Forum Report by Arthur Mason
The Board of CWA, determined that it would always have a presence at
both SOFA New York and SOFA Chicago, held a mini-conference in New York
on May 31 to June 2., 2002. Marty Bloomfield was in charge of the CWA
meeting, which was intensely interesting and successful. CWA sponsored
a panel discussion that was considered by many observers to be the one
of the best and most thoughtful discussions of craft issues ever held
at SOFA or other venues. The CWA panel, The Visual Power of Wood, By Chance
of By Design, was moderated and organized by Michael Monroe.
The CWA panel, "The Visual Power of Wood, By Chance or By Design",
was moderated and organized by Michael Monroe, former Curator-in Charge
of the Renwick Gallery and now an independent voice and curator in the
field. The first half of the panel was Michael’s introduction to
concepts of design and application of those principles to the work we
see being done in the field. Then with that as a background he brought
on his panel of experts – and expert they were! The panelists included
Jonathan Fairbanks, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
David McFadden, Chief Curator of the American Craft Museum and Charlotte
Brown, Director, Gallery of Art and Design, North Carolina State University
in Raleigh.
The format: Michael displayed slides of a series of objects on the screen
and asked the panelists for their frank comments and critique. Panelists
had no warning as to what slides or artists’ work would be shown.
The result was fascinating. There was real criticism in which some of
the work was rather unkindly received and there was frequently major differences
of opinion among the panelists. This phase lasted for over an hour and
a half and the standing room only audience was ready for more when the
time was up. Michael only got through half his slides and is preparing
a rerun and expansion for the Chicago forum in October. Our thanks to
Jane Mason and Ann Meszco of SOFA for the arrangements.
A second feature was the Saturday trip to Longhouse in Southampton to
visit the world
famous Jack Larsen home and museum. Jack has assembled a collection of
objects and furnishings encompassing all media which is unparalleled in
the world. Jack very kindly made himself and his home available to a group
of 25 CWAers. It was an unforgettable occasion. Thanks to Marty Bloomfield
for making this possible.
SOFA itself was very enjoyable and included many galleries displaying
the latest work in wood art. The participating galleries included Del
Mano, Materia, Barry Friedman, Heller, Leo Kaplan Modern, and Zimmer.
We also noted the beginning of a trend to the development of the secondary
market and older work was for sale by many of the exhibitors. Many artists
were present including Binh Pho, Jason Russell, Arthur Jones, David Ebner,
Michael Brolly and David Ellsworth. A welcome sight after all these years
was Hap Sakwa’s appearance. We strongly suggested that he return
to woodturning.
Attendees enjoyed the Banquet at Rockefeller Center and a day trip to Longhouse
Reserve, Jack Lenor Larsen’s fantastic home and grounds.
The CWA NY Meeting was run without a glitch by Marty Bloomfield, and we
owe him accolades for a wonderful weekend.
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