Jan Baum discusses her work in the Luce Foundation Center.
We get lots of questions about the craft objects in American Art's Luce Foundation Center. Visitors are often curious about the pieces on display and how they were created. So we seized the opportunity to invite local artists to the center to talk about their work. We've had two wonderful artist talks so far, and two more are planned for August.
Jewelry artist Jan Baum spoke on Sunday, July 11. As she opened one of our pneumatic jewelery drawers to reveal her piece Structure, she told visitors about her interest in the plumb-bob, or amphora, shape and the idea of containment, which she explores by making multilayered objects that can be opened or disassembled to reveal their interiors. She brought in examples of recent and unfinished works that visitors could hold.
Our second guest, Rob Barnard, a potter, spoke a week later. Like Baum, he felt his piece Pot was in "good company" in the Luce Center. He discussed the uniqueness of each object as a result of the firing process and where each was located in the wood-fired kiln. Barnard also said that he is more concerned about the feeling a piece evokes than its shape. His objects, he said, should be "vehicles for carrying feelings to other people." He also commented that they are meant to be used, so he offered everyone his cups and mugs to drink from during his talk.
To hear more about craft directly from the artists, attend the two talks coming up in August: jewelry artists Robin Kranitzky and Kim Overstreet on Sunday, August 8, and ceramic artist Margaret Boozer on Sunday, August 22.
And look for more artist talks this fall!
