Descriptive Entry
This accession consists of records that document the exhibitions Woodenworks: Furniture Objects by Five Contemporary Craftsmen; Design Is . . .; and Craft Multiples.
Woodenworks: Furniture Objects by Five Contemporary Craftsmen was the major inaugural exhibition at the Renwick Gallery and was on display from January 28 - July 19, 1972. It featured handmade furniture by five contemporary American craftsmen: George Nakashima, Sam Maloof, Wharton Esherick, Arthur Espenet Carpenter, and Wendell Castle.
Design Is . . . was an exhibition of American design that explored the ways in which objects were designed to combine select elements within a structural framework according to a set of rules that allows objects and environments to enhance, rather than inhibit, the quality of human living. It opened on January 28, 1973 and was up until 1975.
Craft Multiples was at the Renwick Gallery from July 4, 1975 - February 16, 1976, and was an exhibition of 133 production objects selected by jury from a national competition sponsored by the Renwick Gallery. There were a total of 2379 entries that were divided into the following categories: metal, wood, glass, clay, fiber and a miscellaneous other. The jurors were Lois Moran, Director of the Research and Education Department of the American Crafts Council; Hedy Backlin-Landman, Director of the Danforth Museum in Framingham, Massachusetts; and Lloyd E. Herman, Director, Renwick Gallery. After its time at the Renwick, Craft Multiples went on a three-year tour around the country.
Materials include correspondence, memoranda, press releases, object lists, audio recordings, transcripts, exhibition entries, artist information, images, condition reports, and clippings.
