It is an exciting time in the world of craft. Every spring ushers in another much-anticipated edition of the Smithsonian Craft Show. As cherry blossoms carpet the nation’s capital and the world outside refreshes itself, our spirits are renewed by the inspiration of fine craft artists from across the country showing jewelry, wearables, ceramics, glass, basketry, wood, and more. But there is more to the excitement about contemporary craft. As the lines between art, craft and design increasingly blur, fine craft stands at the crossroads of acceptance into the larger world of fine art.

“I agree that the lines have blurred and continue to do so. This is reflected in many exhibitions generated by contemporary arts institutions,” remarks juror Cindi Strauss, curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Roberta & David Williamson	Joyce Roessler	Thomas Maras

“Art museums are increasingly finding creative ways of developing and interpreting craft collections, both in comparison to trends in contemporary art over the last sixty years and also in relation to historic decorative arts, thus making the past relevant to an exploration of the ‘here and now,’ ” states Jason Busch, juror and curator of decorative arts at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Adds Strauss: “Excitement and interest in the field is high; artists are doing really great work that is accessible to collectors in more places than ever before; and scholarship and exhibitions have become a priority for institutions across the country.”

Juror Carolyn L.E. Benesh, coeditor of Ornament, commented, “Craft has shown itself to be a growing force within the art community. We must appreciate the special voice with which craft communicates, especially during difficult periods of our contemporary life. Craft speaks directly to our needs as a society and culture with artworks that seek to both reassure and stimulate us with their integrity and beauty, revealing qualities noble and native to the human spirit.”

Craft has always been with us, as part of our lives, but it has changed, matured, evolved. Artists in wood, ceramics, fiber, metal, and glass are finding their voices, evolving beyond the utilitarian traditions of craft. “Work that emphasizes content is a trend that I am seeing more and more in craft. By that I mean, artists are making work whose concept or idea is of paramount importance,” explains Strauss. “The 2008 jurying process,” notes Benesh, “brought home to me how engaged artists are with their own inventive territories, searching for and exploring new or refreshed modes of expression in the development of their artforms.”

Hideaki Miyamura	Dennis Nahabetian	Patricia Ppalson

As artists use their chosen media to make their own statements, museums across the country have not only presented exhibitions dedicated to craft but have also competed for the best to include in their permanent collections. In the forefront of this movement is the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum and the venerable Renwick Gallery. Strolling among the booths at the National Building Museum during the twenty-sixth Smithsonian Craft Show, you will discover artists with works already in national museums. Represented in the Smithsonian American Art Museum are: Hideaki Miyamura, Norm Sartorius, Donald Friedlich, Mary Jackson, Robert Farrell, Randall Darwall, Christian Burchard, Michael Mode, Cliff Lee, Rob Sieminski, and Roberta and David Williamson. Leon Niehues’s basketwork is part of the original White House Collection of American Crafts, assembled by the Clintons in 1993.

At the end of November 2007, JoAnne Russo’s basket Orange Pod was purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for its permanent collection. Accepted into the Smithsonian Craft Show “seven or eight times” before, recalls Russo, last year was her first year doing shows again after she took two years off to explore new work. “I was thrilled that the museum liked where I was going with the new work and wanted a second piece. They now have two of my baskets,” says the Vermont artist. Purchased in 1998, Porcupine is woven from hand-pounded black ash. “The new baskets still start with black ash but I’m dyeing beads and sewing them on the pieces for texture, similar to when I was twisting the ash for texture” on previous work, she explains. Russo is also using zippers and hooks-and-eyes in her new basketry on display at the show: “I’m using sewing materials, all those materials I’m so familiar with from making all my own clothes during high school.”

More sculptural work is a trend, even among wearable artists. One of the forty artists new to the show (a full one-third of the total), weaver Patricia Palson is thrilled to be exhibiting her line at the Smithsonian Craft Show: “When you open that letter, you just feel like you’ve arrived. It’s the show.” She has arrived with twenty years of experience. “I’ve been weaving full time as long as my daughter is old, twenty years now,” says Palson. She left a corporate job as an interior designer to weave full time, but was first introduced to weaving when she took it in college as an elective, one of those happy accidents. The jackets, coats and scarves in the bright colors of Tropical Cool Squares are new for the New Hampshire artist. The fabric is “woven of merino wool with the holes in it, then felted when it comes off the loom. It’s a double process,” she explains. Palson’s other pieces are highly patterned, woven in a complex twill of silk, merino wool and rayon. “The trend now is a beautiful fit that shows off the weaving but is flattering to the wearer,” says the weaver. She is especially excited to be showing her Origami coat, which flares at the hip with a wide, undulating ruffle over a wide scalloped edge. “It’s a very sculptural look. The fullness starts below the waist, so it highlights the curve of the waist,” notes Palson. “I was driven to do it.” In subtle shadings of browns and blues, the Origami coat also comes in a punch of tropical colors.

Linda Kindler-Priest	Petra Class	Jeung Hwa Park

Kate Bishop’s Triton hat is a striking solid yellow, tingeing to green, with a contrasting edge in a rich but stark black. Whether in yellow, coral or black, Bishop’s newest hats twist and turn around the head, creating fans, swirls and spiraling turbans in a burst of saturated color. “They are intended to be more sculptural, bridging the gap between fashion and sculpture. I’ve always considered fashion as art,” states Bishop from her studio in Arizona. “As far as I know, I’m the only milliner using this material. It’s grass on the weft and thread on the warp. The grass is stiff but the thread is flexible. That’s what gives the sculptural effect.”

Bishop’s Triton hat is a solid punch of color that will have heads turning. Who can pull it off? “It’s all really about attitude. I sold a huge brimmed hat to a woman who was only four-feet-eleven, but she had the attitude.” The current collection includes hats made of woven grasses, banana-stalk fiber, copper and brass wire, feathers, and various silks and rayons. “Most of my hats are pretty extravagant but most are very wearable. If you look at the hats, you may think, ‘No, I can’t wear that,’ but if you put it on, you’ll say, ‘Yes, I can!’ ”

Other first-time exhibitors Linda Kindler Priest and Joyce Roessler were both profiled in the pages of Ornament during 2007 (Priest in Volume 31, No. 1 and Roessler in Volume 30, No. 5). And both have been working nonstop in their studios to prepare for the Smithsonian Craft Show. “I’ll be surrounded by the best,” says Roessler. “That pushes you to look at your work closely and do something more.” The glass artist and painter has been in the hot glass studio concentrating on new colors and refinements of her sculptural twisted-glass necklaces, which she makes with eighteen karat royal gold and freshwater pearls. Taking her work one step further, she is also exploring the idea of brooches, introducing new designs wearable as pendants and perhaps a brooch of her signature twisted tubes.

Starr Hagenbring	Susan Bradley	Kate Bishop

Priest dedicated one month to exploring new bracelets and one month to carrying forward her two-part brooches, which can be worn separately or together. In her Desert Walker cuff, a camel walks on sand-colored diamonds while curved lines suggest sand dunes on the silver bracelet, oxidized for texture. In a new two-piece brooch, colored stones, like bubbles, float down from a spotted trunkfish, a cartoonish fish with bulbous eyes. In another, a rabbit with a green tsavorite garnet and gold textures moves over a bottom opal with fine lines of green and blue, evoking images of grass. “It’s finding the right combination to carry through the imagery. The stones and the metal and the texture all work together to create a complete environment,” explains Priest. “It’s more than just surface. It’s a friendly environment that can be worn. Each piece is very much an expression of me.”

Also featured in Ornament during 2007 was veteran exhibitor Biba Schutz (Volume 30, No. 3). Schutz was one of three exhibitors who was juried into the show in two categories, which is really quite an accomplishment considering the competitiveness of the fourteen hundred applicants and the coveted one hundred twenty openings. She was accepted in both basketry and jewelry; pioneering polymer clay artist Kathleen Dustin delighted jurors in the jewelry and mixed-media categories; and metalsmith Hongsock Lee qualified in the jewelry and metal categories.

Matthew Hatala	Akira Sataki	Ronald Dekok

Some among this exclusive group of artists will hold “booth chats” during the show, a rare opportunity to talk with the artists and see how they work. During these in-booth demonstrations, visitors can ask questions and view firsthand the materials and techniques that the artist employs. “We would like to educate more people, especially the younger generation, who are the future collectors of craft,” notes Heidi Austreng, program coordinator for the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, which presents the show.