ED ITO RS L E T T E R
The Pulse
of Craft
Celebrating individuals
who have influenced craft’s
past, present an d future.
In this issue, the American Craft Council
honors ii individuals who have created ex-
ceptional bodies of work, invented tech-
niques, been formidable teachers, or other-
wise made major contributions to studio
craft. They are the sages o f the field. That
might sound pretty antique.
But consider that in graduate school
Paul Soldner made what he claimed were
the tallest cylinders ever thrown. Employ-
ing a technique he called “extended throw-
ing,” he gradually climbed onto a stool to
work, turning the electric wheel with a foot
pedal on a long cord. It must have been
a sight! Helen Drutt was a 30-something
when she started an organization to serve
the new kind of craft in Philadelphia. A
few years later she created a context for
that work by teaching what was probably
the first craft history course in the u .s.
Each of the honorees has that kind of story.
Toots Zynsky was there in the mud the first
summer of Pilchuck, holding her own with
the boys; Gyongy Laky responded to the
termination of u c Berkeley’s textile courses
by founding Fiberworks and becoming its
first director at 29. These individuals em-
body invention, excitement, testing bounds,
stepping into the unknown, defining their
worlds. The awards honor that constant
energy and imagination.
The motivations of a new generation of
crafts is another subject in this issue. Dennis
Stevens creates a stirring portrait of d iy
craft in the context of third-generation femi-
nism. Indie imagery sparks the wallpaper
designs of Dan Funderburgh, profiled by
Mimi Luse. Gabriel Craig, who wrote about
his own work a few issues ago, analyzes the
transgressive jewelry of his peer Lauren
Kalman. Such artists might be the ACC hon-
orees in another decade or two. The pulse
of craft is still pounding away with great
vitality. Enjoy!
[email protected]; ssharpe@craft
council.org; [email protected]
b u i l d i n g w i t h l i g h t
CONTEMPORARY GLASS ART + ARCHITECTURE
bullseye at
S O F A
C hicago
NOVEMBER 6 - 8 NAVY PIER
Ted Sawyer's
N o tel-IV ,
installed at the
Gerding Theater at tne Armory in Portland, Oregon
bullseye gallery
300 N W I3TH AVENUE. PORTLAND, OR 97209
503-227-0222 phone 503-227-0008 fax
[email protected] www.bullseyegalleiy.com
www.freedowns.net & www.journal-plaiza.net
