Where to Find the Best Exhibitions

August 2009 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 69, October 2009 | 1 COMMENT

There are too many top-notch American craft museums across the country to list them all. Instead, we’ve gathered a sampling of medium-specific museums, where you’ll find everything from fine art glass to the leading Native American art collections.

CERAMICS

American Museum of Ceramic Art
Pomona, Calif.

Arizona State University Art Museum’s Ceramic Research Center
Tempe, Ariz.

Gardiner Museum
Toronto, Ont., Canada

The Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art
Alfred, N.Y.

FIBER

International Quilt Study Center and Museum
Lincoln, Neb.

La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum
La Conner, Wash.

The National Quilt Museum
Paducah, Ky.

New England Quilt Museum
Lowell, Mass.

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum
Golden, Colo.

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
San Jose, Calif.

The Textile Museum
Washington, D.C.

Textile Museum of Canada
Toronto, Ont., Canada

Virginia Quilt Museum
Harrisonburg, Va.

FOLK ART

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum
Williamsburg, Va.

American Folk Art Museum
New York, N.Y.

American Visionary Art Museum
Baltimore, Md.

Craft and Folk Art Museum
Los Angeles, Calif.

The Mennello Museum of American Art
Orlando, Fla.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art
San Francisco, Calif.

Museum of International Folk Art
Santa Fe, N.M.

Shelburne Museum
Shelburne, Vt.

GLASS

Corning Museum of Glass
Corning, N.Y.

Museum of American Glass at WheatonArts
Millville, N.J.

Museum of Glass
Tacoma, Wash.

METAL/JEWELRY

National Ornamental Metal Museum
Memphis, Tenn.

NATIVE AMERICAN ART

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
Indianapolis, Ind.

Heard Museum
Phoenix, Ariz.

Heard Museum North Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Ariz.

Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Museum
Santa Fe, N.M.

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
Spokane, Wash.

Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
Washington, D.C., and New York, N.Y.

Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Santa Fe, N.M.

WOOD

Wharton Esherick Museum
Paoli, Pa.

In the Know

August 2009 | BY admin | Issue 69, October 2009 | NO COMMENTS

Openings are a great way to connect with artists and like-minded collectors. Armstrong’s Gallery in Pomona, Calif., saw a large turnout for its “Natural Connections” opening in April. The work drew new associations between the human condition and the natural world, as illustrated in Susan Clusener’s coil-built “Half Apple.”

For many collectors, the owners of their favorite galleries have become much more than familiar faces–they are friends, confidants and mentors. These experts tip them off on the next big names, arrange meetings with artists and even offer in-home design advice. Gallery owners and art show directors work tirelessly to achieve a single goal: connect the client with the work.

To give you an idea of what’s happening in craft around the country, we’ve asked seasoned gallery owners and show directors for their take on the latest trends and hottest artists. Years of noting customers’ likes and dislikes, watching artists grow and scouting emerging talent have left these experts with a wealth of information.

Although the struggling economy has touched every industry, gallerists continue to offer the best—simply at adjusted price points. Christina Meyer, owner of The Dancing Hands Gallery in Park City, Utah, has seen a surge in clay, and notes that the collector’s eye is becoming more refined. “They’re not looking for functional. They’re looking for pieces that ‘speak,’ ” she says.

Sherrie Riley Hawk of Sherrie Gallerie in Columbus, Ohio, agrees. She shifted gears from glass to contemporary ceramics and art jewelry five years ago.“I loved the glass, but I saw the same expression in clay,” without the price tag to match, she explains.

Collectors are still drawn to certain pieces, Meyer continues, but they are not making impulse purchases.“Now we’re taking four or five pieces down and looking at them. It’s more of a qualified decision.”

• Web Exclusive: Where to Find the Best Exhibitions
• Web Exclusive: Locating Like-Minded Collectors
• Web Exclusive: Hands-on Experiences

For more of “In the Know,” pick up the October 2009 issue of AmericanStyle today!

Editor’s Note: Rallying Cry for the Arts

August 2009 | BY Hope Daniels | Issue 69, October 2009 | NO COMMENTS

The new East Wing at The Cleveland Museum of Art. Credit: Rafael Vinoly Architects / © Brad Feinknopf

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a little skeptical of surveys. Just who is this 3 percent of the population contacted to speak authoritatively for the other speechless 97 percent of us? I’ve never once been asked to participate. Have you?

The current target of my irritation is the National Endowment for the Arts, which just released new data showing that audiences for the arts are dwindling. If you take the findings in its “Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey” brochure at face value, the facts are admittedly a little depressing: persistent patterns of decline in participation in most art forms; aging audiences as a long-term trend; educated Americans participating less than before.

But in sheer numbers, that still translates into nearly 35 percent of U.S. adults—or an estimated 78 million people—who attended an art museum or arts performance in the 2008 survey period. Throw in the fact that this timeframe coincides with one of the worst recessions America has endured since the 1930s, and I think these numbers are actually something we should shout about, not decry.

It’s not like art museums are going to go away anytime soon. Our fall arts preview coverage in this issue points to just the opposite: brand new museum spaces that are attracting hordes of arts lovers all across the country, as well as a seasonal arts calendar jammed full of exciting exhibitions, expositions and events.

What’s an arts lover to do? In a word, participate! And if you really want to be a change agent, make it your mission to cultivate the same passion you feel for the arts in your children, younger relatives, the neighbor’s kids, office colleagues and friends.

Maybe one of the reasons aging audiences, as the NEA maintains, are a long-term trend is that the older adults haven’t done enough to share their commitment. So if not now, when? I’d say that’s one mandate worth getting really excited about.

Hope Daniels
Editor-In-Chief

Portfolio: Piece by Piece

August 2009 | BY Gayle Hargreaves | Issue 69, October 2009 | NO COMMENTS

Judith Larzelere calls “Landscape Pieces” an experimental work with solid blocks of color.

Waves surge from a fractured surface, slamming into wedges of blue and yellow near the top of Judith Larzelere’s monumental work, “Tsunami.” The piece, inspired by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, is too large to display in the artist’s home in Westerly, R.I., and is often on loan for exhibition elsewhere. So Larzelere uses photos to point out a streak of red that slashes across the piece.“This is energy,” she says. “Here is this moment that is setting up everything that’s going to unfold later.”

Row upon row of narrow rectangles in related hues, broken at odd intervals by bands of contrasting colors, generate a constant sense of movement. There is line here, as well as pattern, form and texture. Although she’s trained in painting, Larzelere’s medium of choice isn’t what you’d expect. Like most of the works she has created since the late 1970s,“Tsunami” is an art quilt.

Judith Larzelere at work in her studio.

Waves surge from a fractured surface, slamming into wedges of blue and yellow near the top of Judith Larzelere’s monumental work, “Tsunami.” The piece, inspired by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, is too large to display in the artist’s home in Westerly, R.I., and is often on loan for exhibition elsewhere. So Larzelere uses photos to point out a streak of red that slashes across the piece.“This is energy,” she says. “Here is this moment that is setting up everything that’s going to unfold later.”

Row upon row of narrow rectangles in related hues, broken at odd intervals by bands of contrasting colors, generate a constant sense of movement. There is line here, as well as pattern, form and texture. Although she’s trained in painting, Larzelere’s medium of choice isn’t what you’d expect. Like most of the works she has created since the late 1970s,“Tsunami” is an art quilt.

Larzelere’s path to quiltmaking took many turns. Born and raised in Michigan, she studied anthropology at Radcliffe College and the University of Michigan, graduating in 1967. After her children were born, she began looking for a career that she could pursue at home. When her husband took a position back east, Larzelere enrolled in the master’s program at Rutgers University, majoring in painting and graduating in 1974.

For more of “Portfolio: Piece by Piece,” pick up the October 2009 issue of AmericanStyle today!

Parting Shot: Nightlights

August 2009 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 69, October 2009 | NO COMMENTS

Credit: The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Inc.

Glowing nylon luminaries fill the landscape like larger-than-life ornaments on an 80-acre Christmas tree: snowmen, bumble bees, elephants, wicked witches—some hovering as high as 100 feet. The “Balloon Glow” events are among the most popular at the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. What began in 1972 with 13 balloons in a shopping mall parking lot has turned into a grand nine-day production that draws 700,000 visitors and 700 balloons from around the world. Taking place Oct. 3-11 this year, about seven miles from downtown Albuquerque, N.M., the Fiesta features morning “Mass Ascensions,” when hundreds of balloons simultaneously take to the skies; “America’s Challenge,” a long-distance balloon race that lasts three days; a chainsaw wood-carving contest; and several evening “Balloon Glow” events, which are followed by fireworks displays. For more information, visit www.balloonfiesta.com.

Behind the (Museum’s) Curtain

August 2009 | BY admin | Issue 68, October 2009 | NO COMMENTS

Have you ever wanted to go behind the scenes at a museum and learn firsthand how a large-scale exhibition is organized? Look no further than the “Docent for a Day” program, a partnership between the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North and the Heard Museum’s Phoenix and Scottsdale campuses in Arizona.

The program leads you on a personal tour of the Heard Museum North Scottsdale in the morning, and treks you to the Heard Museum in Phoenix for lunch at the Arcadia Farms Cafe and a behind-the-scenes tour of an exhibition of your choice. A staff expert will reveal the processes behind mounting and assembling the exhibition, before leaving you with a savvy representative at the museum’s shop.

The tour costs $250 per person or $450 for a couple, and includes yearlong museum membership. Transportation can be arranged by the Four Seasons for an additional fee. For details, call the concierge at 480-513-5075 or visit www.fourseasons.com/scottsdale.

Arts Travel: Art, All Night

August 2009 | BY admin | Issue 69, October 2009 | NO COMMENTS

From sunset to sunrise Oct. 3,Toronto celebrates an awe-inspiring array of contemporary art during its fourth annual “Sleepless Night.” Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2009 has organized 46 exhibition installations by 280 artists for an estimated 1 million visitors.

If you’re ready to get out of bed and hit the pavement, look for a few key highlights in the curated exhibition zones.

Zone A, which surrounds City Hall, offers Gregory Elgstrand’s “The Circle with a Hole in the Middle,” a place “where the festival becomes nothing less than a circus of ideas.” Look up into the night sky through Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit” sculpture, or transform your voice into a soundscape in “The Sonic Fun House.”

In Zone A, around Yonge and Dundas,Thom Sokoloski will create a space where the public can engage with art directly. The “Graffiti Research Lab” paints buildings with light, and “Ice Queen: Glacial Retreat Dress Tent,” a group installation, explores global warming and the female perspective through a 10-foot iceberg dress.

Jim Drobnick and Jennifer Fisher curate “Nightsense” in Zone B in the financial district, which will include a performance of “Monopoly with Real Money” and Ryan Stec’s “Bright Lights Big City,” a city-wide synaesthetic experience.

In Makiko Hara’s Zone C,“Urban Disaster/Catastrophe/Survival Actions” in Liberty Village, look for Oswaldo Maciá’s sound installation “Surrounded in Tears, 2004-2009,” and “The Lost and Found Forest,” where you walk through nails, string and sound only to find yourself back on the city streets.

For the complete list of installations and events, visit www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca.