December/January 2009

At Jim Schatz's creek-side home and studio in upstate New York, the trees bear the fruits of his labor: glossy, egg-shaped earthenware bird houses and feeders, including Red Hot, in a rainbow of colors, tended daily by the artist and product-tested by chickadees, grosbeaks and cardinals.

Andrea DiNoto discusses “Second Lives,” the inaugural exhibition of transformative works at the re-located Museum of Arts and Design.

Modern Americana: Studio Furniture from High Craft to High Glam
By Todd Merrill and
Julie V. Iovine
Rizzoli International Publications
New York, New York
$75

Musée-Atelier du Verre
Cenae 9: L'Alchimie du Verre (The Alchemy of Glass) Joan Crous
Sars-Poteries, France
September 11 - December 1, 2008

It took the late architect Terry Brown 10 years to tap into his Midwestern roots and create a style focused on materials and the handmade. Jayne Merkel writes of Brown’s Mushroom House in Cincinnati.

Following the lead of ceramist and teacher Paul Kotula, Roger Green finds much good news, most of it involving the persistance of the arts, amid the grim urban prospect of Detroit.

Discover why this borough has become home to so many makers, artists, designers and galleries.

In 20 years, University Hospitals in Cleveland has assembled a first-rate art and craft collection that contributes to an environment beneficial to patients, medical personnel and visitors. Dorothy Shinn surveys the high points and talks to the collection's curator, Trudy Wiesenberger, about the impetus behind such a collection.

The Canadian scholar Sandra Alfoldy, coeditor of a recent book, explores the interrelationship of craft and architectural spaces, particularly as it relates to interior design.