Craft Happenings

Adorned with Memory

The Heard presents necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings from the notable collection of Native art assembled by the late Arizona grocery-store magnate Eddie Basha. The show underlines Basha’s longtime support of Native creativity and his friendships with artists including Duane Maktima (Laguna Pueblo/Hopi), Terry and Joe B. Reano (Santo Domingo Pueblo), and Carl and Irene Clark (Diné).

Mata Ortiz: Ceramics from the Collection of Norman Sherman and Virginia Chambers Sherman

An exhibition of pottery created by contemporary artisans in the town of Mata Ortiz, Mexico, at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.

OUT of the Jewelry Box

Expanding the voices represented in MAD’s permanent collection, OUT of the Jewelry Box considers the importance of queer perspectives in the world of studio and contemporary art jewelry.

Familiar Texture: The Fibers of Childhood and Home

The textiles and fiber works on display here, by Farah Al Qasimi, Hangama Amiri, Keith Jackson, Yvette Mayorga, Tressa Prisbrey, and Dalila Sanabria, will present childhood memories of home. Each work depicts an evocative interior space: living rooms, bedrooms, storage spaces. “Each of these sites,” write the organizers, “memorialize social and environmental influences that shaped the future of an individual.

Brilliant Color

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, glass underwent what the organizers of this exhibition call a “chromatic revolution” as designers, many trained as chemists, experimented with new color techniques. Vibrantly hued everyday items and art glass alike will be on display, including products from Lalique and Tiffany and contemporary works by artists who innovate in color.

The Art and Design of Howard Smith

Smith (1928–2021) was among the handful of postwar Black craft artists with strong ties to industry; his textiles and ceramics were produced by some of Scandinavia’s top design firms. Along with his commercial designs, some of which incorporate African motifs, this retrospective highlights his diverse art practice, including paper cuts, jackets turned into sculptures, and shamanistic masks made from hats.