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Autumn in New England is perhaps the most inspiring time of year. The thick forests of oak and maple trees began to turn from bright green to rusty oranges and reds and the air takes on a crisp bitter smell with hints of apples and pumpkins. Two hundred years ago, this was the time when traditional American craftswomen would begin quilting and knitting blankets for the long, snowy winters ahead and the men would gather wood pieces to carve during the lengthy nights. Craft was as much as a part of everyone's life in colonial American as it is now in the villages of rural India. But now, with the invention of plastics and synthetic fibers and the onset of long work hours and the desires for instant gratification, craft has left the daily lives of Americans and moved into high-end galleries and museums. With this shift, craft often seems misplaced or simply relegated to the arena of fine art, where it can loose its significance, history and importance among Modern paintings and Neo-Classical sculptures. However, there are six American museums solely dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of crafts alone. This September I had the opportunity to interview Gretchen Keyworth, the Director and Curator of the Fuller Craft Museum, one of the newest craft museum and the only one in New England. BACK TO THE FUTURE: YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW OF THE FULLER MUSEUM The Fuller Museum was built in 1969 by the Fuller Family, who founded the first newspaper in the town years before. Originall... |
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