"Hand in Hand: Fine Art + Crafts"

Artists featured in the exhibit include Emma Amos, El Anatsui, Mary Lee Bendolph, Nick Cave, Sonya Clark, Carole Harris, Simone Leigh, Lucy Mingo, Faith Ringgold, Joyce J. Scott, Therman Statom, Papa Ibra Tall, Nate Young and others. Showcasing objects made from a variety of media.

There was a time when fine art and craft were at odds with one another. Art defined as craft (i.e., quilts, decorative ceramics, and glass objects) were considered inferior to art defined as fine art (i.e., paintings, drawings, and sculpture). Some of the same biases held against craft were also used against women and Black artists. During the 1960s, the egalitarian ideologies of postmodernism helped to dismantle many of the artificial, hierarchical boundaries separating the two disciplines and opened doors of inclusiveness in the areas of gender and race. Today, the enormous contributions of craft artists, especially by women and Blacks, are widely recognized in contemporary art. The artworks pulled together for this exhibition exemplify the skill and creativity of African diaspora artists and present a thoughtful narrative on the intersection of fine art and craft in contemporary artmaking.