January 2008 Scottsdale, AZ

In January, more than 70 collectors, artists, gallery personnel and museum curators gathered in Scottsdale, AZ, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of CWA.

Scottsdale ArtWalk was the first gallery crawl in the US and has been a feature of the Scottsdale season for more than thirty years. Forum attendees gathered for an opening reception and viewing at del Mano Gallery’s exhibit at the Forum conference center. They then could visit seventeen galleries within walking distance of the hotel. The Bentley Gallery held a book signing of “Moulthrop: A Legacy in Wood” by the author, Kevin Wallace, and the subjects, Philip and Matt Moulthrop. Across Marshall Way, Cervini-Haas Gallery presented a show of Arizona and national wood artists.


The theme for the Forum was Building the Next Decade. Brent Skidmore, a furniture artist and educator, and now Director of the new Crafts Campus of the University of North Carolina—Asheville took the audience on the visual tour of his aspirations for the new campus. A unique feature of the campus, which will be built on the site of a former landfill, will be the use of methane gas from the landfill to generate electricity and provide a heat source for the glass and ceramic furnaces. Brent interspersed his plans for the new campus with images of the process by which Brent creates his sculptural furniture.

Kevin Wallace chaired a panel of museum curators to discuss both the direction of contemporary crafts in the next decade and the direction of their respective institutions. The panelists were Heather Lineberry, senior curator and acting director of the Art Museum at Arizona State University, and Jason Busch, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Pat McCauley chaired a discussion panel with Ray Leier, of del Mano Gallery, and Kevin Wallace, author and independent curator, to answer collectors’ questions. The questions ranged from proper cleaning of wood art to what to expect when loaning a piece for an exhibition. Of course, collectors were advised to document, document, document.

Thirteen artists made presentations on their current work and their future directions: Michael Peterson, Tom Eckert, David Hostetler (represented by Susan Hostetler), Harry Pollitt, Howard Werner, Jim Keller, Dewey Garret, Kerry Vesper, Janel Jacobson, Christian Burchard, Jack Slentz, Hayley Smith and Todd Hoyer. Hayley and Todd also showed how they were preparing for the next decade by building a new home and studios near Bisbee, Arizona.

Connie Mississippi gathered four artists to talk and show how “place” influences their work. Virginia Dotson, based in Arizona, showed the Southwestern landscape of sand dunes and stratified geology and their influences on her flowing and stratified works of art. Wendy Maruyama took her personal search for her place as a Japanese-American living between cultures and created works of furniture and performance art. Merryll Saylan showed how her place as a mother, spouse and daughter and her other family relationships have influenced her work. Susan Hagen was given a place, a 19th century Pennsylvania prison which is now a historic site, in which to display a series of wood sculptures depicting prison life and stories.


Friday afternoon, the Forum moved en masse to the ASU campus. Tom Eckert talked about the wood art program at ASU, and Peter Held showed off the extensive collection of contemporary ceramics at the ASU Ceramics Research Center. The ASU Art Museum had two exhibitions for the Forum attendees’ enjoyment: “Moulthrop Generations: Turned Wood Bowls of Ed, Philip and Matt Moulthrop” and “Selected Works in Wood from the Permanent Collection.” The evening ended with a reception at the museum.


Saturday afternoon, Forum attendees visited the homes and collections of Sara and David Lieberman and Dr. Arthur and Evelyn Krosnick. The Lieberman’s collection encompasses all fields of contemporary arts and crafts, African art and Native American art. The Krosnick’s collection focuses on the furniture of George Nakashima and complimentary works of Japanese art and crafts. At the Krosnick’s condominium, Ru Amagasu, the grandson of George Nakashima and furniture maker in his own right, provided commentary on his grandfather’s life and work. The tours also included visits to the studios of Howard Werner (wood), Kerry Vesper (wood), Julius Forzano (ceramics), Tom Eckert (wood) and Carol Eckert (fiber).

The Forum banquet on Saturday evening was highlighted by a speech by Dean Kwang-wu Kim, Dean of the College of the Arts at ASU, in which he spoke about the need to educate artists and ensure their role in practicing and promoting arts in society.

The banquet concluded with the Collectors of Wood Art honoring Robyn Horn with the CWA Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the field of studio wood art. Robyn was a founder of CWA and its first president. She is outstanding as an artist, a collector and an advocate for the arts.