75 Gifts for 75 Years

Namita Gupta Wiggers

How does a collection communicate the history of an institution and its community?

Collection building in museums happens in many ways. For example, a collector with a vast number of objects might donate the entire collection to a single institution, or the same collector might choose to distribute their collection among several different museums. Whether the museum is receiving a gift or making a purchase using funds raised to build the collection, each institution’s collection provides a snapshot of that museum’s identity and history.

Founded in 1937 as the Oregon Ceramic Studio and re-named Contemporary Crafts Gallery in 1964, the Museum of Contemporary Craft today collects, preserves, documents and creates exhibitions from a collection of over 1,000 objects.

75 Gifts for 75 Years marks an important milestone in the development of the Museum’s collection. Through the generosity of collectors, artists and gallerists from across the country, the Museum has successfully added critical pieces from more recent decades, filling gaps in the collection in areas such as contemporary art jewelry and studio glass, making the museum better equipped to tell the story of the integration of and divide between craft, design and art.

This exhibition marks and celebrates the Museum’s newest relationship with Pacific Northwest College of Art. The acquisition of these gifts commemorates the oldest museum dedicated to modern craft in the United States, and because of this partnership, enables the museum to provide invaluable first-hand access to future generations of creative thinkers in Portland’s community and beyond.

Special thanks to the collectors, artists and gallerists whose generous donations make the work in this exhibition available for public view:

Anonymous, Sally von Bargen, Susan C. Beech, Nancy Becker, Kate Bonansinga and David Taylor, Rose Bond, Katherine Bovee, Gail Brown, Sarah Brown, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Shir Ly Camin, Ed Cauduro, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio, Susan Cummins, Joe Feddersen and Froelick Gallery, Eric Franklin, Carol and Seymour Haber, Lloyd E. Herman, Jaymee Jacoby, Nancy Kramer, Dan Kvitka, David and Robin Kvitka, Wilbur Larson and Carol Smith-Larson, Faythe Levine, Joan Livingstone, Manuel Izquierdo Revocable Living Trust, Wendy Miller, Nicole Nathan, Oregon Potters Association and Babette Harvey, Claire Patoine, Kat Perez, Lisa Platt, Duncan and Jenny Rotch, Heidi Schwegler, Emily McNulty-Scripter, Kristin Mitsu Shiga, Ken Shores, Dane Nelson, Rita J. Robillard, Dorothy Saxe, Storm Tharp and PDX Contemporary, Jeffrey Thomas and Laura Cooper, Bill and Sandra Thomason, Velvet da Vinci Gallery, Kate Wagle, and Scott and Namita Wiggers.