Welcome, Jessica Smith
in studio beginning February 1

Current Artist-in-Residence

Over the course of her twelve-week residence in the gallery, paper artist Jessica Smith will be constructing component pieces for a large, sprawling arrangement styled after the romantic floral arrangements of Victorian-era florist Constance Spry. In her talk, Jessica will introduce you to the history of paper flower making across centuries and cultures, explain the unique sculptural strengths of this ubiquitous material, and highlight her own sources of visual inspiration for the textural, layered installation she is dedicating her residency to creating, with the ultimate question being - does scale help transcend both the material and the craft to create a textured visual piece that can stand on its own in a contemporary gallery setting?

Jessica's Studio Hours:
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am-5pm

Talks and Workshops with Jessica:
Artist Talk: Thursday, March 21, 6-7pm
Paper Cherry Blossom Workshop: Saturday, March 21, 10am-2pm
Spring Daffodil Blossom Workshop: Saturday, April 6, 2-3:30pm

Jodi Colella (Winter 2018/2019)

Jodi Colella (Winter 2018/2019)

Jodi Colella was the Artist-in-Residence during Winter 2018-19 at the Society of Arts + Crafts. She works at the intersection of tradition and innovation, using traditional crafts to create artwork that sparks contemporary discussion. Working across fiber arts, needlework, photography, sculpture and more, Colella brings gravity to craft traditions often dismissed as feminine. Through her work, she encourages audiences to consider craft disciplines in a new light.

Laura Petrovich-Cheney (Summer/Fall 2018)

Laura Petrovich-Cheney (Summer/Fall 2018)

Laura Petrovich-Cheney is an artist who works throughout mediums, creating work that is informed by themes including the environment, social justice and feminism. Her wooden quilts, in collections across the country including that of the Fuller Craft Museum, examine the effects of hurricanes on the environment, as well as the human element present before, during and after environmental disasters. Learn more about her work here.

Muffy Young (Summer 2018)

Muffy Young (Summer 2018)

Muffy has been a handweaver and dyer since 1978. She uses a loom with 24 harnesses instead of the more usual 4 or 8, which allows her to design highly complex structures, and to combine them in a single piece for intriguing variations in scale, texture, and motif. Her designs are original, unique, and innovative, with images inspired by nature, modernism, and the fabrics of Latin American, Central Asia, and Africa. Guided by the weave structure, she selects silk fibers to maximize visual impact and to balance drape and stability. Hand-dyeing her yarns gives her complete control of her color palette. Her passion is to create refined scarves and shawls that are beautiful to look at and comfortable to wear.

Lily Fein (Winter/Spring 2018)

Lily Fein (Winter/Spring 2018)

Lily Fein makes coiled and pinched vessels. Her forms are continually morphing and changing, creating a language with curves and twists, which speak about what it means to touch, both locally and at a distance. Lily has had wonderful opportunities, such as living in the Mojave Desert, sitting by and/or dipping in many creek beds in the United States, and making music in her band, The Glue. Lily's home base is Eastern Massachusetts.

Liz Shepherd (Fall/Winter 2017)

Liz Shepherd (Fall/Winter 2017)

Liz Shepherd is a sculptor and printmaker. Recent solo exhibitions have been at Artpace’s Hudson (Show)Room in San Antonio, Texas, the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Italy, the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College, the Boston Sculptors Gallery, the Sarah Doyle Gallery at Brown University, and the Locco Ritoro Gallery in Boston. In 2014, she participated in exhibitions at the Hanoi (Vietnam) Contemporary Arts Center, the Q’orikancha Museum in Cusco, Peru, the Icelandic Printmakers Gallery in Reykjanik. Shepherd has also been included in exhibitions of the Royal Academy of Painters and Printmakers at the Bankside Gallery in London and with the Los Angeles Printmakers. In 2015 she was awarded a Traveling Fellowship from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Liz owns a large collaborative printmaking studio in Boston’s South End where she teaches occasional printmaking classes. Learn more about Liz's career on her website.

Adrienne Sloane (Spring/Summer 2017)

Adrienne Sloane (Spring/Summer 2017)

For 25 years studio artist Adrienne Sloane has deeply explored all forms of sculptural knit structures. As a hand and machine knitter, her work has often addressed the political while remaining mindful of the rich historical context of her medium. She exhibits and teaches internationally and has also worked with indigenous knitters in Bolivia and Peru. Sloane has work in major collections and has been published widely. She also enjoys writing regularly for the American magazine, Fiber Art Now.

Jen Stark (Fall/Winter 2016)

Jen Stark (Fall/Winter 2016)

Jenifer Stark has been designing knitwear since 2004. A Boston native, she has studied design at McGill University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Massachusetts College of Art. She is inspired by the combination of heirloom techniques with modern colors and a tailored, active fit. When she is not knitting she can be found on her bicycle. You can see and purchase her work at JeniferStark.com.