Brooch of Honor

Check out this great blog review of Robert Ebendorf - an amazing jeweler, teach and person. Bob has done a lot with SCC - including being part of our permanent collection - and we are so happy for him receiving this big award!

Brooch of Honor

Robert Ebendorf, She likes long cut brooch

Handmade Arcade will be held in Spring 2011!

If you are a Pittsburgher you probably look forward to doing a lot of your holiday shopping at the Handmade Arcade, typically held in November or December. Sadly, this event has been postponed until Spring of 2011. Don't fret! They have a new website that provides a great list of upcoming craft fairs and great places to shop handmade around town!

And don't forget to check back to find out when and where Handmade Arcade will be held in 2011!

Bike Meet-Up

We're having a Bike Meet-Up tomorrow at our gallery in the Strip from 12 - 4 pm. 2100 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh PA 15201. We will be joined by Bike PGH, Dirt Rag Magazine and artist Casey Droege. Also Right By Nature is donating dozens of Banana's for everyone to enjoy. MMMM...good!

Bike Hat by Casey Droege!

Embracing the DIY Movement

Check out this interview I did for the American Craft Magazine Blog!

DIY Review in the Pittsburgh Tribune!

We got a review in the Pittsburgh Trib! Check it out!

Two RE-POSTs featuring New Works by Kate Mac Dowell

I wanted to re-post these blogs that I found on Hi Fructose Magazine and My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses. These blogs highlight some of the newest work by ceramic artist Kate MacDowell, who is currently being featured in DIY: A Revolution in Handicraft at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh.

Hi Fructose Magazine Blog: New Works by Kate MacDowell Written by Ken    Friday, 08 October 2010 19:06

'Badgered' Since we last saw sculptor Kate MacDowell back in Hi-Fructose Vol. 15, the artist, well regarded for her worldly travels, has been busy working on a couple exhibitions, all opening this month.  With pieces now on view at Art London with bo-lee gallery, Showoff Paris with Galerie Vanessa Quang and the compelling-looking 'Animal Instinct: Allegory, Allusion, and Anthropomorphism' at the John Michael Koehler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  MacDowell recently sent us a first-look at a few of the pieces that will be on display throughout this month, view them here on Hi-Fructose. 'Stillborn' 'Locusts' 'Taste' RE-Post from My Love For You Is A Stampede Of Horses October 11, 2010: New Work: Kate MacDowell. I noticed one of my favorite sculptors, Kate MacDowell had new work on the Hi-Fructose blog on Friday. I asked her to share with us some of her newer work as well. As always, Kate was as helpful and kind as ever not only sending over newer work but sharing with us her current installation "Clay Pigeons". Inspired in part by target shooting and the mass extinction of passenger pigeons. And some shots from a few different angles of her new works: Entangled. Entangled (back). Entangled. (top) Only You Can Prevent. Only You Can Prevent (side).

Crocheted Coral Reef

Introducing Sharon Massey, Store Manager at the Society for Contemporary Craft.

 Last weekend I went with a few other SCC staff members to the “Crafting a Nation” conference in Washington, DC.  It was great to be immersed in craft dialogue for two full days, and there were a range of topics that have been on my mind since returning home to Pittsburgh. 

One of my favorite topics was discussed during the Crafty Science conversation—the “Hyberbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project.”  This is an installation that combines a traditional feminine handicraft (crochet), environmental awareness (the endangerment of the world’s coral reefs), math (hyberbolic geometry), and community (the reefs are crocheted by any interested community members).  The result is a huge, beautiful, handmade installation of a yarn coral reef.  The project was created by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring, and has been created as “satellite” reefs in cities across the US, as well as Europe, Australia, and Africa.

"Crochet Coral and Anemone Garden" with sea slug by Marianne Midelburg.
Photos © The IFF by Alyssa Gorelick.

As a novice crochet enthusiast myself, I was excited by the images of the reefs, complete with bizarre color combinations and complex variations on the hyberbolic patterns, creating endless shapes and forms.  I was also excited by the images of community involvement that the project generates—grandmothers crocheting with their grandchildren, couples crocheting together, artists working next to people to never realized they could contribute to a work of art.  I am inspired to get my hooks out this winter and start crocheting some hyberbolic forms!  Who knows, maybe one day Pittsburgh will host a hyberbolic crochet coral reef.

Orange brain coral with urchins.

Re-Post: Featured Crafters Ursula Minervini and Jon Poliszuk

I am really excited to re-post this interview by Baltimore By Hand with Ursula Minervini and Jon Poliszuk of Pellinore Press. Why? Because many years ago when I was a young thing going to college in Baltimore I was given the opportunity to curate shows for a couple of months at a coffee shop. My good friend Larry Scott, an amazing artist, wanted a break from it so he could focus on his work. I had the distinct pleasure of inviting Ursula and her friend Molly Winston to have a show. They were both attending the Maryland Institute College of Art and studying printmaking at the time. It is wonderful to see her having such success doing what she loves! I'm not ignoring Jon, I just don't know him. So kudos to Pellinore Press! Keep up the good work!

Check out the interview here!

Cycle to the Strip District

Since 2009, BikePGH’s Car Free Fridays has been challenging commuters to find alternative transportation options, focusing on one neighborhood or municipality every month. Just a bike ride or walk away from SCC, Lawrenceville will be highlighted during the month of October.  To coincide with Bike PGH's Lawrenceville feature, SCC is hosting a Bike meet-up at our main gallery space on October 23, from 12 - 4 pm. Representatives by Bike PGH and Dirt Rag magazine will be present to chat with visitors about their programs, products, and cycling in Western PA. Fiber artist Casey DrogeThe Store. will be in the gallery demonstrating the creation of her amazing, handmade bike accessories, available for sale along with a wealth of other bike-related craft items in The Store.

Ceramic plate with bike decal by Justin Rothshank

Other great places to visit during your bike trip to the Strip:

Pittsburgh Public Market: Located between 16th and 17th Streets on Smallman Street in the Strip. Everything you need and want all in one place. Come and get it - the goodness of locally grown food, fresh-baked goods, handmade crafts - everything’s here.

Enrico Biscotti: Great restaurant and bakery with to-die-for giant cookies for only $1

Penn Mac: 2012 Penn Avenue, everything Italian including huge vats of oil and vinegar that you can pour yourself.

 

Wholey's: Fish and meat market, only for the hardcore grocery store shopper.

RE-POST: diy, YOU DON'T SAY?!

This  is a complete re-post from the I Made It Market blog!!! What a great review by Nina!

If you haven’t had a chance already you should definitely go and check out the DIY : A REVOLUTION IN HANDICRAFTS at the Society of Contemporary Craft in the Strip District.  Seriously CHECK IT OUT!! It opened a few Fridays ago and I made it to the opening ( there were some YUMMY CUPCAKES) and I haven’t had a chance to write about it. Luckily, the show is up until March 26, 2011. It is a MAJOR  exhibition which includes works by 15 contemporary artists from the US, Canada, and England. It is not just handmade goods but items/art that explore issues relating to politics, environmentalism, community and a redefining of a producer/consumer relationship.
I loved SCC’s alternative exhibition space EAT: An Art Space About Food. The work shown is by Lauren Venell of Sweet Meats. This San Francisco designer  formed Sweet Meats to share her concern with environmental and social responsibility.
recycled dyeing ingredients.

DIY is not a new hipster thing – it evolved out of the need for cost-saving lifestyles. DIY (or “Do It Yourself”) emerged in the US as a concept in the 1950s and took root as a definitive subculture in urban centers during the 1970s and could be identified as an international movement by the 1990s.

While there are  AMAZING work from all over- Tugboat Printshop has their AMAZING piece 
“America the Beautiful” in it.