Road Scholars Speakers Bureau

Anna Fariello

Craft Revival Project Director, Hunter Library Special Collections, Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC

W: (828) 227-2499

Fariello@email.wcu.edu

Travel region: Statewide

Objects and Meaning through History

In twentieth century America, volumes have been written about art with discussions of craft often an afterthought. For those whose primary interest is focused on three-dimensional objects, there is no specific language or system of evaluation appropriate to their needs. Art history’s use of painting as a singular standard has left three-dimensional objects to adjust to a language largely written from a flattened, two-dimensional perspective. With frustration, scholars and writers attempt to apply a language structured upon the painted image to volumetric form. Paul Greenhalgh summed up his particular frustration as curator of ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum, when he quipped “Ceramics is occasionally the subject of art history, but more often it is its victim.” This talk examines how academic disciplines and cultural institutions have assigned meaning to expressive objects over time. The talk is derived from the speaker’s written chapter, “Regarding the History of Objects” in Objects and Meaning, a book she co-edited. The talk challenges today’s art world vision of the arts and is sure to spark a lively debate.

Requirements: lectern, LCD projection system

Southern Craft: A Revival in the Mountains

At the end of the nineteenth century, mountain craftsmen formed the cornerstone of a revived interest in things handmade. Ideas concerning the value of work inspired a craft revival that flourished well into the twentieth century. At issue were varied interpretations of cultural traditions, implications for regional identities, methods of promotion and education, and the aesthetics of traditional objects. In the mountain South, shared ideas concerning quality and resourcefulness contributed to an unintentional community of patrons and makers. Movement leaders organized guilds and exhibitions and makers created work that was displayed and sold. Makers shaped clay and wood, in turn shaping the attitudes and values that contribute to today’s appreciation of the handmade object. Makers wove multiple strands of thread, weaving a sense of community and strong sense of place. Craftsmen hammered metal, forging partnerships to effect change and values that remain evident in a 21st century region that is both dynamic and progressive.

Requirements: lectern, LCD projection system

Woman-to-Woman: The Southern Craft Revival

The Southern Craft Revival was an effort focused on making and selling handmade crafts to bring cash into rural communities. For the most part, it was a movement organized by women for women. The movement’s earliest endeavors came about after mountain workers became aware of local weaving traditions. Frances Louisa Goodrich, Yale-educated and northern-born, established a mission station in Madison County with support from the Presbyterian Home Mission. Inspired by traditional handwork, she transformed her mission operation into Allanstand Cottage Industries, a commercial enterprise that sold locally made weaving. Goodrich was part of a growing class of educated American women who found themselves entrapped in a gender gap of great proportion. With college diplomas in hand, newly graduated women faced hostile professional communities as their theoretical opportunities came face to face with the realistic circumstances confronting them. With no job opportunities on their horizon, these women reacted in true American fashion; they coalesced into a late wave of American pioneerism and headed for an unknown frontier. Like the more familiar pioneers who went West, their migration fell prey to the same erroneous assumption, that they were moving into an uncharted territory. Still, the women of the Southern Craft Revival made their own way; defined personal, professional, and social roles for themselves, and created opportunities for less privileged women they encountered along their way.