MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT TO HOST CRAFT BLOCK PARTY JULY 22

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PORTLAND, ORE. — Given the Pacific Northwest’s noted contribution to the American craft movement, and the creative hub that Museum of Contemporary Craft has been in the region for 70 continuous years, “Craft In America: Expanding Traditions” is an inspired choice as the museum’s inaugural exhibition.

The exhibition will be on view July 22–September 23.

“There is a trajectory of the American craft movement that has run parallel to avant-garde art movements for many decades. This exhibition examines this separate history, and sets the stage to understand craft today,” says Namita Gupta Wiggers, curator at Museum of Contemporary Craft.

Beginning with the Industrial Revolution and continuing through the present, this important historical survey elucidates the dynamic evolution of the American craft movement.

Including more than 120 objects that represent broad examples of artwork that is craft-based — either through media, technique or both — the exhibition presents a selection of craft made in the past two centuries. This curated selection of objects recognizes many of the significant social, cultural, political and artistic contributions that have guided the development of craft in this country.

The exhibition, which features works of clay, glass, fiber, wood and metal, is a multi-city touring exhibition, accompanied by a Public Broadcasting Service documentary and a catalog.

After its run here, the exhibit will travel to the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the Cranbook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla., and the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Mass.

The museum reopens in its new site at 724 Northwest Davis Street on July 22. For general information, 503-223-2654 or www.MuseumofContemporaryCraft.org.