Touching warms the art

The Museum of Contemporary Craft is excited to present this unusually interactive exhibition that has initiated a full circle of regional dialogue about the presentation of art jewelry by museums. In response to an exhibition curated by Rock Hushka for Tacoma Art Museum, Portland artist Rebecca Scheer wrote a passionate review for Metalsmith magazine – Beyond the Body: Northwest Jewelers at Play – posing some inquisitive challenges to the habits of her peers and imagining the potential to democratize the audience experience of art jewelry. Museum of Contemporary Craft then empowered Ms. Scheer with the opportunity to actualize her vision.

Many of the concepts inherent in pieces of art jewelry remain vague or abstract until the viewer becomes the wearer. But this transmission, and subsequent transformation, is typically not possible in a museum setting, where it’s sometimes even noted that “touching harms the art.” Juried by Rebecca Scheer, Rachelle Thiewes and Namita Gupta Wiggers, the exhibition navigates new territory regarding how craft –particularly art jewelry – can be engaged in a museum setting. A prospectus was sent internationally, asking artists to put aside preciousness and create work that audiences would be invited to touch, try on and engage – both in the exhibition and as part of the Museum’s new teaching collection. Participants from around the world responded, and artists selected represent the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Australia, Sweden and South Korea.