News from Rosy Greenlees
Welcome to Rosy Greenlees' first update as part of our regular email bulletin.
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council; Photo: Janie Airey, 2008
Dear all,
Welcome to my first update as part of our regular email bulletin. From now on, I will be taking this opportunity to include some of our views on current events and to update you on some of the “quieter” work that we do at the Crafts Council alongside our public programme of exhibitions, conferences, seminars and events.
SOME BAD NEWS AND SOME GOOD NEWS …
University of Westminster’s ceramics course review
December brought news of the review of the ceramics course at the University of Westminster. While we can’t comment on the merits or otherwise of a particular course, we can – and do – argue that we need courses like this if craft is to remain a major contributor to the UK’s creative industries. This country is amongst the fore-runners in international creativity and innovation in craft and we risk squandering this position and, the associated high impact that craft knowledge has in many creative industries – from design to architecture to fine art.
The same issues affect craft courses nationwide: relatively high cost in terms of equipment and space, a narrow perception in some quarters of academic “value” and the added challenge of finding solutions to current health and safety requirements combined with falling demand as craft teaching continues to suffer in schools.
We work with a range of agencies including CHEAD, NSEAD and Ofsted to support craft’s place within the formal education sector. We continue to urge the government to invest in all parts of our creative industries and to remove the barriers preventing education from contributing fully to the country’s future capacity in this important area. We hope for a successful resolution to the current situation
Read Rosy Greenlees’ comment in The Times on 24 January 2009
Waterford Wedgwood in administration
January started with the news that Waterford Wedgwood is in administration. While this is, of course, not the end of the story, the possible demise of a manufacturer with honourable roots in making and a reputation for creative commissioning brings more cause for reflection amongst craft practitioners.
In The Times of 6 January, Stephen Bayley said: “Wedgwood’s legacy is not an idle factory and a deserted shop. His legacy is the idea that making beautiful, desirable merchandise is a very good way to make money. It’s five minutes to midnight, but there may – just – be time to learn this lesson.”
We could not agree more. Craft celebrates the value of the individual and idiosyncratic. We instinctively shiver at the idea that these values are not perceived as …valuable. But what happens to our values – and to value – in times of boom and bust? As we are urged to do our public duty and spend our way out of recession, we need consumers to find the resonance in supporting our smallest – and most enterprising – entrepreneurs through the purchase of products that are unique and collectable.
SOME GOOD TIDINGS:
On the upside, Origin, our annual craft fair in partnership with Somerset House saw year-on-year attendances and sales maintained and a number of significant individual sales.
We have now analysed our visitor survey which shows that 35% of visitors were new to Origin, with 5.5% describing themselves as ‘new to craft.’ Origin appears to be exerting a positive influence on visitors’ wider cultural engagement, with 55% of respondents stating that it would encourage them to see visual arts / craft / design elsewhere and a similar number agreeing that it had encouraged them to become more adventurous in their purchasing.
With others across the sector, we will do everything in our power to support makers and the market. We need consumers – and others – to do likewise.
EVENTS
The last few months have included a range of Crafts Council initiatives focussed on the development of craft practice including conferences and seminars, the culmination of Dorothy Hogg’s residency in the Sackler Centre for arts education at the V&A – the first of three residencies for mid-career makers in partnership with the V&A -and the launch of our new Fifty:Fifty Programme partnership regional exhibitions scheme.
In our 21st century knowledge economy, it is essential that we create a framework that both supports students to become makers and enables makers to continue to develop their practice. The CHEAD/Crafts Council/NALN seminar Materials and Processes: The Future of Craft Making explored the opportunities in Higher Education for students to study craft practice. Our own Higher Value conference at Liverpool Hope University engaged Higher Education Institutions and other stakeholders in a debate on the future of support for crafts graduates.
It is equally important for people to have the opportunity to see the best of contemporary craft in museum contexts.
January brings the opening of Three by One: A selection from 3 public craft collections curated by Alison Britton and presented by the Crafts Council together with the Crafts Study Centre and the British Council plus the opening of our touring exhibition Collecting a Kaleidoscope at City Gallery, Leicester and Wood at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow,
VISITS AND MEETINGS:
Before Christmas, we took full advantage of the seasonal activity to visit Brilliantly Birmingham, the British Ceramics Biennial, Galvanise, Lustre and Made amongst other events.
In addition to these, we continued our regular meetings with stakeholders that can influence the future for crafts including, recently, ACE, CCE, DCMS, Creative Industries Marketing Board and UKTI
AND FINALLY … CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations: to glass engraver Katharine Coleman, awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List; the recipients of the second round of Crafts Council Spark Plug Curator Awards: Fiona Boundy, Kate Stoddart, Paul Stone, Barney Hare Duke & Jeremy Theophilus and Sian Weston, recent recipients of Crafts Council Development Awards: Christian O’Reilly, Olivia Lowe, Jasmin Rowlandson, Teri Howes and Adele Brewerton, and the Crafts Council’s flameworking residencies for mid-career makers at the University of Sunderland: Angela Jarman and Jerome Harrington.
My best wishes for 2009.
Rosy Greenlees
Executive Director
