Past Events
Detail from “Runneth Over” by Nancy Loorem Adams
Member Preview: Friday, 11/29
Public Hours: Saturday, 11/30 & Sunday, 12/1
110 Union St. Suite 400, Seattle WA
The NWDC Holiday Gift Sale & Fundraiser is a great way to discover unique, handmade gifts from NWDC Artists. Thanks to everyone who attended, supported NWDC and celebrated the season with fellow craft lovers. Presented in-person at Public Display.Art in Downtown Seattle
The pop-up exhibition includes artwork from Anna Macrae, Bella Yongok Kim, Brian O'Neill, Dick Weiss, Ellen Ramsey, Nancy Loorem Adams, Dan Adams, Gale Lurie, Jyoti Duwadi, Kathleen Faulkner, Lanny Bergner, Larry Halvorsen, Liza Halvorsen, Lynn Di Nino, Mark Ditzler, Meg Murch, Naoko Morisawa, Noble Golden, Polly Adams Sutton, Seth Rolland, and Steve Jensen.
Ceramic Legends Presentation: Patti Warashina and Carol Gouthro
Saturday, September 28 | 4–6 PM
The University of Washington | Kane Hall 210
Following an introduction by Peter Olsen, Patti Warashina and Carol Gouthro will each be giving a presentation of their work in the University of Washington's Kane Hall. Following each presentation there will be a time to ask questions and to have a conversation about each artist's work. We invite you to come out and participate in the talk! The location and time are, Kane Hall 210 from 4-6pm, on Saturday the 28th of September.
June 20 - August 24, 2024
Schack Art Center | Everett, WA
Northwest Designer Craftartists presents NWCraft24 — a survey of contemporary craft created by NWDC members exemplifying current trends in clay, wood, glass, metal, fiber, and mixed media across the Pacific Northwest.
The exhibition is juried by Carol Sauvion — American crafts scholar and patron, and the Executive Producer and director of the PBS documentary series Craft in America, and Sarah Traver, Director of Seattle’s Traver Gallery — one of the country’s premier exhibition spaces for contemporary studio glass, painting, sculpture, and installation art for more than 40 years.
NWDC is honored to have had former NWDC President, Larry Metcalf, act as an Exhibition Designer for NWCraft24.
Friday, April 5, 2024, through Sunday, April 28, 2024.
In Person at:
Bainbridge Arts and Crafts (BAC)
151 Winslow Avenue E
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Throughout human history, our innate inclination towards ornamental expression has woven a rich narrative. As Elizabeth Gilbert eloquently penned, we are artisans driven to render things more beautiful than mere necessity dictates. In this collaboration with Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, we extend an invitation for you to contribute works that bear witness to our inherent desire to adorn not only ourselves but also the spaces and objects that surround us.
The spectrum of work in the exhibition is broad – from wearable pieces to sculptural objects. Embracing various craft media, including ceramics, wood, fiber, glass, metals or a harmonious blend of these elements, we encourage the exploration of artistic boundaries.
November 21, 2023 to January 13, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, December 8, 2023
Juried by: Tim Detweiler & Michelle Bufano
Human makers have made vessels since they first discovered that wet clay would hold a shape and that grasses could be interlocked to turn single strips to solid cloth. In Gallery Mack’s exhibition "Vessels Speak Volumes'' artist/members of Northwest Designer Craftartists take the functional form of vessel to tell tales, not just of the limits and abstract expressive potential of materials whether clay, fiber, metals, glass or wood but also to narrate personal and cultural stories of our time.
NWDC GLASS
October 12 - 15, 2023
Steve Jensen Studios
1424 Tenth Avenue Seattle, WA 98122
NWDC presents NWDC Glass, an exhibition highlighting glass art created by members including work by, Steve Jensen, P. Jill Green, Dorothy McGuinness, Lin McJunkin, Preston Singletary, Annette Tamm, Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams, Delores Taylor, Jean Tudor, Dick Weiss, and John Webster.
Opening Reception: October 12, 2023 | 5 - 9 PM
Closing Reception: Artist Talk by Steve Jensen: October 15 | 3 PM
Craft and the Present Moment: Reflections on American Craft on the Occasion of the Renwick Gallery’s 50th Anniversary
Saturday, November 19 | 3 PM - 5 PM
Bellevue Arts Museum (BAM)
510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
45 minute lecture, followed by Q+A, screening of Lloyd Herman: Accidental Curator
NWDC in partnership with BAM presents a talk with Nora Atkinson, Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge for the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This program is supported by the Humanities WA grant and the Russell and Margorie Day Invited Lecture Series Estate Gift.
After an intensive two-year acquisitions campaign taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic and against a background of social and political unrest, Nora Atkinson will share her reflections on role American craft plays in the present moment, and contemporary trends in the field.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022
OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2022 | 2 - 6 PM
CLARKE & CLARKE ART + ARTIFACTS
Clarke & Clarke Art + Artifacts in collaboration with Northwest Designer Craftartists presents FANTASY FOOTWEAR...THE SHOE REIMAGINED. NWDC Member artists have created their rendition of a shoe in Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Metal, Mixed Media or Wood.
The path is set for a fantastic NWDC show in person at the Clarke & Clarke, Art + Artifacts in Mercer Island. Ginny and Jim Clarke are honorary members of NWDC. The show runs from August 6 through September 30, 2022. We hope to see you at the opening reception on Saturday, August 6, 2022.
Saturday, July 9, 2022
5:00 PM 9:00 PM
Join friends, neighbors, and community leaders at Bellevue Arts Museum’s Artful Evening gala and auction on July 9. This annual fundraiser supports programming and exhibitions at the Museum that engage, educate, and inspire our community.
This year, we’re excited to announce that Artful Evening will resume as an in-person gathering at Bellevue Arts Museum and the Westin Bellevue. Visit BAM’s Forum for the silent auction featuring exciting works from BAM’s artist community, or join us for the full event featuring a live auction with unique art and experiences. All proceeds benefit Bellevue Arts Museum and our contributing artists.
The Premiere of Lloyd Herman: The Accidental Curator is this Sunday, June 26.
Northwest Designer Craftartists invites you to come and enjoy a “live” World Premiere of the newest video documentary in the Living Treasures series
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Broadway Performance Hall
1625 Broadway Street, Seattle 98122
2:00 pm Reception, complimentary hors d’oeuvres & no-host bar
3:00 pm Documentary Premiere
4:00 pm Talk-back with Lloyd and the producers from Fidget TV.
November 8, 2021 to January 3, 2022
2021 Beneficiary: Allied Arts Association: Gallery at the Park
Richland Washington
Northwest Designer Craftartists (NWDC) presents The Russell and Marjorie Day Estate Lecture Series: Figuring Out Contemporary Ceramics
SEQUOIA MILLER
Chief Curator and Deputy Director
Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art Toronto
Saturday, October 30, 2021 - 2:00pm
How are contemporary ceramics contributing in new ways to broader dialogues in contemporary art? What are some ways artists in the field exploiting the properties and metaphors of the medium? How do practices differ regionally and nationally? Please join Dr. Sequoia Miller for this talk exploring the state of contemporary ceramics.
When Northwest Designer Craftartists (NWDC) was founded 65 years ago, one of its goals was outreach to the rest of the country, and to the world, to raise awareness about the vibrant creativity and superb craftsmanship of craft artists in the Pacific Northwest. NWDC members wanted the recognition they so justly deserved and to engage in new relationships that would stimulate ever greater creativity and opportunity.
At its heart, the Currents 2020 National Craft Exhibition provides an opportunity for NWDC members, and our invited artists, to learn and share with fine craft artists and curators on a national level while introducing their work to a larger audience. As a survey of contemporary and traditional craft, it is an opportunity to celebrate excellence in craft and design, and to compare and contrast current and continuing trends in craft making.
The theme of "hats" made the cocktail party video project fundraiser at Steve & Vincent’s studio seem even MORE festive. In addition to the art-packed environment, hat-wearing members who paid to come also brought abundant, varied and delicious appetizers. Larry Halvorson and Dick Weiss "manned" the bar.
A FUNDRAISER AND ONE STEP CLOSER TO OUR GOAL
The afternoon of January 13, 2019 at Mike Peck’s POTS Gallery in Fremont
That day brought together donated artworks from 82 Northwest artists with a group of interested artists and patrons for a fundraiser to benefit the NWDC’s Living Treasures Project. It was a raffle, and the anticipation was high, as each artwork was priced at an affordable $200…and everyone hoped their ticket would be drawn early.
The first ticket drawn? NWDC’s own Chris Wooten owned it, and she chose the piece by Tip Toland, the artist featured in the Living Treasures current project.