Smithsonian American Art Museum craft exhibition broadens genre

“This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World” showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft with 171 artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s extensive holdings of modern and contemporary craft, including 135 recently acquired works made by a broadly representative and diverse group of American artists. These objects deepen the history of the studio craft movement while also introducing contemporary artworks that push the boundaries of what is considered to be handmade in the 21st century.

The exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery as the nation’s premier museum dedicated to American craft. The Renwick Gallery opened its doors January 28, 1972, to showcase the ingenuity and relevance of craft and design in American culture. For the past 50 years, the museum has featured many expressions and definitions of craft. Today, through exhibitions and the collection galleries at the Renwick, the museum continues to celebrate the creativity of American craft artists, and the vital role craft plays in modern life.

“This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World” is on view at the Renwick Gallery from May 13, 2022 to April 2, 2023. The exhibition, which activates both floors of gallery space, explores how artists have crafted spaces for daydreaming, stories of persistence, models of resilience, and methods of activism that resonate today. To craft a better world, it must first be imagined.

The exhibition is organized by Mary Savig, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft; with Nora Atkinson, the Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge for the Renwick Gallery; Anya Montiel, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian; and Elana Hain, collections manager. “This Present Moment” is the latest in a series of exhibitions presented at the Renwick Gallery that reassess what craft is in a modern world.

“Building on its innovative legacy and embracing the tremendous change encompassing the present, I believe the museum’s next 50 years will also astonish,” Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, said. The artwork being crafted and collected now is shaping an even bolder future, one that will help us better understand ourselves, each other and the world around us. The Renwick Gallery will continue to be a driving force in this conversation.”

The Renwick Gallery 50th Anniversary Acquisition Campaign, which began in 2020, increased the number of Black, Latinx, Asian American, LGBTQ+, Indigenous and women artists, among others, represented in the nation’s collection. The artworks acquired—more than 200 objects to date—both through gifts and museum purchase, represent a range of craft mediums, including fiber, ceramics, glass, metal and wood. Judith Chernoff and Jeffrey Bernstein have given 43 works from their collection of sculptural wood art, all of which are featured in the exhibition in a dedicated gallery.

“Craft has always been a measure of the present moment,” Savig said. “This is because craft is inherently a measure of who we are—our labor and our memory. With this ambitious exhibition and acquisition campaign, we embraced the opportunity to document the contours of the present moment, including the global pandemic with acquisitions like face masks. The success of this endeavor relies on the collective efforts of many, many people. Together, our efforts measure our hopes for a better world.”

Accessibility

The exhibition display includes verbal descriptions for 16 key artworks. The descriptions will be available for public use online via personal screen readers, through Aira, a visual interpretation service, and on paper in large print at the Renwick Gallery. The verbal descriptions are part of the museum’s initiative to increase accessibility of artworks for blind and low-vision visitors.

Artists included

In addition to major name mainstream contemporary artists like Bisa Butler, Nick Cave and Dale Chihuly, the exhibition features many contemporary Native American artists. A complete listing of those artists follows:

Edith Bondie (Chippewa)

Hubert Candelario (San Felipe Pueblo)

Kelly Church (Ottawa and Pottawatomi)

Joe Feddersen (Colville Confederated Tribes, Okanagan and Arrow Lakes)

Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy)

Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee)

Carla Hemlock[Kanienkeháka (Mohawk)]

Lisa Holt (Cochiti Pueblo)

Julian Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo)

Maria Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo)

Katrina Mitten (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma)

Marvin Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo)

Jane Osti (Cherokee Nation)

Kevin Pourier (Oglala Lakota)

Valerie Pourier (Oglala Lakota)

Sheila Kanieson Ransom (Mohawk, Wolf Clan from Akwesasne)

Harlan Reano (Santo Domingo/Kewa Pueblo)

Preston Singletary (Tlingit)

Marlana Thompson (Mohawk, Wolf Clan from Akwesasne)

Gale Tremblay (Mi’kmaq and Onondaga)

Dawn Nichols Walden (Ojibway descendant, Mackinac Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians)