The Socially Engaged Craft Collective is thrilled to announce our first Conference, Cross Pollination, to be held in conjunction with NCECA in March 2019. This special “pre-conference” will be held Tuesday, March 26th, at Minneapolis College, and will focus on Socially Engaged Craft with a special attention for K-12 educators. We are still confirming our speakers list, but check back to our Cross Pollination Page (under “Resources”) for updates in the coming month! If you’re unable to attend, please considerRead more
“The Seed Bank Project” by Rachael Marne Jones
The Seed Bank Project explores the importance of local ecologies by researching, and planting multi- generational seed banks that encourage a heightened awareness of ecological stewardship among local communities. I cast the seed banks from locally sourced granite rocks in porcelain; the forms are hollow with a double wall for insulation and a water-tight, air-tight screw-top, sealed in beeswax. They also are equipped with a chain and small “Indicator rock.” (See figures 1-3.) I chose to use rock forms toRead more
“Tortilla Social” with Salvador Jiménez-Flores
Tortilla Social is an participatory project by artist Salvador Jiménez-Flores that transforms public spaces through the use of printmaking as a tool for self-expression, advocacy, art education, and food as a uniter of community. Tortilla Social es un proyecto interactivo que transformará los espacios públicos a través del uso del grabado como herramienta para la auto expresión, la abogacía, la educación artística y la alimentación como unificador de la comunidad. Check out this amazing video and visit Salvador’s site here!Read more
Craft and Resistance: Continuing the Conversation from CAA
On February 22, collective members nicole gugliotti and Mary Callahan Baumstark participated in a panel chaired by friend of the collective, Elizabeth Kozlowski at the College Art Association entitled “Craft and Resistance.” In an effort to continue ongoing conversations about the role of craft in resistance, we’ve established this blog post as a forum. After the panel, details will be added. Read more
Join the Socially Engaged Craft Collective!
Have you wondered about joining the SECC? Are you interested in advocating for and displaying new socially engaged craft? Are you a maker or writer working in the field? We would love to have you! The SECC is growing, and currently accepting applications for our 2 (two) different kinds of membership: Website Artists and Collective Artists. Before applying, read our collective bylaws here. The SECC offers opportunities for socially engaged craft artists to exhibit, write, collaborate, organize, and so muchRead more
Jeni Hansen Gard and “The Common Table”
The Common Table brought together a group of twenty-two women that share the physical space on the Wesleyan College campus. The building walls, division of majors, age, and many other factors can create a barrier that prevent students, faculty, and staff who enter the campus each day from ever encountering each other. This project aimed to encourage a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff to build community through a series of events and a shared meal that took place withinRead more
A Radical Politics of Interdependency, Care, and Art: Meow Wolf and “The House of Eternal Return”
The following article on Artsy caught the attention of the SECC this week, especially as we celebrate our 3 years as a collective (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT). https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-140-person-art-collective-pursuing-alternative-model-artists-living Meow Wolf is an arts collective based out of Santa Fe with more than 100 members working in a variety of disciplines. With the opening of their first permanent installation, “The House of Eternal Return,” the collective has been able to employ about 140 people in the arts, and arts-adjacent fields. With theRead more
Opportunity! Summer course and residency at KSMoCA in Portland, OR
Join the King School Museum of Art (KSMoCA) summer course and residency program to participate in a collaborative, socially-engaged art project with PSU’s Art & Social Practice Program and MLK Jr School (a K-8 public school in NE Portland). Over the course of 4 weeks, program participants will act as Artists In Residence at KSMoCA to produce the KSMoCA International Art Fair. The art fair will include a group of 25 elementary school student “docents” and a group of artRead more
“Social Objects” at the c3:initiative in Portland, OR for NCECA 2017!
I think we’re still recovering from NCECA 2017: Future/Flux in Portland, OR! “Social Objects,” an exhibition from the SECC and c3:initiative was a rousing success, with a rockin’ opening reception, and continued engagement throughout the month. From the press release: This exhibition includes works from 14 members of the SECC who represent a wide range of practices and approaches. Works include Holly Hanessian’s “Touch Sensorium,” an installation work which invites visitors to explore tactile sensations through clay, Forrest Sincoff Gard’s “WaffleRead more
SECC at NCECA 2017 in Portland, Oregon
The SECC is super excited for NCECA 2017 in Portland, OR, Future Flux. The collective has an exhibition, Social Objects, but THAT’S NOT ALL! See below for our list of Socially Engaged MUST See’s at NCECA this year. We look forward to (re)connecting with our friends, see you there!! Did we miss anything?? Tweet at us, facebook us, or mention it in the comments! Social Objects (exhibition) at c3:Initiative Opening: Thursday, March 23, 2017, 5- 9 pm This exhibition includes works from 14 members of the SECCRead more
Walls of Welcome at NCECA
Hi folks! The SECC is dedicated to featuring socially engaged craft artworks, and we’re bringing you a FUTURE project that you can participate in during NCECA 2017. This project comes to us from Lauryn Axelrod. CALL FOR ENTRIES #WALLSOFWELCOME at NCECA The #WallsofWelcome Project Donald Trump wants to build a wall – a wall of bigotry, hate, exclusion and fear. His wall sends a loud, clear message both to people at home and abroad that says, “You aren’t welcome here.”Read more
The Pussyhat Project
by Summer Zickefoose On January 21st, 2017, over 4 million people marched in Washington D.C., in every major city in the US and in over 50 countries world-wide[1]. These marches were women-led[2] and equal rights were front and center, but by no means the exclusive issue for marchers as LGBTQ rights, social justice, immigration, labor, health care and the environment were among the many reasons marchers came out. While not everyone wore a pink pussyhat, the number that did madeRead more
The Onngi Project
The SECC is proud to showcase and highlight works of Socially Engaged Craft. Today, we’d like to highlight the work of Aletheia Hyun-Jin Shin, a community Korean artist. This project was a collaboration with a Korean senior community addresses issues of history, sustenance, and the complex narratives of the Korean community in Baltimore. The Onngi Project is a series of traditional Korean vessels created in collaboration with a Korean senior community in Baltimore. As Onngi is a significant vessel formRead more
Palm Petals
The SECC is proud to feature and profile projects of Socially Engaged Craft. Here, we’d like to profile Palm Petals, submitted by Casey Whittier. Palm Petals is an opportunity for collaboration, community engagement and shared experience through art. During this project, visitors of all ages and abilities are invited into the space to participate in the creation of flowers through the simple act of molding colored clay in the palms of their hands. This intuitive, meditative act creates individualized petalsRead more
The Exquisite Uterus
I have always loved this project, organized by artists Alison Gates and Helen Klebesadel in 2012, in response to legislation in a number of states that sought to incrementally roll back women’s reproductive rights. As we have come to realize in the most recent election, we do not have the luxury of taking our voices, reproductive rights or bodily autonomy for granted. Not now or for the foreseeable future. You can read more about the project and see more images ofRead more
Project Canary Wrap-Up!
@Project Canary: Thank you to all our collaborators across the nation, @hahaworks, Tally Clay, Life Changers Church, @mac_art_ceramics, @taylorrobenalt, @mary.amalthea, @bigredclit, @pattybilbro, @lourdesceramics, @nationalclayweek and @sociallyengagedcraftcollective to name a few. Project Canary is still going. We are planning drops for Election Day and beyond. 💕💕@nicolegugliottiart and @lauren.karle #NCW #nationalclayweek #projectcanary #tellyourstory #sociallyengagedcraftcollective #collaboration #artandpolitics #socialengagement As a part of #NationalClayWeek, the Socially Engaged Craft Collective launched Project Canary, a collaborative, social, ceramic project that considers the real-life implications of UnitedRead more
Theaster Gates at the Akron Museum of Art
On September 14th, 2016, the Akron Museum of Art hosted a musical performance, “A Cultural Revival,” featuring Theaster Gates and two members of the Black Monks of Mississippi. The experimental ensemble Gates has put together combines elements of Eastern, gospel an soulful blues influence. Theaster Gates is an artist who works in a disparate practice that combines skills in urban planning, architecture, community organizing and building, activism and ceramics. The Akron Art Museum’s programming with Gates is part of their “ongoing initiativeRead more
Emily Davidson: Activist Ink
Exhibition Review by Bridget Fairbank Activist Ink was mounted at the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery in 2013 Upon entering the gallery once one’s eyes survey the room, one naturally examines the bright and jarring optimistic work of Emily Davidson. Located on her allotted wall is a conglomerate of brightly lettered hand letter-pressed posters proclaiming slogans such as, “ Capitalism has fallen. Art Must be redefined”, “Everything we need is already here” and “Share Power”. Posters more akin to flyers areRead more
Both Artist and Mother
by Kate Fisher In our contemporary ceramic community many women have gracefully tackled the lively experiment that is being both artist and mother. Mothering is a complex subject that touches many aspects of an artist’s life and practice. These dual roles simultaneously impact each other both practically and conceptually. As many women have discovered, to experience maternity is to epitomize the vessel. This along with clay’s often-recognized metaphoric relationship to the stages of life itself, provides artists who utilize clayRead more
Concept=Material; Material=Concept: Balancing the Equation to Define Socially Engaged Craft
By Shannon H. Waldman Socially Engaged Craft=object+concept+activism Socially Engaged Craft (SEC) is the materiality of an idea realized in objects as well as conversation. It cannot exist without the tangible, but is rooted in the conceptual. There is much to the equation of defining SEC that needs spelling out in order to define what exactly practitioners of SEC are trying to “solve”. This is an attempt to give some formula to the work of SEC artists done with the knowledgeRead more
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