Get Out of Hand with Us!

A limited number of tickets remain—order yours online or call 412.261.7003 today!  

Kat Cole, Tin Brooch/Steel Converter Necklace. In this year's silent auction!

SCC’s annual fundraiser celebrates all things handmade with hands-on art-making, a top-quality silent auction filled with artist-made objects as well as art-related packages handpicked for this event, time to watch amazing artists demonstrate their craft, delicious specialty fare provided courtesy of Pittsburgh restaurants and food purveyors, live music and other entertainment.

Guests getting hands-on! Photo: Nerds Behind the Lens

The night is going to heat up fast with LIVE blacksmithing, raku pottery, and open-flame glass bead-making demonstrations with artists Robert Burns, Dan Kuhn and Darlene Durrwachter-Rushing. As the sun drops below the riverbank, grab a drink and sample the tastes of the Strip District while taking stock of more than 100 silent auction items, such as Jason Forck’s piece On the Surface—a stunning textured glass sculpture that mimics the intricate pattern of tree bark—or jeweler Kat Cole’s stunning and convertible Tin Brooch/Steel Converter Necklace. Before the evening is over, try your own hand at making with SCC artists at one of our 7 hands-on stations. 

Roger Barbour Jazz Trio. Photo: Nerds Behind the Lens

All proceeds support free arts programming for the community. Click here to preview select items appearing in the auction.If you see something you can’t live without, BUY-IT-NOW.

OUT OF HAND

Saturday, April 14, 6:30—10 pm

SCC, 21^st & Smallman streets

$185 per person/$325 for VIP Patrons

Please R.S.V.P. by March 30

A guest trying her hand at wood turning. Photo: Nerds Behind the Lens

Bo Bedilion, Covered Jar - In this years silent auction!

UK artist Alex Raphael comes to SCC!

Exhibition of Enamel Jewelry: March 30-June 30, 2012

Free Artist Talk: Friday, March 30, 6 pm (Reception: 5:30-7:30 pm)

Join us for this special opportunity to meet and hear from Alexandra (Alex) Raphael, a gifted artist who has perfected the ancient craft of enameling over many years. Largely self-taught, she specializes in plique-à-jour (backless enamel) and cloisonné jewelry. 

Alex's talk will reflect on the experience of growing up with SCC Founder Elizabeth R. Raphael as her mother and how this influenced her artwork. She will also speak about her new "Celestial Dream Series," which showcases the delicate ethereal images in rich colors reflected within gold and silver that can be achieved with the challenging plique-à-jour technique.

Necklace for my Mother, Gold and silver cloisonné enamel with tourmaline on lapis and silver beads

 

Necklace for my Mother, Gold and silver cloisonné enamel with tourmaline on lapis and silver beads

The depth and meaning of images in Alex's jewelry are often personalized for the wearer. This necklace, created in memory of the artist's mother, depicts: "eclipse of the sun with date of my birth, windows (from our first house), zodiac signs, acorn (representing our community of Oakmont), bee representing Mother - always busy as a bee and her initial, the letter "B", water, the word "STAY", phases of the moon, stars, and my hand holding a drop of blood."

Alexandra's latest collection of gold and silver cloisonné jewelry reflects the individual style for which she is well known. From ancient times, the mystical properties of stones are held as precious talismans. In her new three-dimensional "Within the Stone" series, she entices you into the magic and powers of the jewel. Looking through the stones there are delicate pictures drawn in gold and silver cloisonné, with the stones’ facets changing the reflective image.

Silver and gold cloisonné earrings with foils and natural pearl drop. 1"x 3" long. Photo by Richard Valence.

In her new "Study in Grey" series, her imaginative use of reflective gold and silver foils change her colors as they flow across the surface with warmth of the gold and the cold of the silver.

Alexandra's amazing enamels have won her numerous prizes worldwide, and are in the permanent collections of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths as well as the Musée Municipal de l'Évêché (Limoges, France), Musee de l’Horlogerie (Geneva), and the All- Russian Decorative-Applied and Folk Art Museum (Moscow).

The exhibition of Alexandra Raphael's work and her March 30 talk are signature events of SCC's 40th anniversary year. The talk is free of charge, but we ask that you R.S.V.P. in advance to 412.261.7003, x12, or development@contemporarycraft.org.

Keep your pants up!

This weekend I had the pleasure of taking a Belt Buckle making class with instructor Sharon Massey of Jewelry N'at at SCC.


After some confusion involving not knowing that Day Light Savings time occurred, I managed to get to SCC just in time for the 8 hour workshop. I've taken a class with Sharon before and loved her teaching style - flexible, accessible, and extremely knowledgeable - so I was looking forward to spending the day gabbing and sawing.

Sharon Massey's Belt buckle entry for the World Championship Belt buckle Competition!

In 8 hours our small group designed, constructed and finished our very own belt buckles. It has been 8+ years since I did any small metals constructing, so I found all of the cutting challenging. I think I broke a record number of saw blades, but I am very happy with how it turned out in the end. The pieces we made were fabricated from brass and copper, primarily, with some nickel and found tin. We also used a liver of sulphur concoction to patina the copper a deep black, which added a nice contrast. To secure all of the layers we used both a sweat soldering technique as well as a variety of riveting techniques.

This one is mine. I was thinking old western meets modern city = Urban Pioneer. 

What was especially nice about this class was the small size, which allowed us each to work one-on-one with the instructor when we needed to, keep our own pace, and kept us from having to fight for tools or wait in line to solder. All in all I can't think of a better way to have spent my Sunday.

One of the other students brought in her own Dale's Pale Ale can to use. It turned out great!

The Art of Transformation

By Lucy Peterson, SCC Intern

On Friday, February 3^rd, the 8^th installment of SCC’s Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize Exhibition, Transformation 8: Contemporary Works in Small Metals, was unveiled to the public! Raphael Prize-winner Meghan Patrice Riley traveled to Pittsburgh from her New York City studio to attend the opening reception and accept the award, comprising a $5,000 cash prize and the purchase of her winning piece, Interstitial, for SCC’s permanent collection.

Bisected-Cones
Part of the Transformation 8 Exhibition

During the reception, Riley delivered an excellent talk about her work and artistic process. In case you missed it, you can check out a video recording of her remarks on SCC’s You Tube page.

Riley draws inspiration from her background in mathematics and geometry and it definitely shows in each of her pieces. Born in Anaheim, CA, she studied economics and fine art in Toulouse, France before completing her B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002. To create her independent line, she joined a collective art studio in San Francisco’s emerging Mission District, where she held open studios and art shows, before relocating to her present space in New York.

Mobius-Strip and Bottle-Cap Earrings, 2011

About her winning piece, Interstitial, Riley says, “I want to show the starts and stops by creating a circular neckpiece reflecting a cycle. Counterclockwise the bottom right starts with an arrow leading the viewer to the top where there is a tipping point, and then coming around to the bottom a crescendo of interconnected, volumetric Möbius strips that cycle back to the origin. The Möbius strips are non-orientable and therefore have one side, illustrating an additional layer to the cyclical aspect of the piece.”

Meghan Patrice Riley, Interstitial, 2011
Raphael Founder's Prize Winning Piece

I was lucky enough to sit in on the final stage of jurying for Transformation 8 and got to handle Riley’s winning piece myself. I have to admit, I was wary of handling the necklace because it looked so fragile and delicate. Once I picked it up, though, I was pleasantly surprised! Not only light and wearable, it felt almost electric from the moment I picked it up; the gold beads jumped along the wires as I interacted with it. All of the jurors seemed to feel the same way about the piece, commenting about its transformative nature as you look at it, handle it and wear it. Juror Bruce Pepich might have put it best when he described Riley’s work as “a three dimensional drawing” reminiscent of “a jazz riff.” Other words I heard repeated about Riley’s piece were “refreshing”, “whimsical” and “transformative”. It was really fascinating listening to the comments of each juror as they approached their final decision and even more interesting to watch each of them respond so similarly to Riley’s piece after having a chance to handle it!

One Triangle, 2011
Part of the Transformation 8 Exhibition

The 33 outstanding finalists for the Raphael Prize submitted works that somehow address the theme of transformation and Riley’s winning necklace certainly accomplishes this in the way it continuously transforms on the wearer’s body. Because of its flexible nature, it looked slightly different, but equally stunning, on each juror that tried it on and I think that’s part of the real beauty of this piece. Transformation 8 features seven pieces of Riley’s jewelry, most of which can be purchased and taken home after the exhibition closes on June 30, 2012. In each work she mixes fine and industrial metals to fashion both a delicate and durable end product.

Bow-tie Necklace from the Axis Mundi line

Curious about her other bodies of work? Stop by SCC’s Store to see some colorful wire pieces from her 2011 Axis Mundi line that you wouldn’t have to wait to take home!

Descend Earrings from the Axis Mundi line

Bio-Organically Inspired Jewelry

The work of Jillian Moore is bright and colorful, shiny and bold. It can also be slightly disturbing in that it-looks-like-something-that-is-supposed-to-gross-me-out-but-I-don't-want-to-look-away kind of ways. Moore creates wearable pieces that abstractly reference biology. Working from micro to macro, her objects mimic that which is too small to be seen, such as viruses and bacterias, and that which is contained within our bodies. The glossy finishes accentuate the organic forms of organs and microorganisms, giving them the slimy and slick appearance one might expect of such unfamiliar anatomies.

Having earned her MFA in Jewelry and Metal Arts from the University of Iowa on the coat tails of having completed a BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from Western Illinois University one might expect to recognize more metal  in her pieces. The truth is, it is often difficult to parse out exactly what materials are used in making these extraordinary objects. I admit, I found the lack of material definition immediately provocative. As a jack-of-all-trades maker, I often examine closely the type of materials artists use, the technique and appropriateness for both, but Moore's work is not willing to be so easily read. Pieces that appear to made from great gobs of glass and to have great weight prove themselves to be nearly weightless and far less fragile than expected. Free-standing objects have such movement that they appear to be boyant, yet they are heavy with the copper form that lies deep under many layers of paint.

In her artist statement, Jillian addresses her choice of materials and techniques, "I choose materials and techniques that are transformative, resulting in objects that do not readily reveal the processes of their making. Copper may be hidden under layers of paint, the only exposed metal oxidized. The electro-forming process allows for wax forms to be coated in copper leaving a hollow shell with textural encrustations--evidence of the accretive nature of the process of building copper on a molecular level. The resin pieces are light in weight, built on a core of carved foam that is strengthened by successive layers of an opaque, water-based composite resin. The clear epoxy resin is then layered with paint to create a depth of surface typically expected of glass work."

Jillian Moore is currently a participating artist in the Elizabeth R Raphael Founder's Prize Exhibition, on view in SCC's Main Gallery. She is also being featured in our Store. All of the works pictured in this blog are available for sale. Please call 412-261-7003 x 16, or email theStore@contemporarycraft.org to inquire about purchasing.

From a teacher's perspective

By Leisa Rich, Artist and SCC Instructor


I taught my first art class during the summer of 1975. The school district where I lived was looking for a summer school weaving teacher and I had just learned to weave. As I remember it, my students were around aged 8-88. I was all of 15 years old. I loved every minute as we built frame looms, wound warps and wove traditional tapestries using contemporary approaches.


While I don’t teach weaving anymore, I still teach, and I still love it. When the opportunity came up to teach at the Society for Contemporary Craft, I was thrilled. Of course, new to the SCC, I didn’t know what to expect. What I got was a professional experience teaching creative and interested students in a fantastic setting. Everyone bent over backward to make it positive for myself, and for the students.


I am an engaging teacher. I like to give my students value, so I make sure that I meet as many needs as I possibly can. I set out to make Freeing Motion- a two-day workshop featuring the technique of machine embroidery- about learning a variety of processes, experimentation using new products and materials, and to nurture each student’s personal, artistic discovery. Each student came to class with a different perspective, different ideas, and different approaches. I guided them in how to use their new-found stitching knowledge and apply it to their own works.


We started with some simple stitches:

Added in a variety of products to stiffen, transfer and create 3 dimensional shapes:

And ended up at the end of 2 days with some new ideas…and new friends!

In the book classes I taught, Judge A Book By Its Cover and Beyond A Book’s Boundaries, students were encouraged to stretch the concept of “book” and approach it from a sculptural perspective.

I brought a variety of found objects, materials, samples and templates, as well as techniques that could be accomplished in one day, to help the creative juices flow. The ideas that came out were extraordinary! To accomplish this much in one day is a credit to the talent of the students.

We transferred images onto canvas cloth and heat transfer papers, sliced, diced, folded, built, paint, burnished, stitched, waxed and more!

And made even more new friends!

It was a wonderful experience, and one I sure hope to repeat soon! I love Pittsburgh!


Leisa Rich holds a BFA in fibers from the University of Michigan; a BA in Art Education from the University of Western Ontario; and an MFA in Fibers from the School of Visual Art at the University of North Texas. She has exhibited extensively throughout the US, Canada, and abroad. Currently, Rich lives and teaches in Atlanta, Georgia at the Galloway School and the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. 

Humor in Craft

I'm so excited that we are finally able to talk about this, now that the publisher has officially released it. Crafthaus Editor Brigitte Martin's new book Humor in Craft can now be pre-ordered and will be available in March, 2012. 


Book Description:

"What happens when professional craft artists are allowed to let loose – when they get to explore their mischievous and irreverent sides? Find out in this groundbreaking book, which, for the very first time, reveals an entirely different side of "serious" craft. Hundreds of images and essays from all over the world allow you to gain insight into the creative minds of contemporary artists like never before. A variety of traditional craft media are shown, such as furniture, ceramics, glass, fiber, jewelry, and metal, as well as a number of unique, nontraditional techniques. Even a bus shelter in London gets a creative make-over that's sure to make you smile! The topics range from the playful to the serious, but the message is always most enjoyable. Humor in Craft is a treasure trove for craft aficionados and humor enthusiasts alike."

You might be asking yourself, aside from being awesome in general, what does this mean for SCC? Well, I'm glad you asked — we are currently working with Brigitte to curate an exhibition called Humor in Craft. That's right. It'll make you want to cry...with laughter! Stay tuned for more info as the show gets shaped!

How many ways can you say ‘I Love You’?

Contemporary Creativity Symposium: 

February 3: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

February 4: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Artists Dana Sperry and Natalya Pinchuk will lead a day and a half long idea generation workshop that asks a simple question: How many different, fresh and unconventional ways can you say “I Love You” with jewelry? Participants will leave this workshop with unusual and unique answers to jewelry design. These answers will be in drawing, writing and primitive model format, acting as fuel for future development. This symposium coincides with the opening of the Transformation 8 exhibition, and participants will include Transformation 8 artists Robert Ebendorf and Daniel DiCaprio. Don't miss this one-time opportunity to learn with some of the leading metalsmiths working in the field today. The cost of this symposium is $150, with a $5 materials fee. To register email thestudio@contemporarycraft.org or call Sherrard Bostwick at 412.261.7003 x25.


Dana is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Digital Media at Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio. His work can be found in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and The Kinsey Institute.

Natalya  earned her MFA in Jewelry Design and Metals from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2005. Her work can be found in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design

Charlotte, NC, as well as numerous publications. Pinchuck also served on the jury panel for Transformation 8: Contemporary Works in Small Metals, opening at SCC in February. 

Natalya and Dana (donning a piece by Natalya)

AAP 101st Annual Exhibition

For the first time ever, Contemporary Craft is hosting the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (AAP) Annual Exhibition. AAP is an artist-run organization with over 550 artist members living within a 150 mile radius of Pittsburgh. It is one of the most esteemed artist-member organizations in the country, having produced a major museum exhibition of members’ work every year for over 100 years. I guess this year is the tipping point, being the 101st annual. 

Ron Bayuzick, Art Rover, Chiz Exhibition Award,Mixed Media

This years exhibition was Juried by nationally known artist, designer, independent curator and educator Fo Wilson. AAP’s 101st Annual Exhibition features 45 works, selected from more than 300 submissions, that reflect the intersection of art, craft media and design, which is the intention of this year’s collaboration between AAP and SCC. The exhibition includes many media and presents a strong overview of the variety of techniques and artistic talent within AAP’s membership. 

David Montano, Monument 1 & 2

, Carnegie Purchase Award

, Mixed media 

The exhibition is on view through January 14th, so be sure to stop on in and take a look, or see the full show online. 

Jane Ogren, Mixed Media #227, Fiber

Woven Installations

Ann Coddington Rast is an Associate Professor at Eastern Illinois University. She is also an amazing fiber artist. Working with techniques of twining, basketry, and weaving, she creates gestural sculptures that echo the familiar. By grouping various pieces together, Rast constructs subtle wall installations that evoke a narrative that is felt more than it is understood.  In the installation entitled mother/memory, individual pieces are reminiscent of lovingly knit mittens, gathered sustenance and shelter – all of which come together to induce a visceral reaction, a remembrance of childhood. 

mother/memory

Blackbirds

Ann's work will be on view at our Satellite Gallery from December 17 through February 12, 2012. In conjunction with the exhibition, Ann will be teaching a class at SCC. Call or email Sherrard to register, 412-261-7003 x25

Contemporary Twining Basketry workshop

date & time: Saturday, February 11

10 a.m. – 4 p.m (one-hour lunch break)

registration deadline: February 3

In this workshop, the basketry technique of twining will be introduced. Participants will create a sculptural twined form using waxed linen and spring twine. In conjunction with this, we will engage in a discussion on conceptual aspects of contemporary fiber structures. Questions such as these will be addressed in the workshop: What types of forms can be made with twining? What are various methods of starting a twined piece? What are variations on twined stitches? How do artists investigate meaning through fibers? What types of themes are explored? What do you hope your work will communicate?

* Previous knowledge with fibers is helpful, for example knitting, or basketry experience.

tuition: $100

materials fee: $35

Sisters

Vestiges

Have you been published yet?

I assume that we're all familiar with Lark Crafts, right? The publisher of all things craft - the 500 series, the Lark Studio Series, the Masters Series, etc.


What I would like to point out is the current calls for submissions for upcoming 500 Series books, including 500 Teapots and 500 Lights. "Each book is juried by an expert, features informative introductory text, and showcases spectacular images of state-of-the-art work. The first entry in the series, 500 Teapots, was published in 2002. Since then, 35 books have followed, and new titles release each season. With an international roster of contributors that includes both established names and up-and-coming craftspeople, each volume spotlights the shared and divergent approaches taken by artists who are producing visionary work." - Lark Website


This is not an opportunity to be missed! I'm even submitting my teeny tiny warty teapots. So get off your butt and get published!

The Family Puppet Theater!

By Education Intern Samantha Braga

Jump start your creativity while celebrating your inner child. On Sunday, December 4th, Contemporary Craft is offering a workshop where you can construct your very own puppet theater with Pittsburgh’s Puppet Master Tom Sarver, the founder of the Tom Museum (now closed). The Tom Museum, in association with the Mattress Factory, was part performance piece, part installation. It broke down and displayed the processes of art making, turning the process into an art form itself. Sarver's work is fun and unaffected, drawing on the aspects of the Art Brut movement and Folk Art. 

In this day of enchantment, students will animate everyday and found objects to create miraculous puppets and miniature worlds of wonder. Tom Sarver's class will not only teach the basics of puppetry, but will bring the energy and spirit of the Tom Museum back to life. Bring a box or any other recycled container to transform into an extraordinary puppet theater. Whether it is just you, or you bring the whole family, this class will be great entertainment for all ages! 

Puppetry Archive Room at the Tom Museum

"Combining humor, social commentary and a low-tech aesthetic, Tom Sarver explores relationships between the art world and the everyday. From 1999 through 2008, Sarver was a core organizer of The Black Sheep Puppet Festival, a national festival of activist and experimental puppetry. In 2008, Tom created an installation piece at the Society for Contemporary Craft called Cooking with Sticks. He holds a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art and an M.F.A. from Purchase College.  Sarver is currently working on a new puppetry initiative in Pittsburgh called Puppet Happening." 

Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear

based on a story by Ken Kesey

Tom Sarver Puppet Express at the American Shorts Reading Series

July 27th, 2006 at the Brewhouse

This class will bring Sarver's innovative world into your own and teach you how to look at the world as your own puppet theater!

Tom Sarver's Family Toy Puppet Theater

Sunday, December 4

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

$60 (per adult or for an adult with up to two children, additional

children $15 each)

$5 materials fee

For more information or to register

Email: thestudio@contemporarycraft.org

Phone: 412.261.7003 x25