Watershed Residency: One Year Later

The impact of a two-week residency at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts,
on the lives and work of 11 ceramic artists. Melissa G. Post, curator, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC; Lynn Thompson, director, Watershed, Maine.

Form and Process

David Watkins discusses the aesthetic
and technical developments in his jewelry through 2006. Watkins is professor and head of goldsmithing, silversmithing, metalwork & jewellery at the Royal
College of Art in London. He is represented at SOFA by Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon.
Presented by the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

Written Weed

Dutch artist Marian Bijlenga (Cervini Haas/Gallery Materia) talks about her personal collection of natural materials, arranged in her book, “Written Weed”, and their importance in her textile work.

Anyone CAN Make a Beautiful Brooch

Dutch artist Ted Noten (Ornamentum) will give an overview of ten years of work as "one of the most innovative jewellery designers working in the Netherlands today" (Gert Staal, former deputy director of the Netherlands Design Institute). While much of Noten's work crosses the lines from Jewelry to Art or Design, it is all created "through the neurotic eyes of a jewelry maker" - with a focus on the minute details.

As a special feature, the audience will be invited to "Chew Your Own Brooch" and spit out a self-sculpted artwork to be reviewed by an "all-star jury" tasked to choose gold, silver and bronze winners, whose designs will be made into wearable artworks by Noten himself.

Streamlined for Intricacy

Presented by The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture

Ticket and advance registration required. Contact programs@bgc.bard.edu, or
call: 212-501-3011

Streamlined design generated not only new and modern shapes for everyday items, but was also notable for introducing the use of new materials to create these items. Developed in the early 20th century, aluminum, Monel (a nickel alloy), and plastics including Bakelite, Plexiglass, and vinyl were well-suited for mass production techniques developed during the period, and also lent themselves to the creation of the fluid lines and rounded corners associated with the streamlined style.
Lily Kane will examine the use of new and non-traditional materials in craft, and will investigate the relationship between technological advancements and contemporary craft practices. A tour of selected galleries at SOFA and a viewing of objects highlighting these topics follows
the lecture. Lily Kane (B.A., Vassar
College) is the Director of Education at the American Craft Council, New York.

Two Practices, Four Lands, One World: The Work of David Bielander and Helen Britton

Bielander and Britton have a professional art jewelry practice in Europe, and will address issues relevant to the international jewelry community. They are represented
at SOFA by Jewelers' Werk Galerie. Presented by Art Jewelry Forum.

Gioeilli Ed Altro, Jewelry and More

World renowned Italian artist Giampaolo Babetto (Sienna Gallery) speaks about his concentrated, rich and minimal jewelry, object and design, from 1968 to the present.

A Fresh Vision of a Centuries-old Tradition

Fourteenth generation Japanese ceramist Katô Yasukage (Joan B. Mirviss Ltd.) discusses his quest to find his own vision within the celebrated tradition of oribe and shino ceramics.

Archetypes and Mutations

Léopold L. Foulem of Montréal, Québec, compares a selection of his works and historical ceramic prototypes, discussing their formal connections. Foulem is represented at SOFA by Dean Project.

Emergence: Early American Studio Glass and Its Influences

A rare exploration of the emergence of the American Studio Glass movement, presented by pioneers of the movement: artists Howard Ben Tre, Erwin Eisch, Michael Glancy, Marvin Lipofsky, Joel Philip Myers, Tom Patti, Richard Meitner and Toots Zynsky, all represented by Barry Friedman Gallery. Moderated by Tina Oldknow, Curator of Modern Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, NY.

The Three Tenures: Fifty Years of Craft, Art, and Design

On September 20, 1956 the Museum for Contemporary Crafts opened at 29 West 53rd in New York City. Fifty years later, the Museum of Arts & Design prepares to move into a new home at Two Columbus Circle. Both the institution and the field it represents have undergone dramatic changes. Join three of the Museum directors—Paul J. Smith, Janet Kardon, and Holly Hotchner--in an informal panel discussion moderated by curator David McFadden on how their visions shaped the institution, and how they perceive the past and future of our field.

The Perpetual Still Life

Beth Lipman (Heller Gallery) discusses the genre of still life and how it inspires her work in blown and solid glass.