Kicking Off Arts and Crafts Month Virtually: Your Weekend at a Glance

by Bruce Johnson and Kate Nixon

 

East Meets West: The Birth of Global Design

January 30th at 1:00 PM Eastern over Zoom

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR “EAST MEETS WEST”

 

Virtual Kickoff Party for the 34th National Arts and Crafts Conference

January 31st at 6:00 PM Eastern over Zoom

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE KICKOFF PARTY

 

The first month-long virtual National Arts and Crafts Conference will start on Monday, February 1, with more than 75 different seminars, tours, discussions groups, and demonstrations spread across the entire month. The cost of the Participants Pass is $100 per person or $150 for a two-person pass. The virtual Arts and Crafts antiques show and contemporary craftsfirms show are both free to access and open to the general public as well. Detailed information is available at www.Arts-CraftsConference.com.

 

 

 

The Sunday evening (January 31) before the official opening of the 34^th National Arts and Crafts Conference will feature a special virtual kick-off party hosted by the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms. This annual pre-conference fundraiser ($25 per ticket) for the museum will run from 6:00-7:30pm, when you will be able to enjoy time mingling with old and new friends in Zoom breakout rooms organized by topic, win door prizes including a two-person Arts and Crafts Weekend Package at the 2022 National Arts and Crafts Conference, and play Zoom bingo — and we’re encouraging everyone to come dressed as your favorite Arts and Crafts superstar! More information and a registration form can be found at www.stickleymuseum.org/support/gpi-virtual-kick-off-party/.

Vonda Givens, executive director of the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, says hosting this kickoff party will help to deliver the feeling of being at the conference. “On my registration for the conference, I noted that this was my 14^th year to attend. While I will miss catching up with Arts and Crafts friends in Asheville, I am grateful to Bruce and Kate for developing the Conference as an online experience. It’s an extraordinary tradition and the museum is always excited to be a part of it.”

“Like so many things this year, the party and the conference are in a completely new format. I am guessing that many people, like me, will miss taking an annual trip to Asheville. We planned this Zoom party with all of you in mind. We hope the Kickoff Party will give you the feel of being at the conference, with the opportunity to see familiar faces and even catch up in breakout room. We also have two fantastic door prizes and a special program with Bruce Johnson and Kate Nixon. The $25 ticket supports the museum’s operations and helps us stay strong through this ongoing period of uncertainty.”

 

 

One of the highlights of the virtual conference will be the live Small Group Discussions we will be hosting Monday through Friday the entire month at 1:00pm EST. Rest assured, if you can’t attend your favorite one, you can watch a recording of it later. Just as at our live Arts and Crafts Conferences held at the historic Grove Park Inn, these discussions will be led by experts and enthusiasts in nearly every field, from art and architecture to furniture, metalware, and textiles of the Arts and Crafts era.

You can check out our updating conference schedule HERE on the conference’s website or You can find a printable PDF schedule of the events here.

 

 

Our seminar offerings will include new seminars presented by Marilee Meyer, Andre Chaves, and conference director Bruce Johnson, as well as seminars from prior conferences by such noted speakers as Richard Mohr (tiles), the late Rosalie Berberian (jewelry), Michael McCracken (Stickley furniture), Susan Montgomery (art pottery), Michael Crow (Limbert furniture), Ron VanOstrand (metalware), and many, many more.

 

 

The conference will also feature tours, beginning with the first glimpse inside the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement soon to be opening in St. Petersburg, Florida. Conference attendees can also take virtual tours of the Grove Park Inn, Biltmore Industries, the Stickley home and grounds at Craftsman Farms, the Riordan Mansion, the Roycroft Campus, and other places of interest to Arts and Crafts collectors.

While we all lament the fact that we will not be able to meet in person at the 1913 Grove Park Inn, we hope you will take advantage of the educational opportunities offered by a virtual event, and will join us in refusing to let the Covid crisis deter us in our enjoyment and support of the Arts and Crafts movement. For more information on our conference, click HERE to find out more information on the National Arts and Crafts Conference website.

 

If you just can’t wait until February 1st for a class, you can sign up for the Stickley Museum’s online classroom offerings, continuing this weekend with “East Meets West: The Birth of Global Design,” where the western fascination with eastern design will be explored.

 

 

Click HERE to register for the “East meets West” session on January 30th!