Links of Interest

Artists:

Alexandra Raphael
Fascinated by jewelery from an early age and greatly inspired by her mother, an artist and founder of the Society for Contemporary Craft, Alex concentrated on the technique of enamel. Specialising in plique-à-jour and cloisonné, her distinctive and individual designs reflect many of her childhood memories.

Alexandra Raphael has exhibited internationally and has received numerous national awards. She is the co-founder of the British Society of Enamellers, a professional group of jewelers and panellists.

Susan Kemenyffy
The studios & gardens of Raku Place (climactic zone 4) are located on 47 acres of woodlands in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania, 20 miles south of Erie. For three decades two artists have labored to transform a derelict, impoverished place into serene, shared, spaces that today comprise 18 gardens, 14 pools & ponds, 5 bridges, 1 Hungarian tea house, & 1 ever-rising mountain.

Craft Schools and Organizations:

The Clay Studio
The Clay Studio, located in Philadelpia, is a non-profit educational and arts organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the ceramic arts and the work of new clay artists. The Clay Studio supports ceramic arts through its artist residencies, gallery, studio space, school lecture series, and outreach programs.

Craft Alliance
Established in 1964, Craft Alliance is a not-for profit visual arts center in St. Louis, Missouri, dedicated to excellence in arts education and reaching a diverse public through instruction and exhibition of fine art in the craft media. Craft Alliance Education center supports more than 2,800 adults and children through instruction by professional artists in clay, drawing, fiber, glass, metal, mixed media, painting and sculpture annually.

Craft Alliance Gallery features functional and sculptural contemporary art in clay, metal, wood, fiber, and glass by regional and national artists. Craft Alliance community Outreach develops programs in cooperation with city and county schools, community centers, and social service agencies. The goal of these programs is to bring the arts to everyone regardless of economic circumstance.

Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, Inc.
The Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, Inc. is a community of regional artists and others dedicated to advancing the creative potential and development of contemporary works of art in fiber. This community encourages individual artistic growth and brings together a group of people who seek to enrich the culture of Southwestern Pennsylvania and to advance the field of fiber art through their activities. The Guild sponsors a juried Members' Exhibition featuring the work of regional fiber artists and, in alternate years, the biennial exhibition, Fiberart International, which brings innovative contemporary works of art to Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Membership in the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh is available to all who create or have an interest in fiber art. Guild sponsored lectures and workshops featuring regional and national artists, curators, and educators are presented in Pittsburgh from September through May. Exhibitions are held annually. A library specializing in fiber art is located at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and is open by appointment. All Fiberarts Guild sponsored exhibitions and programs are open to the general public. Everyone is invited to attend and to consider joining the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh.

The Fine Craft Network
At The Fine Craft Network, our mission is to build the most comprehensive resource, directory, and community for creators and lovers of fine contemporary craft. Links and news are organized according to media and interest... and carefully reviewed to ensure relevance and quality. We welcome news submissions, link suggestions and articles/reviews/anecdotes etc... This is YOUR community - contribute!

The Furniture Society
The Furniture Society, based in Free Union, Virginia, is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization founded in 1996, whose mission is to advance the art of furniture making, by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence, and fostering understanding of this art and its place in society. Through the work of its numerous volunteers, a small professional staff and the support of more than 1100 members throughout North America and beyond the society sponsors an annual conference, publishes an annual Resource Directory, a semi annual newsletter Furniture Matters, and a new book series entitled Furniture Studio. Other programs include juried exhibitions and a very active web site composed of an interactive public and members-only Discussion Forum, plus over 300 web pages of valuable information concerning the studio furniture field.

Membership in the society is open to anyone with an interest in the mission and is composed of professional designer/makers, collectors, gallery owners, educators students, and people from many other related sectors including the general public who wish to be connected to the growing community. Membership fees begin at the Student or Individual level with various upper levels available for those who wish to obtain additional member benefits such as conference discounts and free publications.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Haystack in Deer Isle, Maine, was founded in 1950 as a research and studio program in the crafts. Students and faculty come from all over the United States and abroad to participate in the school’s two- and three-week summer sessions in various craft media. Workshops are offered in artists’ books, basketry, blacksmithing, ceramics, drawing, fibers, foundry, glass, jewelry, mixed media, metals, painting, printmaking, papermaking, quilts, surface design, weaving and woodworking. There are approximately 90 participants — students, faculty and visiting artists — in residence each session.

In addition to the summer programs, Haystack offers shorter workshops and conferences in the spring and fall, including intensive workshops for Maine high school students. Haystack’s award winning campus, set on 40 wooded acres on the coast of Maine, helps to create an intensive retreat setting and a vital community learning experience.

Lunenburg Seaside Craft School
Lunenburg Seaside Craft School offers week-long courses in traditional crafts during late July through August. Taught by some of Nova Scotia's leading artisans, courses offered include Clay work, Fiber Arts, Basketry, Textile Dyeing, Paper Arts, Rug Hooking, and Printmaking. Classes are held on the top floor of historic Lunenburg Academy, an astonishing gem among the town's famous architectural delights, where students can enjoy wonderful vistas of land and sea.

Known for the vitality of its flourishing arts community, its colourful maritime industry, and abundant natural beauty, Lunenburg has become a beacon for visitors to Nova Scotia. In 1995 Lunenburg was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site-one of only two urban sites in North America to hold this distinction.

With its varied attractions, Lunenburg offers plenty of "after-school activities" not the least of which are three major festivals during the month of August! Interesting side trips to quaint towns and pristine beaches are a short distance away. And, after the course is over, visitors will find it hard to choose from an itinerary of wonderful sights throughout the magical province of Nova Scotia.

Penland School of Crafts
Penland School of Crafts is a national center for craft education located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. Penland offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in books and paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. The school also sponsors artists' residencies, educational outreach programs, and a craft gallery open to the public.

PA Treasure Chest
Pennsylvania Council        on the Arts

The PCA’s mission is to foster the excellence, diversity, and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state. To that end, the PCA is looking to partner with entities that will help “get the word out.”

Pilchuck Glass School
Located about 50 miles north of Seattle, Pilchuck Glass School was founded in 1971 by artist Dale Chihuly with the support of patrons Anne Gould Hauberg and John H. Hauberg. Chihuly envisioned a retreat that would offer artists an opportunity to work with and learn about glass amid the spectacular beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Chihuly's vision quickly became a shared reality for thousands of artists from around the world. Today, Pilchuck is the world's largest and most comprehensive educational center for artists working in glass, and an international model for visual arts education.

Textile Study Group of New York

The TSGNY is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting a wider appreciation of fiber art. Our membership includes artists' representatives, basket makers, artists' book makers, collectors, conservators, crocheters, curators, dealers, dyers, embroiderers, felters, historians, knitters, knotters, lace makers, paper makers, quilters, sculptors, spinners, students, surface designers, teachers, wearable artists, weavers, and writers.

Touchstone Center for Crafts
Nestled in a pristine, natural environment on 150 wooded acres about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Touchstone welcomes students of all ages and levels of expertise to study with North America's finest artists and artisans in a variety of media. At Touchstone, nature and creative energy combine in harmony to produce a unique synergy, not often found. Touchstone is a place for quiet contemplation, for introspection, for a wealth of revelations. Students gather to learn in an atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie.

Vermont Clay Studio
Since 1993, the Vermont Clay Studio in Waterbury Center has been Vermont's premier place to go for classes and workshops in the ceramic arts. Every month the gallery features accomplished artists' work. The retail shop caters to a wide range of tastes and purses.

Wood Turning Center
The Wood Turning Center is a not-for-profit institutionin Philadelphia which supports and develops the field of lathe-turned art through education, acquisition of collections, preservation and promotion.

Local Organizations:
Neighbors in the Strip
The mission of the Neighbors in the Strip is to promote economic development opportunities while preserving the personality, integrity and character of the Strip.

Here you'll find information on the Strip and it's variety of local and national businesses, restaurants, shops and markets...many of which are Pittsburgh landmarks.

And, in the Strip you will find fresh fish, garden-fresh produce, coffee beans, yards of material, biscotti, Italian markets, Greek markets, Mexican markets, Eastern markets, Asian markets, furniture makers, antique stores, dried and fresh flowers, home accessories, gifts and plenty of restaurants and night spots with live music...all within a few blocks of each other.

PGHevents.com
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thisishappening.com
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