Inclusion In Art Announces High Craft – Contemporary Fine Craft Exhibition
New Works by Five Artists of Color at Oklahoma City University Hulsey Art Gallery
High Craft features five Oklahoma artists of color working in diverse media including quilts, weavings, embroidery, and rhinestone mosaics at Oklahoma City University’s Hulsey Art Gallery in the Norick Art Center from October 30th through December 15th, 2023 during gallery hours (8am-6pm M-F). Opening reception Thursday, November 2nd, 5pm -7pm. The show is curated by Inclusion In Art, a non-profit promoting racial and cultural diversity in Oklahoma’s visual arts community. Inclusion In Art will present an artists’ Talk on November 16th, 5:30pm – 6:30pm.
High Craft refers to works done where the imagination and the hand of the maker are evident, and it seeks to represent the global diversity of craft through local artists: Maria Anderson, Beverly Kirk, Lawrence Naff, Ann Solinski, and Amy Young. These artists created new work for the Hulsey gallery space, which encouraged them to push the boundaries of their chosen medium.
While the artworks represent a wide range of themes, they reflect each craft person’s circumstance as a creator and a person of color living in the state of Oklahoma. The work varies from introspection of identity and abstraction to cultural exploration and historical narratives. The exhibition highlights the universality of the human impulse to express ourselves in ways that are creative and dynamic.
High Craft: Contemporary Fine Craft Exhibition
Curatorial Statement
High Craft is an exhibition that showcases the diverse landscape of artists of color in Oklahoma who work primarily within the craft genre. The term craft refers to works done where the imagination and the hand of the maker are evident. The creation of each artist’s work is vocalized in the evidence of their talent, passion and skills.
The artworks are a large variety of craftswork. The only central theme in this exhibition is that each artist is a craftsperson and each artist creates work unique to their experience as an artist, and as a person of color living in the state of Oklahoma. The work varies from historical narratives, cultural exploration, to personal experience, and identity.
High Craft showcases some of the best contemporary craft artists in Oklahoma. The exhibition highlights the universality of the impulse to express ourselves in ways that are creative and dynamic.
As part of the curatorial team, we were not focused on a specific or predefined narrative, but focused on how each artist speaks through their chosen crafts in an expressive and personal manner. Honestly, the most exciting part was working with these five amazing artists. The opportunity for curators and artists to enter each other’s studio space, where they create their work, is a sacred act for our team and we appreciated each artist sharing this journey with us and each other.
High Craft Curatorial Committee:
Marjorie Bontemps, Amena Butler, Nick Lillard, Suzanne Thomas, and Malcolm Zachariah