Jurors Announced for the 2015 Smithsonian Craft Show
Smithsonian Craft Show co-chairs Sharon Fawcett and Susan Labovich announced the three jurors who will select 122 artists to showcase their work at the annual event in 2015. Widely regarded as the most prestigious juried show and sale of American fine craft, the Smithsonian Craft Show will be held April 23˗26, 2015, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Participating artists will be chosen from a pool of approximately 1,200 applicants, including many of the most accomplished artisans in the United States. The deadline for artists to apply is Sept. 14; the application form is available at www.smithsoniancraftshow.org, and a fee of $50 is required. Selections by the jurors will be announced by the end of October 2014.
The three jurors are Annie Carlano, senior curator of craft, design and fashion at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C., Bruce W. Pepich, director and curator of collections at the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wis., and Jennifer Scanlan, an independent curator and instructor of craft history and theory at Parsons, The New School for Design in New York City.
“When evaluating each artist, the jurors are charged with considering the unique design statement originating and identified with the artist and the continuing relevance of their work to today’s lifestyle,” said Fawcett. “We are looking for artists who convey excitement and innovation in their work.”
“These jurors are themselves on the cutting edge of American fine craft and are well-positioned to select the finest American artisans to be part of the 2015 Smithsonian Craft Show,” Labovich added. “We are extremely pleased that they have agreed to undertake this important responsibility.”
About the Jurors
Carlano is the exhibition curator of “Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection,” which was on view at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C. She earned her bachelor’s degree in art history from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and a master’s degree in art history from Università degli Studi in Florence, Italy. Carlano is an internationally known scholar who has published and lectured on a wide variety of topics related to fine art and craft. Her recent books include Sleeping Around: The Bed from Antiquity to Now and Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection.
Pepich has been associated with the Charles A. Wusturn Museum of Fine Arts since 1974 when he was hired as a project manager. Six years later he was appointed director. He later raised $10 million to create the Racine Art Museum, which houses one of the largest craft collections in the country. Pepich received his bachelor’s degree in art history from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill.
Scanlan is an independent curator who has three exhibitions on view in 2014: “Sasha Stoyanov” at 108 Contemporary in Tulsa, Okla.; “Illuminate: Design in Light,” at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, N.Y., and “Back to Eden: Contemporary Artists Wander the Garden,” at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City. Scanlan earned her bachelor’s degree in art history and Italian from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and a master’s degree in decorative arts design and culture from the Bard Graduate Center in New York City.
About the Smithsonian Craft Show
The April 2015 Smithsonian Craft Show will be the 33rd annual show produced by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee. The event supports the committee’s program of yearly grants to the Smithsonian, which are awarded on a competitive basis to various entities within the Institution. The grants are for a wide variety of projects that focus on the Smithsonian’s Four Grand Challenges: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe, Valuing World Cultures, Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet and Understanding the American Experience.
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