Stickley Museum presents rare collection online

On May 20, the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms in Morris Plains, N.J. posted an online exhibit, “Things Wrought by United Crafts: An Expression of Modern Life”, featuring 19 pieces of early ash furniture made by the United Crafts Workshops, all with intact and rare green finishes.

“A notoriously fickle color, Stickley’s fugitive green was neither widely produced, nor able to withstand the ravages of time and ultraviolet exposure. For the first time, the museum is making this rare collection available for public viewing,” the museum said.

Gustav Stickley was an American furniture designer known for his work in the American Arts and Crafts movement. Craftsman Farms is Stickley’s early 20th-century country estate.

The exhibit was curated by Jonathan Clancy, the museum’s director of collections and preservation. Clancy presents his research on the collection, explains the structure of Stickley’s factory, and describes the laborers he employed.

Due to COVID-19, the museum has been closed to visitors. But the online exhibit will be available through next January.

View the exhibit at stickleymuseum.org.

The Wharton Esherick Museum has extended the Call for Entries deadline for its 27th annual Juried Woodworking Exhibition to Jan. 4, 2021 due to uncertainty of holding public programs.

The exhibition has a theme, “Wood and …” which invites submissions of innovative works of art, craft, and design that showcase wood and at least one other medium.

Although well known for woodworking, Esherick used a wide array of materials throughout his career making functional and sculptural art pieces.

“Wood in conversation with aluminum, stone, fiber, and paper can all be found in Esherick’s diverse repertoire, and even the very architecture of Esherick’s home and studio is a brilliant marriage between wood and other materials,” the museum notes in a statement.

The competition is open to emerging and established makers. Jurors will evaluate the submissions based on inventive approaches to the theme, craftsmanship and technical proficiency, aesthetics, and other considerations.

Jurors include Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez, president emeritus of the North Bennet Street School and Samantha deTillio, curator of collections at the Museum of Arts and Design, along with Emily Zilber, the museum’s director of curatorial affairs and strategic partnerships. They will select the finalists for the exhibition from the images submitted using a blind jury process.

For more, visit whartonesherickmuseum.org. 

This article originally appeared in the July 2020 issue.