Jeffrey Thomas Interview

The Oregonian responds to the recent appointment of new MoCC acting director Jeffrey Thomas by running an article that highlights his aspirations for the Museum.

— Posted on 01/26 at 03:54 PM

Listening Session

Share your thoughts about the American Craft Council and the craft community in Portland at a Listening Session with Chris Amundsen, the ACC’s newly appointed Executive Director, on February 1.

— Posted on 01/24 at 10:52 AM

Emily Pilloton Lecture

Emily Pilloton is the Founder and Executive Director of Project H Design. Project H’s mission is to provide a conduit for need-based product design that empowers individuals, communities and economies. Her book, Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People, has earned her significant attention including an interview in January 2010 on The Colbert Report. Pilloton studied architecture at UC Berkeley and product design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Studio H is a public high school “design/build” curriculum that sparks rural community development through real-world, built projects. By learning through a design sensibility, applied core subjects, and industry-relevant construction skills, students develop the creative capital, critical thinking, and citizenship necessary for their own success and for the future of their communities. Over the course of one calendar year, students earn high school and college credit, and are paid a summer wage to build the community project they have spent the year designing and prototyping.

Studio H is the focus of an exhibition coming in November 2011 to Museum of Contemporary Craft.

Watch a video of Emily Pilloton speaking at TEDGlobal 2010.

— Posted on 01/18 at 03:08 PM

Join Garth Johnson

Guest curator and Extreme Craft blogger Garth Johnson comes to Portland and teaches a one-day hands-on ceramics workshop on January 29 as part of the opening of Era Messages. Extreme Makeover: Ceramics Edition focuses on breathing new life into used and second-hand coffee cups, bowls and more. Pre-registration is required; tuition and fees, $100. Offered through PNCA Continuing Education.

— Posted on 01/11 at 02:46 PM

Hannah B. Higgins Lecture

Museum of Contemporary Craft welcomes Hannah B. Higgins for “The Multiple Intelligences of Fluxus,” a CraftPerspectives Lecture in conjunction with Object Focus: The Book. The CraftPerspectives Series provides a forum for today’s leading artists, designers, scholars and curators to share their knowledge and pose important questions on issues in contemporary craft.

Commonly associated with political and cultural activism in the 1960s, the Fluxus Movement struggled against narrow definitions of art and performance. Hannah B. Higgins, the daughter of the Fluxus artists Alison Knowles and Dick Higgins and noted author of Fluxus Experience, will lecture on this movement to provide an additional context for one of the themes engaged in Object Focus: The Book.

— Posted on 01/11 at 02:30 PM

MoCC Appoints Acting Director

Today, Dr. Thomas Manley, the CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Craft and President of Pacific Northwest College of Art, announced the
appointment of Jeffrey Thomas to the position of Acting Director of the Museum.

With a rich background in gallery development, marketing and advertising, Thomas brings thirty years of experience to the Museum. As the manager and later co-owner of one the groundbreaking Portland art galleries—Jamison/Thomas—he possesses deep knowledge of the world of contemporary art, craft and design and is well respected by colleagues in the creative services sector.

The Museum of Contemporary Craft, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2012, is operated in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art. Thomas’ appointment is expected to help the Museum expand its membership and audience base, develop the design component of its mission, and strengthen its programmatic integration with PNCA.

— Posted on 01/06 at 01:41 PM

Turning the Page

Gain new views on selected artwork in Object Focus: The Book. Museum staff have turned pages or reconfigured some of the more complex books on view for visitors to return and investigate. In particular, three alternate volumes of S.M.S. are fully displayed.

— Posted on 01/06 at 10:52 AM

Collateral Matters Closing

The exhibition Collateral Matters: Selections by Kate Bingaman-Burt and Clifton Burt closes Saturday, January 8. Only a few days remain to see a kaleidoscopic selection of printed ephemera from the Museum’s archives. Local designers Kate Bingaman-Burt and Clifton Burt showcase a detailed timeline of craft and graphic design through seven decades of Museum history in the Northwest.

— Posted on 01/04 at 03:58 PM

Application Deadline

The deadline to apply for a two-week artist residency during Laurie Herrick: Weaving Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is Monday, January 10 at 5 pm. Application is open to Portland-area artists, craftspeople, designers and guild members.

The Museum is closed to the public on Mondays. To submit your application in person, please go to the MoCC Administrative Offices, 720 NW Davis Street, second floor.

Learn more about the call for proposals and download the application.

— Posted on 01/04 at 03:54 PM

Remembering Ed Cauduro

Museum of Contemporary Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art are saddened to learn of the death of the College’s friend and supporter Ed Cauduro, local arts advocate and well known collector of contemporary art. Ed Cauduro had a great appreciation of the arts world and for decades collected what moved him, creating one of the most impressive private collections in the Pacific Northwest. He gave back to the community, and specifically to young artists, in many ways that will benefit artists and the larger community for years to come. Cauduro was once a board member of the Portland Art Museum and Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery, now known as Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Read more about Ed Cauduro on the PNCA website.

— Posted on 01/04 at 03:48 PM