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PrintFour decades of great artisans and counting
Images courtesy of the Kenan Center.
Since 1970, the Kenan Center’s 100 American Craftsmen has never flagged in its mission of presenting quality craft art. As the Burchfield Penney properly recognized last fall by calling their show “Art in Craft Media,” often these artisans pack as much or more skill and creativity into their functional objects as their counterparts in the worlds of painting and sculpture.
The Kenan is celebrating this distinguished history by featuring four “master craftsmen” in this year’s show, and holding a companion exhibition that features respected artisans who have served as jurors for 100 AC in the Kenan Center’s gallery. Works by artists Carla Castellani, Nancy Belfer, Joseph Basjus, Ginny O’Brien Lohr, Deborah Stewart, Carol Townsend, Kevin Kegler, Robert Wood, and many others will be included in this show. The four master craftsmen to be recognized are Bryan Hopkins, Pat Reno, Sally Danforth, and Katherine Gullo. Artists from across the U.S. will be among the 108-plus participating in 100 AC.
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We can all be crafters—we can buy kits, visit a bead shop, or take a pottery workshop. But a trip to a show like the Kenan’s demonstrates that there is a higher echelon, that there are standards, and that there are a few artisans who manage to create objects that celebrate their raw materials with transcendent energy and confidence.
See for yourselves June 4–6 at the Kenan Center, 433 Locust Street in Lockport (433-2617, kenancenter.org).The companion exhibition is on view through July 11.
