Artist’s Vie for Honoring the Future® Sustainability Award
Twenty-one artists from 15 States applied for the “Honoring the Future® Sustainability Award” at the 2019 Smithsonian Craft Show. The award continues a tradition begun in 2015 to honor pioneering craft artists who point the way to a more sustainable future. The award comes with a $1,000 prize recognizing an artist whose work educates the public about climate change or inspires or models a sustainable response to climate change. Lloyd Herman, founding director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, will serve as judge. “This award showcases art that captures our attention and makes us think – about why we need action on climate change and how we can achieve it,” explains Fran Dubrowski, Director of Honoring the Future.
Lucrezia Beerli-Bieler – theme: balance in nature
Irina Okula – local and recycled materials, attention to local farming
Stacey Lee Webber – recycled materials
Amy Nguyen – natural renewable fibers, zero waste production
Holly Tornheim – solar energy, repurposed wood scraps
Lindsay Oesterritter – local clay, foraged wood
Mary Jackson – natural sweetgrass, resource protection
Mimi Kirchner – “rescued” repurposed fabrics
Brian Beam – recycled ash glazes
Peter Petrochko – resource conservation
Tim Arnold – resource conservation
Frittelli & Lockwood Textiles – natural fiber clothing, zero waste studio
Holly Anne Mitchell – recycled newspaper beadwork
John Guertin – repurposed barn wood
Hannah Regier – home-grown, foraged and local materials
Leah Evans – impacts of climate change
Chie Hitchner – natural and foraged materials
Anna Johnson – ethically sourced, recycled and found material
Constance Collins – sustainably produced natural fibers
Audrey Jung – renewable natural fiber handbags
Mary Jaeger – repurposed fabrics
Collectively, the 21 artists offer concrete, inventive ideas for curtailing human impacts on the environment. They create exquisitely beautiful, fully functional objects from natural, repurposed, recycled or waste materials. They consciously select raw materials, dyes and glazes to avoid using or creating hazardous substances: growing or foraging supplies or choosing ethically sourced or low-impact options.
They minimize waste with newly invented techniques or by preserving ancient, resource-conserving traditions. They strive for “zero carbon footprint,” using local raw materials, a solar-powered studio, or hand- or foot-powered textile looms. They seek to educate: to highlight the impacts of climate change on animals and ecosystems, emphasize the importance of local rural farming, “contribute to a shift in how and where our culture places value,” and inspire more balance in our relationship to nature.
“We hope their creativity sparks conversation and inspires the show’s 6,500 visitors to address climate change in their lives too,” observed Dubrowski.
Honoring the Future partners with the Smithsonian Women’s Committee to offer the award. The Smithsonian Women’s Committee produces the Smithsonian Craft Show to generate funds for grants to support education, outreach and research at the Institution’s 19 museums and galleries, nine research facilities, 20 libraries, and the National Zoo.
Widely regarded as the most prestigious juried show and sale of American fine craft, the Smithsonian Craft Show is in its 37th year. It will be held April 24˗28, 2019 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St., NW (Judiciary Square metro station) in Washington, D.C. The 2019 show will feature the work of 120 artists, chosen from a pool of approximately 1,000 applicants. All of the chosen artists were invited to apply for the Sustainability Award.