Applause...
The philanthropist and former Liz Claiborne CEO Jerome A. Chazen, who played a key role in the creation of the new Museum of Arts and Design as chair of its capital campaign, was honored at Visionaries! 2008, MAD’s annual awards gala, November 12 in New York. Also saluted were African sculptor El Anatsui, commu­nications titan Alan Siegel and Claudio Luti of the Italian furniture maker Kartel ... The jeweler Mary Lee Hu, creator of Choker #88, is the newest inductee into the National Metalsmith's Hall of Fame, maintained by the Florida Society of Goldsmiths at the Arts Center in St. Petersburg.

Grants and commissions
The Tamarack Foundation of West Virginia awarded fel­lowships to four artists in the state for 2008-the jeweler Jean-Pierre Hsu , who created 6/99 Mobile, woodworkers Stan and Sue Jennings, and blacksmith Mark Schwenk... On the heels of winning a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," the South Carolina basket weaver Mary Jackson was one of 50 artists to each receive an unrestricted $50,000 fellowship from the advocacy organization United States Artists (USA). Also named USA Fellows in the category of crafts and traditional arts were Richard Notkin, the clay sculptor and maker of the stoneware Teaset- Iraq, 200 ; Judith Schaechter, who works in stained glass; and Alvin Aningayou, a Yupiq scrimshaw carver from Alaska. (For more on the USA Fellows, visit our Zoom/Extra blog …The Corning Museum of Glass , NY, has unveiled its 2008 Rakow Commission- North Sea Waves, a large cast glass sculpture by the Slovak artist Zora Palová.

At the museums
When the University of Michigan Museum of Art broke ground for a big renovation, 26 trees were cut down. They now live on in a variety of wood objects-from vessels to pens to tables-by 80 lathe turners. "We kept thinking, what if we took the trees and transformed them into something of lasting beauty," says Suzanne Witthoff, manager of the UMMA Museum Shop, where the pieces will be sold to benefit the museum, reopening early this year... New York's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is turning the former third-floor library of its Fifth Avenue mansion into a 7,000-square-foot gallery, more than doubling exhibition space... The Mint Museum of Charlotte, NC, received a more than $5 million bequest from the estate of longtime benefactor Nancy Akers Wallace, to go toward expansion efforts that include a new downtown facility for its collections of contemporary art, craft and design.

Education notes
The Pacific Northwest College of Art and Oregon College of Art and Craft , both in Portland, are offering a joint M.F.A. in Applied Craft and Design... Arthur Jacobus is the new CEO and executive director of the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA. He previously headed Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, in Napa, CA, and the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts ... Designer Antonio Larosa has become furniture design chair at the Savannah College of Art and Design , GA...The Design Center at Philadelphia University has received $200,000 from the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative to present "Lace in Translation," a series of campus installations by three artist/designers- Tord Boontje , Demakersvan and Cal Lane -who will use the center's historical Quaker lace archives as inspiration to "reconceptualize conventional notions of lace" (fall '09/winter '10).

In other news...
The Jane Sauer Gallery of Santa Fe got rare exposure to China's burgeoning art market as one of 74 dealers from 13 countries invited to take part in the 2008 Beijing Art Salon, held September 30-October 3 at the World Trade Center there. Sauer traveled to Beijing for the event with the sculptor Geoffrey Gorman , whose work she featured along with that of Patti Warashina , Gugger Petter , Toland Sand and others from her stable...After World War II, the master woodworker George Nakashima (1905-1990) bought a parcel of land on a hillside in New Hope, PA. Over four decades he designed, built and landscaped a compound that came to encompass 19 buildings on nine acres, including his home, studio and workshop, all in the International Style with traditional Japanese influences. Newly listed on the National Register of Historic Places , the complex is open for tours, by appointment... Despite a tough economy, supporters stepped up to exceed the target of
$100,000 in a recent fund-raising drive for the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove.

Obituaries
Henry Summa, who brought artistry and innovation to his work in glass for over 35 years, died September 27 after a brief battle with renal cancer. Known for his sculptures, vessels, platters and paperweights, he was 59 and lived in Santa Fe. Donations may be made to the Henry Summa Memorial Scholarship Fund of the Adaptive Ski Program , where he taught skiing, another of his passions, to the disabled... Keith Lebenzon, a maker of prized paintbrushes, died of a stroke on September 21. He was 62 and lived in Beaverton, OR. He began making brushes in 1971 for use on his own pottery. Calling himself "The Brushman," he exhibited for many years at American Craft Council Shows and other venues, winning awards and a devoted following.