Baskets

Jackie Abrams and Josh Bernbaum's joint show, opening today at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, is called "Dialogue" - and how lucky for the rest of us, that we get to visually eavesdrop on their spectacular artistic conversation.

Somewhere between an Olympics medal ceremony and “Candid Camera” falls the annual Awards Walking Tour at the American Craft Council's Baltimore Show. Each year, we invite two specialists in the craft field to jury the show, selecting six Award of Excellence recipients and two winners in the Booth Design category. This year's jurors were Jane Milosch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Josephine Shea, curator of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, a historic home near Detroit.

For a first-time visitor, the American Craft Council’s Baltimore Show can be somewhat overwhelming - in the best possible way. I experienced that today when I entered the Baltimore Convention Center for a sneak peek at the exhibitors in our 34th annual show. I was immediately struck not only by the sheer number of artists, but also by the eclectic variety of the work on display. It’s an incredible sensory experience to encounter exquisitely handcrafted goods in such a range of colors, shapes, textures and materials.

In 1965 Duane Bell founded a small steel manufacturing business, Bell Manufacturing, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Using centuries-old blacksmithing techniques the company made radiator covers and security gates. Then in 1990, the furniture company Room and Board approached Bell's children, Jim and Judy, who had taken over the business, and asked if they were interested in creating an entirely different product-furniture. Looking for a new challenge, the pair accepted and began creating hand-welded steel beds, coffee tables and other household items.