March 21st – May 2nd 2025

The Sideshow

Within artistic fields and academia at large, there lingers a centuries-old debate, a discourse that refuses to be neatly resolved: the question of fine art vs. craft. Craft has long been associated with the functional, utilitarian and gendered labor that often remains intimate and hidden. Unlike painting and sculpture, craft in the areas of fibers, ceramics, and metals continues to be neglected by galleries and institutions, entities that often attempt to systematically categorize and differentiate these forms of making. However, these strict notions of categorization are both antiquated and problematic. Rigidly constructing definitions of what craft is and is not creates confusion, lowers its perceived value, and ignores the fact that craft exists in dualities and resists classification: Craft can be utilitarian or ornate, produced individually or communally, intimate and hidden or exhibited and displayed. It is open to all. Craft resides never in one place, but in a world of multiplicities and contradictions. To attempt to relegate it to a single definition is futile. Thus, it is the aim of this exhibit to make space for craft while also refraining from strictly defining its process or end product. Rethinking Craft both embraces tradition and celebrates craft’s ability to cross boundaries and raise vital questions in a contemporary setting.

Jane Lawton

Brody Cox

Anna De Soto

Helen Jewart

Catherine Parkin

Gavin Deveraux