Art Lottery Thrills and an Arts & Crafts HERstory: RCC’s newest events
by Kate Nixon
This Thursday, experience the thrill of an Art Lottery and take home a valuable piece of art – all while helping the Roycroft Campus Corporation.
The 2018 Art Lottery, happening this Thursday, October 18th at the historic Roycroft Campus from 6:00 to 9:00pm, will offer guests a cultural experience, complete with beautiful artwork to take home. A $250 ticket will provide admittance for two guest, hors d’oeuvres, and one piece of art valued at $250 or higher – and a print from featured artist Shawn Krueger. The lottery system will draw numbers at random, adding some expense and intrigue for the evening’s guests. A wide variety of mediums are included in the over 60 available pieces that have been donated to the “lottery,” all of which are valued at $250 or higher. Some examples of the lottery items include painting, photography, sculpture, clothing, glass artwork, hand crafted leather, and other mixed-media pieces.
Roycroft Artisan Krueger, a contemporary landscape painter whose work sits comfortably in both the American Tonalist and Arts & Crafts traditions, has shown his oil landscape paintings in a wide variety of galleries and curated shows in the Midwest, East Coast and Southeastern United States and holds the Roycroft Campus in high regard. “So many of us working in contemporary American Arts & Crafts hold the origins of the movement in high regard,” says featured artist Shawn Krueger. “Because the Roycroft Campus is just one of a handful of places so intertwined with that history, those of us who care about it care very deeply about it. The Roycroft Campus Corporation is uniquely positioned to be a caretaker of that tradition, so if my poster image for the Art Lottery can, in some small way, help the RCC highlight that history in the best way possible, I will have been glad to have been involved.”
The proceeds go to the restoration efforts of the Roycroft campus, a cause that unites many supporters of the Roycroft legacy. “The Art Lottery Fundraiser is held every other year and has become a popular event for the Western New York community,” says Amizetta Haj, Roycroft Campus Corporation Marketing & Visitor Engagement Manager. “Not only does it promote the ideals of hand-craftsmanship set forth by Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters, it brings together a unique group of individuals in support of the restoration of our National Historic Landmark Campus.”
There are only a few tickets left – act fast if you want to join in on the fun! Tickets are required for entry into the event. For tickets, please visit Roycroft’s Art Lottery page on their website:
Class from the Roycroft History Course program on the Roycroft Campus
Among the many offerings the Roycroft Campus Corporation has in store for educational opportunities is the Roycroft Campus Fall History Course, a special educational series open to the public. The Roycroft Campus Fall History Course is halfway through its semester and it continues to be a success, immersing individuals in historic information and its contemporary connections – this series is centering on the female influence in the Arts and Crafts Movement featuring a variety of both historical and contemporary female artists. Each class will be led by a new guest speaker. The classes will continue to take place Thursday evenings at 7:00pm in the Roycroft Power House, 39 South Grove in East Aurora, across the street from the Roycroft Inn.
As mentioned, the course started earlier this month, October 4th, with Art History adjunct professor and Campus Program Director Alan Nowicki teaching about the life of two female influencers: photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston and sculptor Katharine Maltwood – two artists that left their mark on the Roycroft Campus and the Arts & Crafts Movement. “Participants are really surprised by the stories behind some of these artworks, and getting to know these incredible women artists who lead/led extraordinary lives. Most of whom were unknown by those attending,” said Nowicki. In September, painter Constance Payne, told of her recreation of the “Four Season” murals for the Roycroft Inn. October saw Mr. Nowicki looking back at the work of Maltwood and Johnston, and Dr. James Spates presented on the work of Kate Greenway and Francesca Alexander, two artists championed by John Ruskin.
John Ruskin, Kate Greenway and Francesca Alexander led by Dr. Spates, Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, showed a look into the deep interest and support Ruskin showed for the artists Greenway and Alexander – such support for female artists was rare and earned Ruskin some disdain, according to Spates. “Ruskin’s unusual championship of women artists like Kate Greenaway and Francesca Alexander and the strong resistance he met for doing this, some of it was based on a dislike of him in his gadfly mode, but much of it on misogynism,” says Spates. “It was a general belief among the (almost exclusively male) art critics that women not only couldn’t do such things but, if they could, they shouldn’t.” Dr. Spates is scheduled to present more on the importance of John Ruskin at the National Arts & Crafts Conference this coming February.
These history courses continue to be a spotlight on the movement, and this semester how these women effected not only the art world but the role females have in society. The lecture series will continue in November with a focus on the first female architect in the country Louise Bethune and creator of the Hotel Lafayette from award-winning photographer Jackie Albarella on November 1st. The series will end November 8th with Roycroft Campus artist in residence Kateri Ewing, who will discuss her process, work and upcoming new book “Look Closer, Draw Better.” Registration for the Fall 2018 Roycroft History Course is $25 for the general public and $10 to all RCC members. All proceeds go to the preservation and restoration efforts of the Roycroft Campus.
To sign up for the class, please visit the Roycroft Lecture Series page here: https://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/index.php/events/little-journeys-lecture-series
The Roycroft Campus Corporation (RCC) is a not for profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Roycroft Campus, a National Historic Landmark in East Aurora, New York. From 1895 to 1938, the Roycroft Campus was one of the most successful and well-known components of the Arts & Crafts Movement in the United States, consisting of a community of over 500 artisans and craftspeople led by writer and charismatic leader, Elbert Hubbard. The RCC’s mission is to inspire visitors to experience the creativity, ideals and future of the Arts & Crafts Movement and to further promote and preserve the Roycroft Campus.