Images of Work in the Collectors' Choice Exhibit 1999

I returned from SOFA Chicago convinced that I had witnessed a watershed event in the history of the wood field. SOFA (Sculpture Objects Functional Art) is an annual exhibit at Navy Pier in Chicago where over a hundred major galleries from all over the world exhibit the work of their best artists in all media. It attracts many of the most fervent collectors.

Over the past few years, SOFA has been dominated by major glass galleries and a good representation of ceramics, but very little wood. The Hand and the Spirit Gallery from Scottsdale, Arizona had shown some work by the Moulthrops, and del Mano Gallery had begun to establish a presence. However, in general, the exhibitors at SOFA largely ignored wood art, and consequently, few wood collectors attended.

All that changed in 1999. CWA voted to hold its 1999 gathering at the SOFA show in Chicago. There were several purposes: meet in a new and interesting environment, and establish a place where collectors could collect and artists could sell and where lovers of wood art could get together for panel discussions, lectures and just plain socializing. Finally, CWA hoped to attract the interest of new collectors and new galleries. All of these objectives were realized in 1999 beyond our most optimistic expectations.

Over the next few months Robyn Horn, my wife Jane and I had many discussions with Mark Lyman, CEO of the SOFA organization, to work out the basis for CWA's participation in SOFA Chicago 1999. Mark believed SOFA could benefit from greater participation by wood collectors. He had attended the San Francisco Forum and had become aware of the tremendous enthusiasm in the field on the part of artists, collectors and galleries. He also knew that four major shows of wood art would be in museums soon: the Mason Collection at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, NC; the retrospective “Wood Turning in North America Since 1930” at Yale University Art Gallery; the Bohlen Collection at the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) and the Lipton Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Clearly, CWA could not be just another gallery and sell objects to the public. SOFA management required that CWA's participation be as scholarly and noncommercial as possible and that it should not compete with the galleries. We agreed. As a non-profit organization, CWA is dedicated to education and promoting public appreciation and knowledge of wood art. Moreover, CWA had no experience in the sales process, and it could not act as a selling agent in any event. SOFA and CWA reached a mutually acceptable solution to the problem. CWA would take a booth, generously donated by SOFA management, to show the works of leading wood artists, and each of the previously mentioned museums would be represented by two pieces at the booth. Each of the artists would be represented by a gallery that was exhibiting at SOFA, and those gallerieswould sell the work and handle the details of sales, pricing, insurance, shipment and collecting.

The happiest part of the solution: rather than have the artists selected by curators or professional jurors, they would be selected by CWA members. Every member was mailed a blank ballot and asked to fill in the names of 25 artists who, in his or her opinion, were doing the best and most innovative work in the field today. About 40 ballots were returned, which included votes for more than 125 artists. No ballot contained the names of more than 18 of the winners, and no artist received more than 80% of the vote. The diversity was striking. Most of the older masters were not included (David Ellsworth was an exception), because members had a strong inclination to look for new work and to vote for artists who had been present at CWA Forums and had taken a personal interest in CWA events. A by-product of the process was that it greatly increased CWA membership because the voting was a lot of fun, and everyone wanted to be involved.

SOFA gave CWA a large booth in a wonderful location that greeted visitors just as they entered the exhibit hall. It also donated some lights. CWA hired Michael Monroe, the most eminent curator in the field, to set up the booth and mount the show, assisted by a hard-working crew consisting of John and Robyn Horn, John Jordan, Mark Gardner, Albert and Tina LeCoff and me. It took two and a half days to set up, but it was very enjoyable work and very illuminating for those of us who had not previously been involved in the production of an exhibit.

The CWA exhibit was an outstanding success in every way. It accomplished its major objective of bringing more wood art and collectors to SOFA than ever before. Del Mano Gallery was there, representing a majority of the twenty-four artists in the exhibit. Tercera Gallery of San Francisco; Blue Spiral 1 of Asheville, North Carolina; R. Duane Reed Gallery of St. Louis and Chicago; Heller Gallery of New York City; and Katie Gingrass Gallery of Milwaukee were showing and selling works by wood artists. Through these galleries, nine of the works in the CWA exhibit were sold, with receipts of more than $55,000. Wood was a real presence, and many of the other galleries told us that everybody was talking about how wood had finally arrived at SOFA.

CWA also produced a very interesting program off the exhibition floor. It included lectures by Philip Moulthrop and Michelle and David Holzapfel on the inspirations and processes of their work; a two-hour slide show by the twenty-four artists selected for the CWA exhibit; Bonita Fike of DIA, Mark Leach of Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Glenn Adamson of Yale University Art Gallery and Jo Lauria of LACMA previewing their upcoming museum wood shows; a booksigning at the del Mano Gallery booth by the artists featured in the book "Contemporary Turned Wood" by Ray Leier, Jan Peters and Kevin Wallace; and finally, at the banquet on Saturday night, a brilliant lecture by Jonathan Fairbanks, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Nobody wanted to see it end, and after his lecture, Jonathan toured the room to speak with all the artists.

Arthur Mason