This Tuesday with Balvenie we celebrated the American Craft Council Rare Craft Awards. This is the 3rd year granting a Fellowship to one of 4 artisan finalists.
We can discuss art vs craft vs makers [no sh*t it's handmade... believe me I can tell! - ed] and so on. Would love to - stop me anytime. In this case I was fortunate to be included on a panel with Garth Johnson (Curator of Ceramics ASU Art Museum), Perry Price (Director of Education at the American Craft Council), and Anthony Bourdain to select the finalists;
Mark Hewitt, potter.
Elizabeth Brim, blacksmith.
Mary Jackson, sweetgrass basket weaver.
Bob Kramer, bladesmith.
(ACC Rare Craft Fellowship Awards finalists and winner pose for a photo
with Anthony Bourdain. Photo: Courtesy of Jackie Hart/DOWNTOWN Magazine)
Bob Kramer received this year's Fellowship; past winners being Graham Thompson of Optimo hats in Chicago, and Douglas Brooks a canoe builder from VT who specializes in Japanese technique.
This is the entree (see what I did there) to the larger collaboration between Balvenie and Bourdain in his Rare Craft tv series coming out. All good stuff.
