Worcester Center for Crafts Pasta Dinner returns

Come for the company, leave with a plate. It’s a simple premise, but with the Worcester Center for Crafts’ annual Pasta Dinner event, returning Saturday, March 2, there is a lot more under the surface.

The event serves as a major fundraising tool for the center, with proceeds going to the various programs they offer throughout the year. The plates themselves are handcrafted by center students, artists-in-residence, faculty and more. While the pasta dinner is enjoyable, it’s in the selecting of a handcrafted plate that the real fun lies.....

(To Read More Click Here)

From the Worcester Magazine, By Joshua Lyford - Posted Feb 28, 2019 

Worcester Center for Crafts Holds an Artist Talk with Ron Rosenstock | February 10, 2018

Worcester, MA- Ron Rosenstock whose work is currently on display in the Krikorian Gallery of the Worcester Center for Crafts will give a public artist talk on Saturday, 50 Years of Photography - 2018
February 10, 2018 at 1:00 pm. Ron will talk about his artistic journey and individual works on view in the show, RON ROSENSTOCK: Fifty Years of Camera Work. The exhibit is on view  through March 3. Admission to the gallery is free as is the Artist Talk. Ron has been affiliated with the Craft Center since moving to Worcester and founding the Craft Center's photography program fifty years ago.  

Critics have said that Rosenstock's reality is more real than it would be if you were standing next to him the moment he makes the exposure. His view of the world developed from his correspondence with Ansel Adams, his work in study groups from 1967 to 1973 with his teacher Minor White and his time as a private student of Paul Caponigro. He has exhibited his work in more than 100 shows worldwide and is featured in numerous permanent exhibitions including the Fogg Art Museum, the Worcester Art Museum, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the International Center of Photography. 

Rosenstock's work has been variously described as "ethereal" and "richly detailed." He is a master of composition and capturing the soul of a scene. "I am not interested in the appearance of things," said Rosenstock, "but the transformational power of my lens to penetrate into the eternal moment."

For more information, call 508.753.8183, x 301. The Worcester Center for Crafts is an accessible facility and includes the Krikorian Gallery, the Gallery Store, two Metals studios, a large and comprehensive Ceramics Studio, and classroom space for photography. In a partnership with Worcester State University, the Center houses the art classrooms for the Visual Arts program as well.  

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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 immigrant women 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 sustain craft as a vital part of our community" by providing high-quality craft education and training, by supporting craft artists in their professions, and through advocacy and public education initiatives including 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.

Worcester Center for Crafts focuses on youth creativity

The Worcester Center for Crafts has long been a bastion for creativity and making, but on Oct. 25 the center will roll out a new youth craft and creativity program for ages 6-17 that will run through Dec. 9. The Craft Center hopes this program can imbue participants with both an appreciation for creating and an inherent knowledge or science, technology, math, critical thinking and more.

While kids will have fun crafting and creating, Honee Hess, executive director of the Craft Center, and Joyce Kressler, educational consultant, hope their programs will offer much more than that.

To read more Click Here.

(Worcester Magazine- Oct 20, 2016) 

Art of a different stripe

Multimedia artist John Hyden of Worcester will be exhibiting works at his show "plywood Tiger," opening Sept 22 at the Worcester Center for Crafts. Photo/ Paul Connors

WORCESTER - Worcester artist John Hyden has a tiger by the tail and no way of knowing exactly how big the beautiful beast might turn out to be. In a new show at the Worcester Center for Crafts, “Plywood Tiger,” Hyden will unveil for the first time the full scope of his striped wooden creation - so far.

One hundred and four 8-inch by 8-inch plywood panels, their wood grain painted in tiger-like yellow and black, make up the signature piece in the show, which also includes nine large collages, some drawings and a sculpture. The exhibition kicks off with a reception, which is free, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 in the center’s Krikorian Gallery, 25 Sagamore Road, and runs through Nov. 5.

To read more click here.

(From the Telegram and Gazette) 

Center for Crafts Offers New Program

WORCESTER — For a generation raised on electronic gadgets and television, the idea of pursuing crafts might seem novel, or quaint. The Worcester Center for Crafts aims to change all that, as they introduce their new, innovative Youth Craft + Creativity Program at a free event from 1-3 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Craft Center, located at 25 Sagamore Road in Worcester.

Classes in the new program are designed with an integrated, multi-disciplined approach to youth education for ages 6 through 17 that is creative, fun and hands-on. This event is designed as a sneak peek into the Youth Craft + Creativity Program and will provide information, demonstrations, and hands-on activities — plus an opportunity for advanced registration at a discount. For more information, contact Honee Hess, executive director of the Worcester Center for Crafts, at (508) 753-8183, ext. 302, or email hhess@worcester.edu.

To read more click here.

(From the Telegram & Gazette)

YOUTH Craft + Creativity Program Featured in Worcester Sun

We are excited to share that the Worcester Center for Crafts' upcoming YOUTH Craft + Creativity Program was featured in the Worcester Sun!  See below for feature, or use the following link to view.

ArtsWatch: Craft Center's Pottery Invitational offers face-to-face connection with the artists and their art

Tom O'Malley, ceramics department head, loads the soda kiln at the Worcester Center for Crafts. He will be among the artists participating in the Pottery Invitational. T&G Staff/Christine Hochkeppel

By Nancy Sheehan

Correspondent

Posted May. 8, 2016 at 6:00 AM
Updated May 8, 2016 at 5:09 PM 

"You just might find yourself bowled over by the Pottery Invitational show at the Worcester Center for Crafts, which runs May 13 to 15.

The show will feature not only the work of 19 nationally known ceramic artists but the artists themselves, who will be standing by their booths in the Craft Center’s Krikorian Gallery to discuss their work with show goers.

That artist-to-visitor interaction is one key difference between an invitational, for which curators invite individual artists to participate, and the more common juried show where jurors cull from all the applicants who respond to a general call.

Pottery invitationals happen in only a smattering of other areas in the country, notably Demarest, New Jersy, where an annual show has run for decades, and also Minnesota, western New York and Dallas. “But as far as New England goes for this type of pottery invitational, the Craft Center is where you come to see it,” said Todd Wahlstrom, co-curator of this year’s Craft Center invitational with his wife, Aysha Peltz. They both are potters working in Whitingham, Vermont, although Wahlstrom grew up in Shrewsbury and took his first ceramics course at the Craft Center more than 30 years ago."

Click here for the rest of the article 

Table Hoppin': Italian wine dinner, Cinco de Mayo events and more

 Telegram and Gazette, May 5 2016

The Pottery Invitational at Worcester Center for Crafts is set for May 13-15. Participants include Sarah Ribeiro of the Worcester Garden Club, who will present a flower styling demo, Andy Novakoski of Austin Liquors, which is providing a whiskey tasting, Honee Hess, Craft Center executive director, and Elaine Pusateri-Cowan, owner of UxLocale in Uxbridge, who will present a food styling demo. T&G Staff/Christine Peterson

...The Pottery Invitational at Worcester Center for Crafts is scheduled May 13-15 in the center, 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester. Potters Aysha Peltz and Todd Wahlstrom, who work in Whitingham, Vt., are guest curators who organized the Pottery Invitational. Nineteen artists will display ceramic works.

The show kicks off May 13 with a Benefit Preview celebration that features a “Whiskey Tasting.” A limited number of reservations for this benefit are available. For a $35 donation to the Crafts Center, guests will have an opportunity to schmooze with curators and artisans and enjoy handcrafted whiskeys selected and provided by Austin Liquors, with locations in Worcester and Shrewsbury.

New Street Glass Studio at the center will provide hand-blown whiskey tumblers for the tasting and to take home. Westfield Farms in Hubbardston will provide handcrafted cheeses, and Stewart’s Chocolates in Jefferson, chocolate specialties.

For reservations, call (508) 753-8183, ext. 301, or visit www.worcestercraftcenter.org.

The show on May 13 is free to the public from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

May 14, the show is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free to the public. Artists from the center will give demos in the Ceramics Studio at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. May 14 and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. May 15.

Sarah Ribeiro of the Worcester Garden Club will present a flower styling demo at 3 p.m. May 14, using handmade ceramic containers for the arrangements.

May 15 show hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., free to the public. A special food styling demo by Elaine Pusateri-Cowan will be presented from 1 to 2 p.m. Learn how to use handmade ceramics for serving and entertaining.

Pusateri-Cowan is owner and chef de cuisine of UXLocale, an Uxbridge restaurant that is expected to open later this month.

The Pottery Invitational at Worcester Center for Crafts began in 2003 as a way to expose the community to the work of regional and national ceramic artists, and to assist artists in creating a new market for their work.

Great weekend planned.

Xxxx

To View The Whole Article Click Here.

New Works, two venues: Telegram & Gazette March 18, 2016

Glass artist Molly Jackson, pictured at work at New Street Glass Studio recently,
 will exhibit her glass sculptures for the first time in the ArtsWorcester/Craft Center exhibition.
 Photo/Paul Connors

Click here to see what Molly's teaching this session!  

Molly Jackson found considerable success with the jewelry she designed and made from glass. Britney Spears wore one of her bracelets in a music video. She made a glass crown for an Ozzy Osborne album cover. Her pieces were seen on catwalks at fashion week in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

But when she wanted to transition from jewelry to making glass sculpture, she wasn't sure how or where to present her new work. Then she came across a call to artists that gave her confidence a boost. It was for an exhibition of work by younger artists, those born in 1975 or after.

"I had wanted to show my work for a while," said Jackson, of North Brookfield. "When I saw 1975 I thought, 'That's it. That's my sign.' It’s the year I was born."

Her sculpture will make its first gallery appearance along with the work of other younger artists from throughout Central Massachusetts in "Now! New Work, New Artists," a juried exhibition that marks the first ever collaboration between the Worcester Center for Crafts and ArtsWorcester. The show will run with work displayed at both venues from March 19 to April 16. It opened with slightly public receptions March 18 at the Craft Center, 25 Sagamore Road, and at ArtsWorcester, 660 Main St.  Click here to read The Worcester Telegram and Gazette full article 

'Culinary Imaginings' at Craft Center: Telegram & Gazette Feb 21,2016

      Photo: Paul Connors

"The Worcester Center for Crafts held an opening reception for "Culinary Imaginings," the first solo show by Worcester-based photographer Donna Dufault. The exhibit reveals a unique view of food and is a culmination of many years of her photographing behind the scenes of kitchens of chefs through out the east coast. Images in the exhibit are sometimes very abstract imaginings, while others are more clearly about the object themselves. The exhibit runs through Feb. 27, culminating with a Pasta Dinner, featuring more than 200 plates crafted by local artists that attendees get to keep."

Telegram & Gazette Feb 21,2016
Click here for more pictures:

"Local artists paint mural in library's Children's Room"

WCC's Administrative Assistant Lindsey MacLean (left) Photo Courtesy of Amanda Collins of the Landmark

If the walls of the Richards Memorial Library could talk, they might tell as many stories as they hold. Within them, topics are discussed, skills are learned, and friendships are forged.

Downstairs in the Children's Room, one wall has a story of its own. Several years ago it was brought to life by a local artist's hands, its drab white tone becoming the base of a sunny outdoor scene. Against a baby blue sky and wild grassy field, Sarah Howe planted a bright and leafy tree with her paintbrush.

For the entire article in the The Landmark click here: Local Artists Paint...

Table Hoppin': Photo exhibit focuses on the craft of cooking By Barbara M. Houle Worcester Telegram and Gazette Correspondent

Donna Dufault displays a selection of her photographs from her new exhibit "Culinary Imaginings" at the Worcester Center For Crafts Krikorian Gallery in Worcester. The show's opening reception will be held 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25. T&G Staff/Paul Kapteyn

"Culinary Imaginings" at the Worcester Center for Crafts is an exhibit that reveals a unique view of food, the first solo show of Worcester-based photographer Donna Dufault.

The exhibit is the culmination of Dufault’s many years photographing behind the scenes in the “inner sanctum” (the kitchen) of chefs throughout the East Coast.

“I’m fascinated by the art of preparing food and the tools used to create it,” said Dufault. “The dents, scratches, cracks and patina all create beauty in their imperfection,” she said. “I truly enjoy tracking down the tools, and documenting their vulnerability from human treatment.”

The exhibit presented in the center’s Krikorian Gallery, 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester, opened Jan. 20 and will be on view through Feb. 27. Images in the exhibit are sometimes very abstract imaginings, while others are more clearly about the objects themselves.

Click here for the full article in the  Worcester Telegram & Gazette 

Donna Dufault’s culinary imaginings By Joshua Lyford -January 21, 2016 WORCESTER MAGAZINE

The world of professional commercial food photography is straightforward in its end goal, perfectly capturing the most desirable aspects of a particular menu option. Naturally, there are liberties a photographer can take along the way; in general, the food is the focal point and the goal is to present it in the most enticing possible manner.

In commercial food photographer Donna Dufault’s first solo photography show at the Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, opening Monday, Jan. 25, the artist aims to let the very real personalities on display in any given kitchen shine through. Not the personalities you might expect, however, she lets the hardware do the talking.

“There is a lot of downtime on set,” said Dufault. “You spend a lot of time arranging lights and that sort of thing, so I would take photographs when I could over the last few years. I found these objects fascinating and beautiful. The dents lead to memories and I am fascinated by how beat up they get over time. They have a great patina to them, I love those details.”

Click here for full WM article

Reporter Joshua Lyford can be reached at 508-749-3166, ext. 325, or by email at Jlyford@worcestermagazine.com. Follow Josh on Twitter @Joshachusetts.

Wrapped Up in the Holidays

WORCESTER - Karen Baker, left, of Marlboro, looks at the hand-dyed silk scarves made by Brooke Stanton of Pembroke during the Holiday Festival of Crafts Sunday. The Worcester Center for Crafts hosted the event, which included 60 artists and craftspeople selling their creations. T&G Staff/Rick Cinclair

Thanks Worcester Telegram Gazette!

Worcester's architectural past and present on display at craft center

Preservation Worcester's education director, Susan Ceccacci, right, and volunteer Jennifer Doherty hang photographs Wednesday in the Krikorian Gallery at the Worcester Center for Crafts for the show "Worcester Architecture: Lost & Found." T&G Staff/Paul Kapteyn

Click here for the Full article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Resilient Enamel

Click here to read the entire article featured in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. 

Two Minutes With … Honee Hess

Click here to read the article featured in Worcester Magazine.