Craft Front & Center Exhibit Opens at MAD

Now on view at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) is an ongoing exhibition of the Museum’s growing permanent collection of over 3,500 objects. Craft Front & Center is an installation of more than 60 historic works and new acquisitions dating from the golden age of the American Craft movement to the present day. Some featured artists include Ruth Clement Bond, Faith Ringgold, Bisa Butler, Anna Mlasowsky, and Eleanor Lakelin. The exhibit, which illuminates how the expansive field of craft has broadened definitions of art, was organized by theme: material transformation, dismantling hierarchies, contemplation, identity, and sustainability. 

To encourage a more expansive understanding of craft, the Museum will host a series of interactive workshops in April and May, exploring culinary craft through a tasting of handcrafted sake, the history of indigo and hand-dyeing instruction, and the traditions and practice of Eastern Woodland-style beadwork. Additionally, in the spring, the Museum will launch a lifelong learning seminar series via conversations, field trips, and artist studio visits. Visitors to the exhibit can listen to an audio tour of Craft Front & Center on the Museum’s mobile guide on the Bloomberg Connects app and hear directly from select exhibition artists about their work and practice.

Craft Front & Center is the first long-term exhibition of the permanent collection since MAD opened its doors at 2 Columbus Circle in 2008. The exhibit, which will be updated periodically, will be on display through January 14, 2024. For more information, you can visit madmuseum.org. Don't forget to stop at The Store at MAD when you see the exhibit!

Photo Credit: Museum of Arts and Design - Images (from left to right): Ruth Clement Bond (designer) and Rose Marie Thomas (maker), Tennessee Valley Authority Appliqué Quilt Design of Man with Crane, 1934; Sara Zapata, A little domestic waste IV, 2017; and Eleanor Lakelin, Column Vessel I (from the “Echoes of Amphora” series), 2022.