Win Studio H Chicken Coop

Studio H is all about serving the community it’s in through design. And as the Studio H: Design. Build. Transform. comes to a close on February 25, Studio H reaches out to our Museum community here in Portland. One of our Facebook fans will win the centerpiece of the exhibition, a 12-1/2 foot long chicken coop inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geometric designs that Studio H calls “Coopus Maximus.” Designed and built by the high school students in the Studio H program, the coop has extra space for chickens to run with a side door for person to enter plus a roosting area with a trap door. The Museum will deliver what Studio H calls “Coopus Maximus” to your home within a 15 mile radius of the Museum on Monday, March 5 or Tuesday, March 6.

To qualify for the chance to win “Like” the Museum of Contemporary Craft page on Facebook, and leave a comment on the post about the coop (Look for it! It’s maybe third down on the page.). We’ll notify the winner Friday, March 2.

— Posted on 02/27 at 11:03 AM

MoCC Interim Director Jeffrey Thomas Resigns

Museum of Contemporary Craft Interim Director Jeffrey Thomas has announced that he has resigned his position at the Museum. As reported this week by Barry Johnson on Oregon Arts Watch, after serving as interim director over the course of the Museum’s 75th anniversary year, Thomas saw this as the right opportunity for PNCA to explore options for long-term leadership at the Museum. The news comes as MoCC culminates an extraordinary anniversary year with the capstone exhibition Generations: Betty Feves, opening March 15. MoCC has attracted record support for the exhibition with over $200,000 raised including a $105,000 grant from the Whiteman Foundation of Arizona and the Museum’s first prestigious and highly competitive Institute of Museum and Library Services grant.

Jeffrey Thomas’s tenure has been part of a high profile 75th anniversary year for the Museum of Contemporary Craft, beginning with the opening of the fiber retrospective Laurie Herrick: Weaving Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow in March 2011. The year has continued with dynamic exhibitions which brought new audiences to the Museum and traveled to other institutions, taking the Museum’s good work out into the world. MoCC had an additional distinction as the first Oregon museum awarded a Western States Arts Federation touring grant for $50,000, which was matched by the Ford Family Foundation.

Later in the year, MoCC opened one of its most popular shows ever, Nikki McClure: Cutting Her Own Path, 1996-2011 — the first Museum retrospective (sponsored by Bank of America) for the internationally renown Northwest artist. The exhibition was followed by a focus on design handcrafted for social good. Emily Pilloton, recognized as one of the leading young voices for design for social change, broadened the conversation with Studio H: Design. Build. Transform., an exhibition curated by Namita Wiggers and sponsored by Boeing.

The tag line for the Studio H exhibition, Design. Build. Transform., reflects what this pivotal year represented for the Museum: bringing design into the Museum, designing its future in conjunction with PNCA, building new exhibitions, new community, and building financial support. To date, new gifts and pledges in this fiscal year, including a $300,000 multi-year challenge grant and a $50,000 challenge grant from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, total nearly $700,000 for support of exhibitions in 2012 and beyond. In addition, the Museum saw a doubling of its membership and its attendance and a 50% increase in its robust community of volunteers.

Moving forward, PNCA President Tom Manley plans to appoint an interim director for the Museum while working with the MoCC Board, under the direction of John Bishop, on a permanent appointment. The partnership between the two institutions continues to strenghten and expand the Museum’s role as a vibrant center for the exploration and investigation of craft and design.

— Posted on 02/25 at 02:47 PM

Applications Open for Windgate Museum Intern

Museum of Contemporary Craft has been awarded $5000 in direct support of a Windgate Museum Intern. This is a competitive opportunity, and the first time MoCC has been invited to host an intern. Each year, the Windgate foundation selects four institutions to support an intern and the Museum is deeply honored to be a part of this year’s selection.

This 6-week internship will take place during July and August, 2012 at Museum of Contemporary Craft.
– Interns will assist with research, planning, writing, editing, exhibition design, and installation of two exhibitions: Erik Gronborg, and Object Focus: The Bowl.
– Students will work with the curatorial staff and other departments to implement projects.
– Students will be expected to document their experience on Untitled, PNCA’s online magazine throughout the internship.
– This internship is open to graduate students enrolled in art history, design, curatorial studies, or critical writing programs.

For more information, or to submit applications contact Namita Gupta Wiggers at namita@MuseumofContemporaryCraft.org

Application Deadline: April 1
Decisions Announced: April 15

— Posted on 02/24 at 06:10 PM

Oregon Potters Association: 30 Years of Best in Show

In honor of both the 30th and 75th anniversaries of the Oregon Potters Association’s Ceramic Showcase and the Museum of Contemporary Craft respectively, the Museum will display a selection of works from its collection that have been gifted by OPA over the past three decades.

Since 1982, the Oregon Potters Association (OPA) has annually held the Ceramic Showcase, an art show and educational event that has grown not only into the largest clay show in the country, but also the only one of its kind. Since 1984, OPA has generously given their Best in Show award-winning piece to the collection of Museum of Contemporary Craft. This collaboration exemplifies the progressive relationship between this guild of local makers and a museum that documents work by regional communities for future generations.

On view to the public together for the first time in the Museum’s current location, the works demonstrate a range of styles and techniques coming out of Oregon ceramic studios over the past several decades. 30 Years of Best in Show will be on display in The Lab, the community partnership and programming space on the second floor, from May 1 to August 18, 2012.

— Posted on 02/08 at 11:33 AM

Don’t Miss the Final Brain Food Lab on February 18

Check out the multitude of creative expressions present in The Lab. Saturday February 18 marks the final Brain Food Lab event. This event, in conjunction with Studio H: Design. Build. Transform, turns The Lab into a laboratory for experimentation and the creative process.

— Posted on 02/07 at 03:16 PM

Anne Crumpacker

FIRST WEDNESDAY RECEPTION February 1, 6-8 pm

Anne Crumpacker’s work interweaves scale and proportion—thin, medium and thick crosscut bamboo sections, the interplay of light and shadow—to create living topographies. Her long immersion in Japanese aesthetics guides her as she works intuitively, following a path of discovery.

In developing the crosscut bamboo technique, she is contributing a new approach to a venerable material. Deconstructing bamboo into crosscut slices reveals its cellular makeup and illuminates its natural beauty and strength. Assembling the pieces allows patterns and rhythms to emerge that reflect the interconnection of forces in nature, from microscopic life to wave movement.

Crumpacker has been a student of Ikebana for over 15 years. Her passion for travel, exploration and learning has taken her throughout Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. She credits experiences in Japan as a profound influence on her art and life. Crumpacker’s work interweaves scale and proportion-thin, medium and thick crosscut bamboo sections, the interplay of light and shadow-to create living topographies. Her long immersion in Japanese aesthetics guides her work intuitively, following a path of discovery. To learn more about Anne Crumpacker and see more images of her bamboo sculpture, please visit her website. 


Anne holds a bachelor of arts from Scripps College and a master of arts in liberal studies from Reed College, as well as a teaching credential from University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the first graduating class of the MFA program in Applied Craft and Design from Oregon College of Art and Craft + Pacific Northwest College of Art.

— Posted on 02/01 at 10:14 AM