kings Point, NY Her
involvement with craft "started as
a child with visits to a cherished
aunt who was a weaver of great
skill. I was her eager student and
companion on trips to shows and
shops that featured crafts of
every kind." Marks has served on
the Nassau County American
Red Cross Board, the North
Shore Child Guidance Association Board and many advisory
boards for the Great Neck Board
of Education.
86
GSA's Art-in-Architecture
Rising interest among craftspeople in the GS.A:s Art-in-Architecture Program prompted Craft
World to call the Public Buildings
Service. Our request for a list of
current building projects with
names and addresses of the architects awarded contracts was
turned down by Donald Thalacker of PBS with the following
explanation:
Originally, the GSA planned to
announce individual projects
and solicit specifiC artists' proposals for each building . However, the agency discovered that
the cost of a direct announcement, both to the craftspeople
who would need to make an entire new proposal for each building, and to the architects who
would have to furnish each artist
with a set of drawings, and sift
through each proposal (an expense passed along to the taxpayer), made direct announce-
ments unfeasible.
How then does the interested
artist get involved in the GS.A:s
Art-in-Architecture Program?
Craftspeople should not request
consideration for single projects.
Instead, you may apply for all
projects for which your work
would be appropriate by sending
a resume and 35mm slides of
your work to:
Donald Thalacker
General Services Adm.
Office of the Administrator
Washington , DC 20405
The slide registry is organized
by media category. According to
Thalacker, each building project
reviews all slides of all applying
artists. Panels are appointed by
the NEA on a project-by-project
basis, with a new panel for every
building . Panelists tend to be museum directors, curators, and artists and craftspeople with established credentials.
Rhinoceros Presides, People
NEAGrants
Crafts grants to individuals and
organizations available for fiscal
1980 through the Visual Arts
Program of the National Endowment for the Arts:
Craftsmen's Fellowships: up
to $1 0 ,000 for advancement of
an individual's career (application deadline December 20,
1979).
Crafts Projects: up to $3,000
to craft artists of exceptional talent for specific projects (December 20, 1979).
Crafts Apprenticeships: up to
$5,000 to an apprentice or
$10,000 to an organization for
two apprentices; to enable apprentices to work with master
craftspeople and cover the cost
to the master of taking on the
apprentice (September 3, 197.9).
Building Arts: up to $5,000 for
research or planning (not actual
construction) of permanent
buildings and their components
(January 2,1980).
Artists Spaces (formerly
Workshops / AHernative
Spaces): matching grants up to
$20,000 and additional nonmatching funds up to $10,000 to
organizations providing visual
artists with work space and
access to resources (such as exhibition space) not generally
available from museums or commercial galleries (September 28 ,
1979).
Art in Public Places: matching
grants up to $50,000 for commissioned artwork and $25,000
for purchases; available to state
and local governmental agencies
and tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations (letters of intent due
June 30, 1979; applications,
January 15, 1980).
Art in Public Places/Planning Grants for Artists: up to
$2 ,000 to visual artists to develop projects for public places
(June 30, 1979).
Artists, Critics, Photographers, and Craftsmen in Residence: up to $2,000 in matching
funds to art schools, universities,
cities, and arts agencies (applications accepted and reviewed
throughout the year).
Crafts Exhibitions: up to
$50,000 in matching grants to
organizations for developing
crafts exhibitions (September 28,
1979).
Crafts Workshops and Master Classes: up to $15,000 in
matching grants to nonprofit,
tax-exempt organizations for
short-term workshops or teaching projects (September 28,
1979).
For application forms and
guidelines in the Visual Arts Program, write: 2401 ESt, NW,
Washington, DC 20506 . NEA
also publishes a 1979 Guide to
Programs describing its programs and categories of support.
Haystack Auction Huge Success
A major crafts auction at the Jack
Lenor Larsen Showroom in New
York, April 26, benefiting the
Haystack Mountain School of
Crafts "exceeded all our expectations" according to Jacqueline
Davidson of the auction committee. The 88 works, donated by
artist-friends of Haystack, fetched
a total of $36 ,775. Of the pictured
objects (left to right), Dale ChihuIy's blown glass cylinder brought
$800, Ron Pearson's gold necklace with precious stones went for
$3,000 (the highest bid), Toshiko
Takaezu's closed, brushed porcelain form sold for $400, and Warren Seelig's folded hanging (the
backdrop) brought in $600 . A
burnished blackware pot by
Maria and Julian Martinez,
appraised at $1 ,500-1 ,800, took
the bidding up to $2,500 before
the gavel fell.
87
Party as Our New Museum Opens
American Craft Solicits Slides
Depending on your response
and the results 01 the questionnaire (see insert), "Connections"
and "Usable Craft" may become
features of AMERICAN CRAFT
To be sure we cover the whole
range of crafts, we welcome
slides from you, our readers.
Please submit duplicate
slides only for consideration, as
we cannot return them. Identify
each slide fully: name of artist,
name of piece, materials, dimensions, techniques, date and
photo credit.
For "Connections," send us
pairs of slides: one slide of your
work, and one slide picturing its
connection with your art, your
life, any connection you care to
make.
"Usable Cralf' scheduled for
upcoming issues of AMERICAN
CRAFT are
October
Hair ornaments
December
Candelabra
February
Totes
April
Garden ornaments
Deadline for receipt of slides
is two months before publication
date. For example , slides for the
October issue are due August 1 ;
for December, October 1, and so
forth. Send slides to CONNECTIONS or USABLE CRAFl;
AMERICAN CRAFl; 22 W 55 St.,
New York, NY 10019.
For Exhibitions: Send Photographs
As you can see, pictures tell
much of the AMERICAN CRAFT
story. To be considered for inclusion in "Exhibitions," galleries
and exhibitors should send 8" x
1 0" professional-quality blackand-white glossy prints to EXHIBITIONS, AMERICAN CRAFl; 22
W 55 St., New York, NY 10019.
Please identify each work fully
with maker's name, title of work
(if any), material(s), dimensions,
techniques, date and photo credit. Deadline for the August issue
is June 13. For following issues,
deadline is two months before
publication date (for example
deadline lor the October issue is
August 1 .) We look forward to
seeing you .
SNAG Alive ...
American Craft Council Publications Available
Exhibition catalog of
New Handmade Furniture:
American Furnituremakers Working in Hardwood
features the work of 31 artists; 36 pages of black-and-white
illustrations show work by every artist.
48 pages
ACC members price: $5.00':'
nonmembers price: $6.50 "
Second, revised edition of
Craftsmen in Business:
A Guide to Financial Management and Taxes
by Howard W Connaughton, CPA, revised by William Fishman
reflects changes in the federal tax laws since the volume
first appeared in 1975. Chapters on going into business,
record- and bookkeeping, income accounting, expense accounting ,
taxes, depreciation and investment credit , and other helpful
facts are meant to give the crafts professional greater
control 01 his business and its future .
73 pages
ACC members price: $5.50':'
nonmembers price: $7 .00 "
To order: send check or money order payable to ACC,
Publications Sales, 22 W 55 St., New York, NY 10019.
" New York State residents add applicable sales tax .
Price includes postage and handling.
continued from page 83
between locations ranging from
the Museum of Fine Arts
to silver factories in Taunton and
Newburyport to schools in Providence and Boston .
The Museum of Fine Arts prepared a rich agenda: carefully
documented slide lectures on its
collections of English and American silver; docent-conducted
tours of the collections; closehand examination of 12 selected
objects, each handled by a student from Boston University's
Program in Artisanry. Conservation of metal objects was covered
in a lecture by a stall member
from the Winterthur Museum and
by visits to the research laboratories of the MFA
Extensive tours of Tole and
Reed and Barton silversmiths
provided a firsthand contact with
production methods. Visits to
the School of the Museum 01
Fine Arts, Boston, Rhode Island
School of Design, The Jewelry
Institute, Boston University's Program in Artisanry and Massachusetts College of Art showed
facilities and student work, and
were a pleasant way to meet students and exchange information.
Following the keynote address
by Jonathan Fairbanks, curator
01 American decorative arts at
the Museum of Fine Arts ,
Boston, a panel discussed "The
Experiences of Young Commercial Designers." Two technical
papers were delivered: 'Art Applications of Relractory Metals," by
graduate students of the University of Washington, and "Return
to the Forge: Mokume-Gane and
Granulation" lrom Southern Illinois University.
SNAG continues to grow in
size, energy, significance and
complexity. The business meetings were lengthy but well attended, indicating a genuine interest
and involvement in the organization on the part of the membership. It is gratifying to see craftspeople willing to give their
valuable time, considered opinions and active support to their
own professional organization .
There is no doubt SNAG is alive
and well and living throughout
America.
-ARLINE FISCH