Handmade Revolution: Craft in the Pacific Northwest
June 13, 2026 – March 13, 2027
Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Anne Hirondelle (American, born 1944), Tumble 1, 2015, ceramic, 7 x 9 x 9 inches, collection of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Maribeth Collins Art Acquisition Fund, 2017.014. Photo: Dale Peterson.
This exhibition is the first to feature Hallie Ford Museum of Art’s significant holdings of both historic and contemporary craft. On view are more than 60 artworks created in ceramics, textiles, glass, wood, and metal from well-known artists such as Rudy Autio, Frank Boyden, Dale Chihuly, Betty Feves, Heidi Pruess Grew, Linda Hutchins, Clay Lohman, George Rodriguez, Sara Siestreem, Ken Shores, Peter Voulkos, Patti Warashina, Marie Watt, Nancy Worden, and many more.
Handmade Revolution explores the changes that have taken place in the craft world over the past 75 years and the cultural shifts that continue to impact craft today. The first portion of the exhibition explores the influential studio pottery movement that developed in the Northwest between the 1950s and 1980s, expanding the dialogue around craft and its place in contemporary art. The second section of the exhibition showcases the museum’s holdings of other craft mediums such as glass, textiles, wood, basketry, metalwork and jewelry by contemporary artists from the region and considers how the dialogue between craft and contemporary art has shifted over time, with artists pushing their chosen materials in new directions.
This massive shift in craft began in the mid-20th century, spurred on by the work of earlier craft movements, technological advances, government support, expanded educational opportunities, and by the creativity of brilliant artists. Today we are seeing yet another evolution as contemporary artists explore traditional craft practices and materials within their work. Artists are increasingly drawn to the personal, handmade, and material-centered craft traditions that are imbued with connection and history, and speak to shared humanity in a world that can at times feel remote and soulless.
Handmade Revolution: Craft in the Pacific Northwest is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America’s nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.
Exhibition-Related Events
In order to broaden the scope of the exhibition this summer, exhibition curator Jonathan Bucci will give a series of Tuesday gallery talks on June 23, July 21, and August 18 beginning at 12:30 p.m. in the Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery. Admission to his gallery talks is free.
HFMA’s Craft Collections
Since its founding in 1998, Hallie Ford Museum of Art has collected works of contemporary craft, a defining genre in the art of the Northwest. In 2021 this area of the museum’s collection expanded significantly with the acquisition of the Museum of Contemporary Craft (MOCC) Collection of nearly 1,300 objects of modern and contemporary craft dating from 1937. As a result, craft has become a major new focus within the museum’s permanent collection, enabling the museum to interpret the history of craft from our region more completely and strengthening our primary focus of art from the Pacific Northwest.
Financial Support
Handmade Revolution: Craft in the Pacific Northwest is supported with funds from the HFMA Exhibition Fund and Maribeth Collins Art Exhibition Fund; by advertising support from The Oregonian/Here Is Oregon; and by a general operating support grant from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds.
National Sponsorship
Handmade Revolution: Craft in the Pacific Northwest is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America’s nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.
Further Information
For further information contact:
Jonathan Bucci, The John Olbrantz Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Phone: 503-370-6861
Email: jbucci@willamette.edu
Vanessa Hopt, Assistant to the Director,
Phone: 503-370-6856
Email: vjhopt@willamette.edu
Handmade Revolution - Artists
- Laura Andreson
- Joe Apodoca
- Rudy Autio
- Fred Bauer
- Ross Palmer Beecher
- George Blake
- Sonja Blomdahl
- Frank Boyden
- Dale Chihuly
- Ann Christenson
- Tom Coleman
- Tom Cramer
- Anna Belle Crocker and Florence Crocker
- Joe Feddersen
- Betty Feves
- David Gilhooly
- Heidi Preuss Grew
- Jean Griffith
- Jere and Ray Grimm
- Ray Grimm
- Erik Gronborg
- Shoji Hamada
- Tom Hardy
- Laurie Herrick
- Ann Hirondelle
- Lydia Herrick Hodge
- Pat Horsley
- Bonnie Hull
- Linda Hutchins
- Manuel Izquierdo
- Robert James
- Bue Kee
- Leta Kennedy
- Howard Kottler
- Dominic Labino
- Jack Lenor Larson
- Bernard Leach
- Marilyn Levine
- Clay Lohman
- Glen Lukens
- John Mason
- Tom McGlauchlin
- Peter Meloy
- Bobby Mercier
- William Morris
- Gertrud Natzler
- Pam Patrie
- Hal Riegger
- George Rodriguez
- Victoria Avakian Ross
- Frances Senska
- Leroy Setziol
- David Shaner
- Ken Shores
- Sara Siestreem
- Kiff Slemmons
- Ramona Solberg
- Paul Soldner
- Robert Sperry
- Lino Tagliapietra
- Toshiko Takaezu
- Henry Takemoto
- Lisa Telford
- Einar and Jamex de la Torre
- Peter Voulkos
- Patti Warashina
- Marie Watt
- Dan Webb
- Marguerite Wildenhain
- Nancy Worden
