Archive by Author: rhenry

The Board of Directors of the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) announced today that Executive Director Perry Price will leave his position at the end of the year to lead the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, as its next executive director.

“Perry’s nearly seven-year tenure at the Center has been a time of exceptional growth,” says HCCC Board President Judy Nyquist. “His leadership has brought new initiatives, given a platform to diverse voices, and has elevated the dialogue locally, regionally, and nationally about the significance of contemporary craft. He has given his staff the authority to test out new ideas and has led the institution with grace through the most challenging two-and-a-half years in the Center’s history. Our reputation as a thought leader in the field has grown exponentially, and our artist residency program is considered one of the most prestigious in the country, encouraging and enabling both emerging and established makers to experiment and go on to robust careers. While it is very difficult to say goodbye, the HCCC Board of Directors wish Perry and his family the very best at Haystack and look forward to many future collaborations.”

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(HOUSTON, TX) September 23, 2022 — Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce that, following a national search, it has named Sarah Darro as its new curator and exhibitions director.

“HCCC is excited to welcome Sarah Darro back to Houston,” said HCCC Executive Director Perry Price. “After three years producing innovative and exciting exhibitions at the Center as our curatorial fellow, Sarah has continued to develop and deepen her curatorial voice in craft at peer institutions across the country and earn impressive accolades for her work. Her accomplishments, her relationships with artists and communities, and her novel approach to exhibition development and design will find a receptive home at HCCC and within the cultural community of Houston.”

Over the past decade, as a curator, writer, and visual anthropologist working at the nexus of contemporary art, craft, and design, Darro has established an intersectional curatorial vision that is invested in reinvigorating museum spaces as forums for discourse, innovation, action, and engagement through experience. Her research interests include artist communities and collectives, relational aesthetics, movement and performance practice in craft, architecturally influenced design, radical accessibility, systems esthetics, and the life histories and agency of objects.

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(HOUSTON, TX) July 22, 2022 – Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce its newest class of residents for 2022 – 2023, a group of outstanding artists working in a variety of craft disciplines.

For more than 20 years, the Center’s artist residency program has offered time and space for craft artists to focus on their creative work and interact with the public. The program supports emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all craft media, including but not limited to clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and mixed media.  This year, more than 145 artists applied from all over the U.S. and beyond, and 11 artists were selected for a three-to-twelve-month residency. The juried selection was based on quality of creative work, ability to interact with the public, career direction, and program diversity. In addition to 24/7 access to studio space, HCCC provides the artists with a materials-and-living stipend, a variety of professional development opportunities, and a group exhibition at the conclusion of the residency cycle.

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(HOUSTON, TX) July 1, 2022 — This fall, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) presents CraftTexas 2022, the eleventh in a series of juried exhibitions showcasing the best in Texas-made contemporary craft.

Juried by Andres Payan Estrada, the curator of public engagement at Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA, the show includes 40 pieces by nearly 30 artists, highlighting works that speak to personal stories of struggle and resilience, while challenging expectations of contemporary craft. The CraftTexas series provides a unique opportunity for Texas artists to have their work viewed by a nationally recognized juror and to display their work in an exhibition that strives to broaden the understanding of contemporary craft. Payan Estrada, who was raised in Texas, selected his favorite works from a pool of more than 250 applicants. In his juror’s statement, he commented: “What coalesced from spending time with all the entries and methodically pulling selections is a somber exhibition that addresses a history and lineage in craft thought, while at the same time challenging some of the preconceived definitions, histories, and cannons that have commonly been upheld through craft. Throughout the exhibition, one will encounter more nuanced and poetic approaches to identity politics, personal histories, and communal experiences.”

Filling both the main and front gallery spaces at HCCC, the exhibition will include a wide variety of artworks and installations, with a particularly strong showing of work created from fiber, metal, and mixed media.

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(HOUSTON,TX) June 16, 2022 – This summer, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present In Residence: 15th Edition, an exhibition celebrating the Artist Residency Program, which has supported artists working in the field of craft for more than two decades. The show features work in clay, metal, and fiber by 2021-2022 resident artists, Joan Clare Brown, Kelly Dzioba, Priscilla Dobler Dzul, Jihye Han, Chenlu Hou, Carl Johnson, Naomi Peterson, Kerianne Quick, Nash Quinn, and Stephanie J. Woods.

The Artist Residency Program at HCCC gives resident artists a space for creative exploration, exchange, and collaboration with other artists, arts professionals, and the public. HCCC Curatorial Fellow Cydney Elaine Pickens notes, “What separates In Residence: 15th Edition from its predecessors is the collaboration among residents. While some of these artists had the opportunity to create collaboratively in person, others were in conversation about how their practices may align or differ, and each was uniquely impacted by their residency here in Houston.”

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