zoom
Voices
How are you
coping with
the economic
downturn?
We are finding that people
place a high priority on educa-
tion in time of recession. Our
12-week and 9-month courses
are running at full capacity,
and the shorter summer work-
shops are down only slightly
against last year. W e seem to
be weathering the storm in
relative safety.
— Peter Korn,
executive director,
Center for Furniture Craftsman-
ship, Rockport, Maine
We are continuing to show
only the very best work, and
we have not curtailed our rather
ambitious exhibition schedule.
W e’ve been through economic
downturns before and this one,
though it has felt somewhat
deeper, now seems to be turning
around. San Francisco has not
been hit as badly as some other
places. W e understand that
most people have to be more
careful with their money, and so
we try to show that a well-cho-
sen piece of craft can be a good
decision. During our 18 years
in the field, in good times and
bad, we always try to widen our
audience and look for new ways
to reach people. This could be
improving our website and de-
veloping new online connec-
tions. I think the main thing is
not to panic. If you are doing
a good job, people will support
what you do.
— Elizabeth Shypertt,
co-owner,
Velvet da Vinci jewelry gallery,
San Francisco, California
We have been rather fortunate.
W e did see a drop around the
holidays, but things have picked
up and we are now doing quite
well. If this were not the case
I guess I would have to learn to
rob banks.
—-Josh Urso,
furniture and
lighting designer, Jersey City,
New Jersey
For the first time since I left
Seattle Art Museum over 10
years ago, I’ve no waiting list of
future projects. A retrospective
exhibition of the work of a Se-
attle artist that I was to curate,
and the accompanying catalog
I was to write, have been can-
celled. It was always an expen-
sive proposition, with high
shipping and publication costs.
The small museums for which
I often work are likely to be
financially stressed even in
better times. My last big proj-
ect, co-editing the anthology
Choosing Craft: The Artist’s
Viewpoint
(2009), was funded
by grants. My current work,
co-editing a volume of letters
of the painter Morris Graves,
is proceeding without adequate
funding. The private donors
we were counting on to support
research and transcription have
not materialized to the extent
we expected. The economic
downturn is the explanation we
prefer to cite, since it gives us
hope of a future windfall.
— Vicki H alper,
freelance curator,
Seattle, Washington
I am a sustainable designer, so
the economic downturn has not
had a devastating affect on me.
I believe that is directly related
to my life and work style; I use
all recycled materials in my de-
signs, therefore my costs are
low and my footprint light. I
also believe that the economy
is making people aware of the
repercussions of their actions
on a broader scope, which can
only help to bring a positive
change for future generations.
— Erica White,
apparel designer,
M.A. candidate at the University
ofNebraska-Lincoln
Luckily the downturn has not
greatly affected my business.
I began doing mostly private
commissions three years ago,
and my clientele remains inter-
ested in one-of-a-kind sculp-
tures and functional pieces.
I think if I were still primarily
selling functional and decora-
tive glass pieces wholesale
through fine craft stores, my
business might have taken
a steep decline. It seems that
those in the higher income
brackets are still doing proj-
ects, while the rest are closely
watching what they spend
022 ainerican craft oct/novoç
on gifts and functional pieces.
— Peter Zelle,
glass artist,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
There are now even more op-
portunities to ally ourselves
with the vibrant sustainability
movements that have been chal-
lenging bubble-growth capital-
ism for some time—slow food,
buy local, fair trade, etc. We are
known local makers of mean-
ingful stuff people can use, very
relevant as the economy moves
people to think more about how
they are living and what struc-
tures they are supporting. It’s
a matter of making the case and
being accessible, a mix of old-
fashioned events (kiln openings
and group studio tours) and
new technologies (social net-
working, etc.). The downturn
might in fact be our turn.
— Mark Shapiro,
studio potter,
Worthington, Massachusetts
Penland is a retreat, and we
want our students and instruc-
tors to be as far from financial
worries as possible, so we’ve
done everything we can to mini-
mize visible effects. However,
we have been affected by the
economy. We have made cuts
to balance our budget but have
managed to avoid eliminating
jobs. Our staff is not getting
raises; we have been trimming
services and postponing things
that can wait. As of this writing,
our enrollment is at 88 percent
of capacity, down only a few
percentage points from last
year, which shows how vital
our programs are. We all believe
strongly in our mission and are
stretching to ensure that those
we serve come first. The energy
on campus is powerful and that
is what we want to focus on.
—-Jean W . McLaughlin,
direc-
tor, Penland School o f Crafts,
North Carolina
www.freedowns.net & www.journal-plaiza.net
Illustration/Tamara Shopsin.
