African-American Fine and Contemporary Craft

Comment

Comment by FARUK KAIYUM on January 6, 2012 at 9:09pm

In many of our communities the idea of fine craft is not even a part of the vocabulary ... So many times I have expressed that I design jewelery. The response is always from the belittling perspective.. "O you string beads" "Or I can that"  So I find myself defending and educating people to the idea that I am a contemporary jewelery artist and craftsman..  One who makes a living doing so.. Further When  I go into the schools to give a talk,'undoubtedly I am always asked if I make gold fronts. From my perspective  value is the issue... Our job as working craftsmen is to educate.. In many communities we are an anomaly. The point is, that we all have to remember that we are teachers to a greater or lesser degree. Writing books is OK ,, Videos are OK  But we have to attack this form of illiteracy from every angle possible... It, one at a time.. are like putting stones in a building

Comment by Kathleen DeQuence Anderson on October 29, 2011 at 9:22am

Hi group,

Just wanting to help keep conversation and momentum moving.  So, what have folks been working on over the last few months?

 

Comment by Kathleen DeQuence Anderson on June 26, 2011 at 12:23pm

Does anyone have thoughts they'd like to share on the relationship between oppression and creativity?  Do you think there is one?  If yes what? If not why?

Comment by D. DelReverda-Jennings on May 7, 2011 at 7:20pm

I am so very sorry to hear of Gwen Magee's passing.   She was a profoundly creative and prolific artisan, her work striking and powerful while relaying superb narrative to the onlooker...I fell in love with many of her pieces.    I did not know her personally, but Gwen always had a plethora of  kind comments and advice for the BAIA family and happened to be one of my first BAIA connections and a favorite  creative  ......  She will be missed.

Comment by Charles Smith on April 28, 2011 at 9:34pm

Celebrated Jackson textile artist Gwendolyn Magee, who turned a traditional art form into profound contemporary art, died Wednesday night following an illness.

 Magee, 67, who was honored for artistic achievement with a 2011 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts this past February, was renowned for her works centered around African American life and history.

 

The Smithsonian Institution, the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African-American History are among the institutions that have collected and/or exhibited her works.

 

Magee’s death sent shock waves and grief through an artistic community that warmed to her radiant spirit as well as her fabric creations.

 

“It’s just a tremendous loss for the artistic community and our country, really,” Mississippi Museum of Art director Betsy Bradley said. “She created profound statements in a very traditional medium, but in an innovative and tremendously beautiful manner.”

 

Mississippi Arts Commission executive director Malcolm White said Magee “artistically came alive at a mature age and really achieved amazing things,” telling powerful historical stories through an old art form that she took to a contemporary level.

 

Magee joined the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi in 1998, became a fellow in 2007 and was a committed board member for the guild. She was “Miss November” in the guild’s inaugural Expose Yourself to Crafts calendar, posing in a full body wrap of her sunburst quilt. She was “tickled” about the project, Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi executive director Julia Daily recalled, keeping it a secret even from her husband until the unveiling, when she sashayed down the Mississippi Craft Center stairs in a trenchcoat to theme music.

 

Magee was working on a quilt about the Freedom Riders for a Montgomery museum at the time of her death — a selected work that she was feverishly working on but didn’t finish, Daily and longtime friend Geraldine Brookins said.

 

A memorial service for Magee is set for 5 p.m. May 6 at the Mississippi Museum of Art. 

Comment by Sandra Blakely on March 18, 2011 at 6:50pm

Hi Virginia and welcome. When I created my FB page I did just that. The feedback was great and enabled me to send invites to a show I was having.  If you just have friends on your access list, they already know what you look like even if it has been years.  But my work?  I let it speak for me.

Comment by virginia hernandez on March 18, 2011 at 12:02pm

If any of you have a facebook page (who doesn't now days) I have found it profitable to use a piece of my artwork as my profile picture. Every page you enter will have your profile and I have had wonderful feedback and made a sale by doing just that. Just something that might help.

Comment by D. DelReverda-Jennings on March 3, 2011 at 3:30pm

Great to Be a Part of the Consensus. 

Comment by Humdah Salahadyn on January 13, 2011 at 5:24pm

I don't know, but I think that African American art is not valued as it should be.  As crafters and artist we must support all forms of art;talk about it, buy it, display it, sell it, and we must teach.

I am sure more books will come when we as crafters do the work.

Comment by Millie Maines on October 3, 2010 at 9:50am

Thanks for accepting me. I'm sure I can get a lot out of this group and eventually add to it.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page