Arts & Crafts Online Conference Kicks Off with Live Session at Bruce Johnson’s Workshop
by Kate Nixon
Editor’s note: This article has been updated – Scott Draves demonstration of “An Arts and Crafts Contemporary Style in Ceramics” has been postponed. All registrants will be notified of the rescheduled date.
Arts & Crafts In August: An Online Celebration
Hosted at Arts-CraftsConference.com
August 17th – 23rd, 2024
All times listed are in the Eastern time zone.
Online All Events Passes and Single Session registration available (Early Bird registration extended through July 24th)
Register for Arts & Crafts In August HERE.
Since 2021, the month of August has provided collectors across the country to chance to view seminars, demonstrations, small group discussions, and connect with each other from wherever they are in their Summer vacations. The 2024 Arts & Crafts In August schedule is live with some new and exciting offerings for online passholders, single session registrants, and a free chance to connect with a well-known woodworker, historian and important figure in the Arts & Crafts revival — and the chance for collectors across the country to donate to a non-profit dedicated to the study of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The now annual week-long event held at Arts-CraftsConference.com – the official website of the National Arts and Crafts Conference and Shows at the Grove Park Inn – is a chance for Arts and Crafts collectors, scholars and enthusiasts to connect and present studies, live tours, and demonstrate an area of the decorative arts. As this will be the fifth of the online conferences dedicated to the Arts and Crafts movement from the directors of the National Arts and Crafts Conference and Shows at the Grove Park Inn, the offering of live sessions through Zoom and the archive of recorded sessions available to Online Passholders are just two of the benefits from the online conference that any collector can login and access on the go from wherever they are in the country or outside of the country.
Like in previous years, attendees have two choices on accessing the daily links for the live schedule. Attendees will be sent daily emails with the day’s Zoom links to access the Zoom classroom. Attendees can also login to their online conference subscriber portal by logging in through Arts-CraftsConference.com. Online Passholders will have the same access to the archive of recorded sessions and additional resources through logging into the same portal.
New information for Online Event Passholders in 2024:
- The Early Bird Online Events Passholder rate of $80.00 has been extended through July 24th; July 25th through August 17th the rate increases to $100.
- Online Event Passholders will have access to all recordings including the 2024 sessions and all ACIA resources through December 1st.
- A few special sessions (Collector’s Focus sessions) are included in the Events Passholders cost only (those sessions will be recorded as well);
- The Free session on Saturday will kick off the week of events – all other presentations are either included in the online events pass and most sessions will have single session registration available.
The events schedule is described below:
Live from Bruce’s Workshop and Fundraising for Arts & Crafts Studies
Woodworker and author Bruce Johnson in his study with a GPI chair, a chair constructed by the Roycrofters from East Aurora for the Grove Park Inn.
The week of event kicks off with a familiar face to attendees of the National Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows — woodworker, author, and Grove Park Inn historian Bruce Johnson will go live from his own workshop via Zoom on Saturday, August 17th at 1:00 PM Eastern. Covering the topic of “Caring For Your Arts & Crafts Furniture” – a subject that he’s well versed in having written a number of books on furniture and furniture details including The Pegged Joint – Bruce will show live examples of furniture do’s and don’t and methods he has used to preserve precious antique and contemporary examples of his collection during this special session. This session has been made free to access by the general public – anyone can participate, but you must sign up by end of day, August 15th by visiting the Arts-CraftsConference.com Arts and Crafts In August registration page, clicking the link below, or access the Zoom sign up page referenced in ArtsandCraftsCollector.com and Arts-CraftsConference.com email blasts.
The furniture care session will also double as a fundraiser for the Arts & Crafts Research Fund, Bruce’s non-profit established to provide funds to research projects dedicated to the Arts and Crafts movement. Links to an online donation page will be made available to those attendees during the session. Those who have been to the National Arts & Crafts Conference and Shows at the Grove Park Inn know the popular silent auction during the shows is used to raise money for the research fund. If you were not able to make it this year and you want to help contribute to the study of this movement, don’t miss this session!
Please note: this single Zoom session is free to everyone, but if you are not an online passholder, you must register on the page below (with just your name and email) in order to be sent the link to participate.
If you are interested in getting your Arts & Crafts research project funded by the ACRF, click here for information and the application.
Seminars: The Origins, The Arts & Crafts Society of Boston, A Californian Art Glass Legacy, And More
John Ruskin, one of the instrumental figures in the Arts and Crafts movement origins – believed in the connection between handcrafted textiles and a happier life. Dr. Rachel Dickinson explores this concept during Arts & Crafts In August.
The garden of Munstead Wood, home to landscapers Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens, will be explored in an exclusive replay with a live Q&A with lecturer, author, and landscape historian Judith Tankard.
The Willow Tea Room in Glasgow, Scotland shows elements of the Glasgow style – including the famous Mackintosh rose – developed by “The Glasgow Four.” Dr. Anne Anderson will explore the four figures, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who developed the Glasgow style.
The living room of the Purcell-Cutts House in Minneapolis, Minnesota: a perfect example of the style that architects William Gray Purcell and George Elmslie worked to create. Photo courtesy of Karen Melvin.
This year, not only will the collectible works, historic houses and demonstrations influenced by the American Arts and Crafts Movement be explored, but a few chapters from its European origins will be discussed in a number of presentations from our neighbors from the UK and a well known Landscape historian and author on Arts & Crafts gardens.
On Sunday, August 18th, the house and garden of landscape designers Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens will be presented in a lecture replayed just for the Arts & Crafts In August crowd. “Munstead Wood: Gertrude Jekyll’s Home and Garden” by landscape historian and author Judith Tankard and Munstead Wood General Manager Katherine Mills will explore the history of the house and its function as a laboratory for Jekyll’s experience in creating hundreds of British and American gardens. The talk was presented online by Tankard in 2023 after the National Trust purchased Munstead Wood – the talk will include a small introduction by Andy Jasper, Head of Gardens and Parklands at the National Trust. After the replay of the lecture and the short clip from Andy Jasper, the live Zoom Q&A with Judith Tankard will provide attendees the chance to ask Judith and Katherine about Munstead Wood and Arts & Crafts gardens.
On Tuesday, August 20th, back to back presentations will bring viewers from California to Scotland to Minnesota. First, the early works of art glass maker William Lees Judson will be shown and explored in a presentation by David Judson, the fifth generation president of Southern California’s own Judson Studios. Following the discussion on Arts & Crafts era art glass in Southern California, attendees will learn about the Glasgow style and the four Scottish artists known for originating the aesthetic made popular in the Willow Tea Room, the Mackintosh House, and the Glasgow School of Art. Dr. Anne Anderson FSA will be delivering the lecture via Zoom and will answer questions about the Glasgow style directly after the talk. She has lectured for the V&A Learning Academy, the National Trust and the Art Fund. Currently a guide and lecturer, Anne specialises in Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts art tours.
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Want to register for the Online Events Pass or for individual presentations? Click here to Register for Arts and Crafts In August!
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On Wednesday, August 21st, the contributions of Boston, Massachusetts will be explored in a presentation on both the women metalworkers and their coveted works and one of the very first Arts and Crafts societies in America: Boston’s Arts and Crafts Society. Curator Jeannine Falino will present on the accomplishments and contributions in American Art Metalwork from the women of Boston and a brief history of the Arts & Crafts Society of Boston. Boston was the first of American cities to embrace the Arts and Crafts movement before it swept the entire country, and in 1897, the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston became the first in the nation to rally around the ideals first advanced by John Ruskin. Artists in the region were celebrated for their work in metalwork, jewelry, and ceramics.
Friday will bring a presentation from the UK about John Ruskin, another important figure in the English origins of the Arts & Crafts movement. Among the many contributions of ideas and theory by Ruskin was the idea of meaningful architecture and his architectural “surface theory”: these two ideas formed into Ruskin’s theory of textiles and architecture shared a commonality of creativity expressed in outer coverings. Dr. Rachel Dickinson will present Ruskinian Wealth and Textiles, exploring both Ruskin and William Morris and the textile as representing an architectural surface.
The upcoming Re-Opening of Gustav Stickley’s own Arts & Crafts Utopia is coming this Fall and Executive Director Vonda Givens will show a special preview during Arts and Crafts In August. Photo courtesy of Vonda Givens.
Historic House Tours and Artisan Demonstrations
The stained glass designs are just one of the many details shown in a live walkthrough tour of the Greene and Greene-designed “Ultimate Bungalow” in Berkeley, California: The Thorsen House.
Throughout the week, tours from historic houses across the country will be shown as well as artisans demonstrating their skills and a few sessions exclusively for collectors. Tuesday’s full schedule will end with a Prairie-style themed bang as we go live via Zoom to Minneapolis’ representative of the Prairie School: The Purcell-Cutts House. Curator Jennifer Komar Olivarez will lead us through the house showing attendees the open interior plan, earthen colors, more than eighty art-glass windows, custom-designed stencils, furniture, and artworks within the house in addition to covering women in architecture, and race and access to housing in Minneapolis in the early 1900s. On Wednesday, the Arts and Crafts details of Chicago’s Glessner House is revealed with Glessner House Executive Director Bill Tyre. Not only is the Glessner House part of the Prairie Avenue Historic District, but the house portrays a number of Arts & Crafts characteristics including wood furniture design by the Herter Brothers, William Morris designs on the walls and floors, and the ceramics collection of Mrs. Glessner, an avid supporter of the Arts and Crafts movement. On Thursday, August 22nd, ahead of the upcoming Grand Re-Opening of the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Executive Director Vonda Givens will reveal the multi-year renovation work and the latest on the Log Cabin kitchen, one new development which will make its debut to those in attendance for the Grand Re-Opening. Finally on Sunday, August 25th, the Greene and Greene designed “Ultimate Bungalow” in Berkeley, California – The Thorsen House – will be shown in a live walkthrough tour by one of the houses residents. Resident Elias Myers will give attendees a live look at some details of the Thorsen House exterior and interior during Sunday’s live session.
Monday, August 19th will be Maker Monday as three artisans will show their creative processes in their craft – dedicated to contemporary pottery and the art of typography. Kelsey Schissel of Kelsey Schissel Ceramics will show how her youth as a Western North Carolina native inspired her to pay tribute to the native flora of North Carolina on her ceramic canvas. She’ll reveal her processes in this special look at her unique brand of pottery showing the natural beauty of her state. Switching to the state of Colorado, Julie Leidel of The Bungalow Craft will show how she creates and is influenced by Arts and Crafts era typography. Providing beautiful prints of natural landscapes paired with inspirational quotes from historic figures in the Arts & Crafts aesthetic is all in a day’s work for Leidel; she will end Maker Monday with a presentation on her creative process and will show her latest projects.
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Want to register for the Online Events Pass or for individual presentations? Click here to Register for Arts and Crafts In August!
Want to know more about Arts & Crafts In August? Visit Arts-CraftsConference.com.
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