420 W 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
www.hellergallery.cotn
21 2.414.4014
Tuesday-Saturday: 11-6
L E T T E R S
December
IVANA SRAMKOVA
LITTLE BIRDS
Kidks &
Kudos
The cover of the October/November
2009 American Craft.
■ ■IN
O
The cover of the August/September
2009 American Craft.
A Lot to Like
Congratulations on your Au-
gust/September issue. It not
only contains a lot to like, but
edited out the most off-put-
ting advertisements and ques-
tionable editorials.
In the 50 years I’ve known
the magazine, the number of
makers has exploded perhaps
100 times, so editing is impor-
tant. So is focusing on what is
worthy. I appreciate your fo-
cusing on now related to then—
it’s time that we do so. And
particularly look at craft 50
years ago, when we thought
we were part of design and
architecture, and happy mak-
ing work that was useful, all
within five or six narrowly
restricted arenas such as hand-
loom weaving, stoneware,
enamels, turned wood and
silver jewelry.
Onward! And thank you.
JACK LENOR LARSEN
New York, N Y
Editors’ Note: Thanks for your
kind comments, hut we didn't edit
out the ads. The recession did.
You’ve Lost Your Way
Your mission statement, as
printed in American Craft, is
“to promote understanding
and appreciation of contempo-
rary American craft.” After
receiving August/September,
with a cover story featuring
British artists from a century
ago, I see a complete discon-
nect between the concept of
“contemporary American
craft” and the focus of your
magazine. Recognizing and
acknowledging the contribu-
tions of earlier artists and art
movements obviously does
contribute to the understand-
ing and appreciation of today’s
art, but it is a subject that is
better left to Art History 101
lecturers.
I tolerated your relaunch/
redesign of the magazine with
its pretentious, difficult-to-
read font. I put up with your
scattered gallery exhibition
listings, and I struggled with
the lack of captions under in-
set photos. I don’t want a re-
hash of history “from the
stacks,” I want to see where
we are going in the future,
who is new and innovative,
who is pushing the limits
of their medium.
I want a magazine that puts
its focus and its efforts on con-
temporary American art. Get
a grip on your mission state-
ment or you’ll be losing my
membership.
SUSAN MADDEN
Austin,
t x
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