American Craft Council names ASU Art Museum exhibition in top 10 of 2013

In their annual look back at the most noteworthy trends, events and exhibitions of the past year, the American Craft Council highlighted the “Crafting a Continuum: Rethinking Contemporary Craft” exhibition at the Arizona State University Art Museum as one of the most monumental of 2013.

“Involving many years of research, staff dedication and cross-institutional collaboration,” the exhibition is mentioned alongside others from institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corning Museum of Glass and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C.

The American Craft Council is a national nonprofit educational organization founded in 1943 that promotes “understanding and appreciation of contemporary American craft.” They publish the bimonthly magazine American Craft, which is one of the most highly regarded publications in the field of craft.

“Crafting a Continuum,” which was on view from Sept. 7, 2013 through Dec. 7, 2013, was a presentation of the ASU Art Museum and Ceramics Research Center in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and was the museum’s first comprehensive exhibition to highlight its extensive craft holdings, including new international acquisitions in wood, ceramics and fiber. The exhibition and accompanying programming was made possible with generous support from the Windgate Charitable Foundation, Nancy Tieken and Joanne and Jim Rapp.

The accompanying catalog for the exhibition was edited by curators Peter Held and Heather Sealy Lineberry, and contains a foreword from museum director Gordon Knox, as well as essays from some of the top thinkers in contemporary craft. It is available at the ASU Art Museum store; call 480.965.9076 for details. 

Beginning in January 2014, “Crafting a Continuum” is travelling nationally to five additional venues: the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Wash.; the Boise Art Museum in Boise, Idaho; the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art in Ft. Wayne, Ind.; the Nora Eccles Museum of Art at Utah State University in Logan, Utah; and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston, Texas.