Latifa Medjdoub

On final approach to its thirtieth anniversary in 2006, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show’s enduring standard is even more palpable this year, as it continues to honor the artistry of the handmade. Show Manager Nancy O’Meara has exceeded participant expectations year after year, through her vision and diligence, achieving success with this venue for sixteen years. It is evident that O’Meara’s own professional craftsmanship contributes to this accomplishment.

“The Craft Show is an all-around great event,” she reveals. “I am fortunate to know and work with so many talented and hardworking

Carolyn Morris Bach

committee members. The Craft Show Committee consists of one hundred plus women who volunteer their time to work on the many different facets of the show in addition to staffing it.” O’Meara also emphasizes that “the committee, the audience and the artists all make it work.” However, in addition, “Show management,” she says, “is concerned that we are not reaching all of the talent out there in our art world. The show is prestigious and competitive. The fact is that there are only one hundred ninety-five spots and over fourteen hundred applicants, and this may discourage some artists from applying.”

The traditional categories of media encompass basketry, ceramics, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, paper, wood, and decorative and wearable fiber. The one hundred ninety-five participating artists are selected from an assembly of over fourteen hundred hopeful applicants. Forty-three of these talented artists are new to the Philadelphia Craft Show. “I think the artists have their standards set at a high level,” comments Craft Show Committee Chairwoman Sally Sharkey, “because this is a timely, juried show that has built a reputation of being the best among similar shows.” In addition, and for the first time, twenty-six German guest artists have been invited to participate—this Guest Program lends an international flavor and adds to the Show’s reputation.

Judith Kinghorn

The lecture series and presentations this year are intriguing, with offerings in ancient and new age subjects such as the eastern healing practice of feng shui and incorporating physics into art. A feng shui artist discusses how to bring balance to crafts in the home, and a neuropsychologist addresses the vibration frequencies of handmade objects and their effect on people. Other more conventional topics include a jewelrymaking demonstration, a lesson from veteran fiber artist Randall Darwall on the process of tying a scarf and the different ways to wear it, as well as an experienced interior designer exploring the process of

Jane Herzenberg

decorating a home with handmade crafts.

Michael Allison

Jewelry artist Todd Reed founded his company in 1992 at the age of nineteen. A self-taught goldsmith, Reed crafts handforged jewelry using terrestrial materials, which results in a rawness and purity that is imparted to his pieces. Reed’s use of variegated uncut diamonds

Sequoia Miller

tessellated into higher karat gold and sterling silver expands on the characterization of fine jewelry and translates it into art jewelry. “I transform gold and diamonds into objects that challenge social perceptions about significance and beauty,” states Reed. He describes his work as geometric forms with organic textures and tones that dominate the broad scope of designs. He has been awarded First Place in Finished Jewelry at the 2005 Bench Jewelers Passion Award Design Competition; First Prize in Silver Distinction at the 2005 Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America’s annual American Vision Award Design Competition; as well as a 2005 Saul Bell Design Award.

Basket artist Rob Dobson creates pieces that are fueled by his upbringing. He comes, he says, from generations of thrifty and resourceful Scots and Swedes and uses this family-taught ethic to make art from salvaged materials. “Trash is only going to become a bigger and bigger issue in our lifetimes,” says Dobson. “It is imperative that we find more ways to recycle and reuse these discarded materials and artists can lead the way.” Dobson juxtaposes materials such as chrome and bamboo, which imparts propinquity to his deftly created art of found and unwanted materials.

Robert Mickelsen

Glass artist Cal Breed uses the traditional incalmo technique of joining multiple open-ended handblown bubbles. “I discovered the ability to highlight elements beyond that of color such as surface texture and optical path.” He describes his philosophy, as “the line becomes an important element to my design choices, as manipulation of form direct these lines in paths that bend light and cause color to reverberate through each piece.” Breed was given the 2004 NICHE Award for his Latitude vase.

Robert Mickelsen resists creating traditional forms of glass objects by using his subconscious thoughts, spontaneous fantasy and dreams to guide his abilities. Mickelsen uses the Swedish technique of graal, which is the layering of glass, colored or clear. This technique requires a combination of artistic talent, glassblowing skill and technical ability with hard physical work. His most recent work freely interprets marine life.

Barbara Minor Christopher Hentz

Just as colorful as marine life is the signature style of Barbara Ann Volk and Mik Wright. The two artists are combining their unique talents and integrating beadwork and gemstones with rare and unique leathers to create a new level of artistic expression through functional, rugged shoes and boots. While working as a Field Officer in Southern Africa, Wright was involved in a motorcycle accident, permanently damaging his knee; repair of this injury resulted in a reduction of the natural length of his right leg. With talent born out of necessity, Wright’s leatherwork abounds with bold colors and strong statements. His leather craft yields the one-of-kind style that is currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution.

Contributing to the colorful displays of fancy is the fiber art of Kara Jones. Jones creates a range of handbags using a wide variety of feathers from peacocks to pheasants that can be found throughout the world. The artist’s philosophy derives from a connectedness to one’s environment. “Every single part of your environment creates what you see. I have this sense that people gravitate toward my work not from a fashion or trend, but

Roberta & David Williamson

from someplace else.” The handbags are given names according to ancestral dynasties of China and India such as the Ming, Zong, Chan, Lotus, and Varaha—each representing power and purpose.

Other distinguished American artists chosen to partake in this year’s Show include jewelry artists Terri Logan, Barbara Heinrich, Marjorie Simon, Carolyn Morris Bach, Roberta and David Williamson, Judith Kinghorn, and Gail Crosman Moore; wearable fiber artists Deborah Cross, Mina Norton, Jane Herzenberg, Sonya Mackintosh, Sally Jones, K. Riley, Joanne Litz and Dennis Wolk; leather artists Michelle and Michael LaLonde; and metal artists Peter Diepenbrock, Barbara Minor and Christopher Hentz.

In 2001, the Committee added a component to the show designated as the Guest Artist Program. This year’s Guest Artists are from Germany and are given the opportunity to dazzle the Show’s spectators. The selection of German artists have been chosen in conjunction with the German Crafts Association Bundesverband Kunsthandwerk in adherence to the exacting standards of the Show’s juried selection process. The German guest artists will also participate

Todd Reed

in the front exhibition and silent auction themed Steins and Tankards, which associates Germany and Philadelphia. Artists create one-of-a-kind pieces based on the decided theme. This part of the venue is highly anticipated by both the Show’s artists and its visitors. Preceding this year’s German guest artist group were the Irish (2004), British (2003), Native Americans (2002), and Japanese (2001). Guest artists from Finland have been invited to participate in the 2006 Craft Show.

Some of the German artists are Firman Ackerman (Luneburg) and Bernd Goebel (Berlin), leather; Berthold Hoffmann (Nürnberg) and Helge Ott (München), metal; Ursula Hofmann (Nürnberg), Christiane Iken (Karlsruhe), Reinhard Kraus (Allershausen), Hilde Leiss (Hamburg), Eva Steinberg (Reiskirchen) and Erich Zimmerman (Aügsburg), jewelry; Joachim Lambrecht (Grossschonach) and Hendrik Schink (Rheinsberg), ceramics; Marianne Wurst (Oberdischingen), wearable fiber.

Bundesverband Kunsthandwerk member Eva Steinberg currently works as a freelance jewelry artist. “I am inspired by antique Roman glass beads coupled with twenty-one karat

Barbara Ann Volk Mik Wright

gold, fine gold and opal enamel.” Ceramicist Hendrik Schink is part of an art community from Berlin and Brandenburg. He dreamed of this opportunity to create unique sculptures using a very old technique producing pieces resembling marble mixed with glazed white china. Bead artist Ursula Hofmann uses tiny seed beads that originated from Bohemia and Venice, which are no longer produced. Hofmann depends on stocks of antique beads that she can acquire. This is very limited, resulting in jewelry that is highly unique and individual.

The Craft Show Committee and the Women’s Committee for the benefit of the Philadelphia Museum of Art present the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show annually. This event attracts over twenty-five thousand visitors to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia over a five-day period. Funds raised, usually several hundred thousand dollars to the Committee’s delight, are used to purchase works of art and crafts for the Museum’s permanent collections and in support of exhibitions and educational programs contributing to conservation and publication projects. “We are always aiming to pass our previous year’s goal,” Sally Sharkey concludes, “and last year we raised $405,000.”

Carolyn Morris Bach
Deborah Cross
Jane Herzenberg
Sally Jones
Judith Kinghorn
Michelle LaLonde
Terri Logan

Barbara Minor & Christopher Hentz
Gail Crosman Moore
Mina Norton
K. Riley
Marjorie Simon
Sonya Mackintosh
Roberta & David Williamson