PRESS RELEASE: Become a Maker! Adults & Youth Classes & Workshops Open for Registration

Worcester, MA-The Worcester Center for Crafts at 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester has opened its registration for fall classes and workshops for adults and youth and is receiving registration online by phone at 508-753-8183, x 301 or in person at the Craft Center. Online registration can be found at www.worcester.edu/WCC-Classes/.

Work by Bryan Randa

Adult classes are offered in ceramics, glass, metals including jewelry and enamels, and photography. These classes begin September 10. New this year in our photography department is a Cyanotype Workshop on September 29 taught by Paul Dumanoski. New on Tuesday nights in ceramics is a six-week class called "Steeped in Tea and Tradition" taught by Ginny Gillen; in this class you'll learn to hand-build tea bowls, cups and tea-related items while your designs are informed by a sampling of teas from around the world. New in our metals department is 4-week Friday evening/Saturday morning class on Lost Wax Casting and a 6-week class in Sterling Silver Etching & Hollow Fabrication. For people interested in exploring Glass at our New Street Glass Studio, there are many options including Studio Sampler that will introduce students to glassblowing, flameworking and fusing!

Need a chance to take your potting skills to the next level? Enroll in November's Potter's Bootcamp taught by Ceramic Department Head Tom O'Malley. The ancient art of Stained Glass will be taught on Tuesday nights at the New Street Glass Studio.

Visiting Artist Bryan Randa will teach two Intermediate to Advanced Weekend Intensives in Glass: Nov. 17-18, Sculpting from the Flame and Dec 8-9, Hot Glass Sculpting.

The Youth Craft + Creativity program is dedicated to presenting students ages 6-17 with opportunities to have fun exploring the materials and skills of craft while also learning about the math, science and engineering that are part of making ceramics, metals, glass and more work. Classes begin the week of October 1.

Six to nine year olds can participate in Clay for Kids with Lori Mader or Old Paper, New Paper with Bayda Asbridge. Made with Metal taught by Pam Farren is offered for 10-13 year olds as is Clay by Hand with Ginny Gillen.

Teens can chose between a variety of six week classes including Flameworking, Intro to Ceramics,Intro to Glass, Stained Glass for Teens and Enameling for Teens. Each is two hours long, once a week and is taught by a practicing craftsperson/artist.
 
New this year are a variety of workshops being offered to students ages 12-17 and 14-17 at the New Street Glass Studio. These workshops are short introductions to working with glass and more product oriented. Workshops occur throughout the fall.

Scholarships are available to both adult and youth students who may not have the financial means to attend classes at the Worcester Center for Crafts. Applications for scholarships can be found at www.worcester.edu/WCC-Scholarship-Program-and-Evaluations/. The Craft Center is appreciative of the support of the Lilyan Bachrach Scholarship Fund, the Barrett Morgan Scholarship Fund, the Schwartz Foundation, and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for their support of our educational and scholarship programs. For more information see www.worcestercraftcenter.org or call 508-753-8183, x 301.



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About the Worcester Center for Crafts:

The Worcester Center for Crafts (WCC) is one of the oldest non-profit institutions for craft study in the United States.  Founded in 1856 as the Worcester Employment Society to help immigrants produce and sell hand-crafted wares to support their families, the Center evolved over the past 155 years into New England's leading center for craft education, exhibition and entrepreneurship.  In 2004, the organization expanded and opened the New Street Glass Studio - an off-campus, 8,000 square foot, state-of-the-art, multi-studio glass facility.  The WCC offers the only comprehensive glass studio program in New England available to the public.  Through an affiliation begun in 2009, the WCC is home to the Worcester State University visual arts studios and partners in community outreach.

The Craft Center's mission is "to inspire and build a creative community through the promotion, appreciation and teaching of craft."  This mission includes the public education initiatives adult education classes and workshops, , exhibitions showcasing the work of established and emerging artists, artist residencies, lectures, family events, studio rentals, Gallery Store, its Youth Craft + Creativity program and major events.  The WCC is a member of the Worcester Cultural Coalition and receives funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

PRESS RELEASE: Three Artists, Three Styles: Gentle Enough for Daily Use Opens August 9 at the Worcester Center for Crafts

Worcester, MA- Work by Don Hartmann, Luis Fraire, and Robb Sandagata will be on view in the Worcester Center for Crafts Krikorian Gallery at 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester from August 9 to September 8, 2018 in an exhibition provocatively entitled, "Gentle Enough for Daily Use."  Gallery Hours are Tues-Sat, 10-5pm.  Admission is free.

A reception honoring the artists will be held on Thursday, August 9 from 5:30-7:30pm at the Craft Center.

All three artists-Hartmann, Fraire, and Sandagata-- are painters but approach their artmaking using different styles and perspectives. All three are also musicians. Collectively in this exhibit, however, they purport to bring to the public a gentle but deeply cleansing collection of new and improved works of art.

What does GENTLE ENOUGH FOR DAILY USE mean?  In general it is a branding term in the modern American marketplace for products that typically are associated with having certain abrasive qualities but combined in such a way that there are no unpleasant aftereffects of the abrasion: gentle enough for daily use.

Robb Sandagata is known for his narrative, sometimes grotesque figures that play with biomorphism and reference pop culture, punk and various styles of music. His recent work explores themes of politics, chronic illness, and masculinity.  He studied at Sarah Lawrence College and has a MA in Secondary Education from the University of Phoenix (Tuscon, AZ). He works at Davis Publications in Worcester while living and maintaining a studio in Lowell.  He recently co-curated Parallels, a series of exhibitions of Worcester and Lowell artists shown in both cities.

Luis Antonio Fraire is a Worcester area musician, visual artist and Gallery Manager at The Sprinkler Factory in Worcester.  In the "Gentle Enough for Daily Use" show at The Worcester Center for Crafts, he creates a single, large installation piece transporting the viewer to an urban Mexican street scene at night. His use of bold shapes, vibrant colors and re-purposed materials are inspired by Mexican folk art. In this work, he invites the viewer to share both the momentous and surreal in a typical scene from the Barrio Antiguo, the historical quarter of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Fraire is a 1st generation American with extended family living in and around the Monterrey metropolitan area.

Don Hartmann is currently completing a series of 100 goat paintings and is known for his emotive, confrontational style of figure painting.  Originally from Ohio, Hartmann has studied at Ohio State University and the University of Hartford.    

"Until we see the work come through the door," says Candace Casey, director of the Krikorian Gallery, with a laugh, "we won't know if it, indeed, is gentle enough for daily use! We're very excited to have these three creative artists and musicians in our space.  The surprise element is a wonderful part of GENTLE ENOUGH FOR DAILY USE."

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Honee Hess, hhess@worcester.edu

Gentle Enough for Daily Use featuring (l to r) Robb Sandagata, Don Hartmann, and Luis Fraire, 2018

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About the Worcester Center for Crafts:

The Worcester Center for Crafts (WCC) is one of the oldest non-profit institutions for craft study in the United States.  Founded in 1856 as the Worcester Employment Society to help immigrants produce and sell hand-crafted wares to support their families, the Center evolved over the past 155 years into New England's leading center for craft education, exhibition and entrepreneurship.  In 2004, the organization expanded and opened the New Street Glass Studio - an off-campus, 8,000 square foot, state-of-the-art, multi-studio glass facility.  The WCC offers the only comprehensive glass studio program in New England available to the public.  Through an affiliation begun in 2009, the WCC is home to the Worcester State University visual arts studios and partners in community outreach.


The Craft Center's mission is "to inspire and build a creative community through the promotion, appreciation and teaching of craft."  This mission includes the public education initiatives adult education classes and workshops, , exhibitions showcasing the work of established and emerging artists, artist residencies, lectures, family events, studio rentals, Gallery Store, its Youth Craft + Creativity program and major events.  The WCC is a member of the Worcester Cultural Coalition and receives funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.