Join HCCC to explore the current exhibition, Rings! 1968 – 2021, with curatorial consultant and renowned advocate of modern and contemporary craft, Helen Drutt; curator Elizabeth Essner; and current resident and exhibiting artist, Nash Quinn. Discover the origins of the exhibition and how Drutt’s collection not only serves as a historic archive of contemporary jewelry but promotes the relevance of jewelry in today’s culture. Then, join Nash Quinn in his HCCC studio to learn about his making process and recent projects since the exhibition opened. Tune into our Facebook Live page promptly at 6:00 PM CST to join the discussion.
About Helen Drutt
Helen W. Drutt English (Helen Drutt) is the former executive director and a founding member of the Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen (P.C.P.C., 1967-1974). She was the founder/director of her eponymous gallery in Philadelphia (1973–2002), which was among the first galleries in the United States dedicated to the modern and contemporary craft movement. From 2010 to 2020, Drutt served as a trustee of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art. In 2021, she was appointed an associate of Goldsmiths’ Company, London. She has received numerous awards, including American Craft Council Fellow, the Distinguished Educator’s Award from the Smithsonian’s James Renwick Alliance (2018), and three honorary doctorate degrees. She built a permanent collection of contemporary crafts for The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, and is currently curating a collection for the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm, Sweden. Additionally, she has lectured internationally and organized numerous exhibitions for national and international museums.
About Elizabeth Essner
Elizabeth Essner is the newly appointed Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Previously an independent curator and writer, Essner has organized exhibitions for museums including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Arizona State University Art Museum, and the Hunterdon Art Museum. Working with Helen Drutt, she served as a researcher for Rings! 1968-2021. She was also a co-author and researcher for Shapes from Out of Nowhere: Ceramics from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection, the companion catalog to an exhibition and gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A 2017 curatorial fellow with the Center for Craft in Asheville, North Carolina, Essner received her MA from the Bard Graduate Center in New York.
About Nash Quinn
Nash Quinn is a metalsmith who specializes in pattern-formed enameled vessels and small-scale mechanisms. Originally from Wyoming, he received his BFA from the University of Wyoming and his MFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He works with a variety of traditional materials, including copper, enamel, and sterling silver, and his work is about the simple joy he experiences in design, process, and craft. He was a professor of jewelry and metalsmithing at Rowan University and Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute. He has taught workshops at Peters Valley School of Craft, Creative Side Jewelry Academy, and Haystack Mountain School of Craft, among many others. His work has been featured in exhibitions, including 40 Under 40: The Next Generation, at the National Ornamental Metal Museum; Imagine Peace Now, created by Boris Bally; as well as Philadelphia: Then and Now 1950-2019 and RINGS!, both organized by Helen Drutt. Learn more about Quinn’s work at https://www.nashquinn.com/.
