Western Carolina University

Education

MFA – Photography and Mixed Media - James Madison University
MA – Museum Studies/Art History – Virginia Commonwealth University
BA – Art/Art History – Rutgers University

Publications

Craft and art

Books

“Craft Revival” (essay) Encyclopedia of Southern Culture [in press].
“Making & Naming: Objects of Studio Craft” (chapter), Extra/ordinary: Craft culture and contemporary art by Maria Elena Buszek, [in press, Duke University].
Handbook of Appalachia, Author of chapter on “Visual Arts.” (Knoxville: UT Press, 2006)
Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Editor of Visual Arts section; Author of Visual Arts overview and multiple entries (Knoxville: UT Press, 2006)
Lost Cause: Women, Art and the Landscape of Southern Memory, Author of chapter on cemetery monuments (Knoxville: U of Tennessee, 2003)
Objects and Meaning: New Perspectives on Art and Craft. Co-Editor; Author of two chapters, “Regarding the History of Objects” and “Reading the Language of Objects.” (Scarecrow Press, 2003, 2005)

Exhibition catalogs

Art of Transformation, Hickory NC: Hickory Museum of Art, 2007
Clay from the River Valleys, Radford VA: Radford University Art Museum, 1993
Clay USA, Radford University Art Museum, 1989, 1991
Coast-to-Coast: Women of Color Artists' Books, Radford University Art Museum, 1990
Color and Clay. Richmond: Hand Workshop Art Center (traveling), 1987
Defining Ourselves: Expressions of Diversity, Radford University Art Museum, 1995
From Absurdity to Austerity: Photographs of Richard Hough, Radford University Art Museum, 1993
“Green Tea,” in The Whereabouts of Beauty in 20th Century Art, Richmond: Hand Workshop Art Center, 1997
“Journey from Apprentice to Master,” in Francis Whitaker, Radford University Art Museum, 1994; Reprinted for Littleton, Colorado Historical Museum, 1996
Kolla-Landwehr Collection of Huichol Art, Radford University Art Museum, 1996
“Material + Technology: Reconsidering the Object,” in ReFormations: New Forms from Ancient Techniques, Portsmouth VA: Portsmouth Museum (traveling) 2000
Metal/Southeast, Abingdon VA: William King Art Center, 2004
Movers & Makers: Doris Ulmann’s Portrait of the Craft Revival, History Museum of Western Virginia (traveling) 2003-2005
Pieced Histories: Quilts from the New River Valley, Radford University Art Museum, 1994
“Samuel Yellin Metalworkers: Mastery across Three Generations,” in Samuel Yellin Metalworkers. Asheville NC: Southern Highland Craft Guild, 1998

Conference papers / Journal articles

“Albert Paley: Drawing as a Visual Roadmap,” Metalsmith 25 (Spring 2005): 42-49
“Albert Paley: Working in the Public Domain,” Anvils Ring 33 (Fall 2004): 28-33
“American Art,” Southeast College Art conference, Charleston SC, Oct 1996
“Arts and Crafts in Appalachia: the Third Wave,” Style 1900 16 (Feb. 2003): 70-75
“Building upon the Stones of Venice: Ruskin’s Role in the Arts & Crafts Movement,” Style 1900 14 (November 2001); 32-38
“Christo Unwrapped,” Art Papers (Jan/Feb 1996): 2-5
“Collectors: Women of the Avant Garde” (abstract) Southeast College Art Review 1988: 251
“Container as Metaphor” (abstract) Southeast College Art Review 1998: 312-313
“Container as Metaphor,” Ceramics, Art and Perception 37 (Australia) 1999: 30-32
“Craft Revival: 1896-1937,” History Museum and Historical Society of Western Virginia Journal 15 (2004): 36-46
“Crafts and Craftspeople of the Appalachians,” Smithsonian Folklife Festival (program guide), Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, 2003: 35
“Crossing the Creative Matrix: Lee Sauder,” Metalsmith 23 (Winter 2003): 35-41
“Cultural Tourism: The Next Frontier,” Southeast American Craft Council conference, Arrowmont School, Gatlinburg TN, 1998
“Cultural Tourism,” Preserving Community Identity conference, Newport VA, January 29, 2000
“Cynthia Bringle: A Potter’s Life,” American Craft 59 (December 1999): 34-37
“Documentation and Interpretation,” Appalachian Studies conference, Maryville, TN, March 23, 2007
“Ebb & Flow: the De-Valuation and Re-Valuation of the Object” (abstract) Southeast College Art Review 1993: 232-233
“Fireside Industries and Industrial Institutes,” Appalachian Studies conference, Cherokee NC, March 2004
“Folklorist’s Digital Toolkit,” NC Folklore Journal 53 (Fall-Winter 2006): 29-38
“Fueling a Forge with Methane,” Anvils Ring (Spring 2007): 18-21
“Heritage Matters,” National Park Service magazine, (Dec. 2004): 14-15
“Hoss Haley: Finding Voice in the Heartland,” Metalsmith (Fall 2006): 28-35
“Issues of Identity in Contemporary American Craft,” Southeast College Art conference, Richmond VA, October 1997
“John Cage: View-Inter-View,” Radford Magazine 1989: 26-32
“Market Forces as Moral Value: a Questionable Aesthetic,” Ceramics Monthly (Feb 1996): 95-95
“Markings & the Urge to Record,” Ceramics, Art, Perception 42 (Australia) 2000: 57-59
"Material Meaning," Studio Potter (Dec 1996): 26-30
“Performance, Collaboration and the Intersection of Arts and Technology,” Vancouver BC: Simon Fraser U, July 1993 with Margaret Devaney
“Preserving the Craft Revival,” (chair) Appalachian Studies conference, Maryville, TN, March 23, 2007
“Reading the Language of Objects,” Southeast College Art conference, Raleigh NC, November 1, 2003
“Samuel Yellin Metalworkers: a Continuing Legacy.” Nineteenth Century 19: Victorian Society of America (Fall 1999): 47-53
“Samuel Yellin: Sketching in Iron,” Metalsmith 23 (Fall 2003): 28-35
“Transatlantic and Trans-temporal: Yellin Ironwork as a Manifestation of English Arts and Crafts, Southeast College Art conference, SC, October 24, 2001
“Upstream: Theoretical Headwaters of the Craft Arts” (abstract) College Art Association 1996: 92; presentation at College Art conference, Boston, 1996
“Voices and Visions: a Feminist Dialog across the Warp of Time” (abstract) Southeast College Art Review 1996: 105-106
“Working Women/Founding Mothers: Appalachian Craft Revival.” Appalachian Studies conference, Helen GA, March 1996
“Working Women/ Founding Mothers," Women & Craft at the National Museum of Women in Arts, Washington DC, 1993
“Yellin and the Expression of Ruskin’s Gothic,” Style 1900 13 (Feb. 2000): 44-48

Invited lectures / seminars

“African American Industrial Institutes,” Society of Friends national meeting, Blacksburg VA, July 6, 2001
“Appalachian Craft Revival: 1890s-1930s,” Appalachian State U, Boone, sponsored by Smithsonian Associates, July 22, 1999
“Building the American Dream: Samuel Yellin Metalworking Studio, 1909-1940,” Virginia Tech research colloquy, Blacksburg VA, April 23, 2001
"Ceramics in Architectural Context," University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1983
“Cherokee Craft Revival,” Qualla Arts & Crafts, Cherokee NC, sponsored by NC Humanities Council, March 2004
"Cincinnati Art Pottery Movement,” University of Indiana, Bloomington, 1985
“Contemporary Appalachian Craft: Looking at Process,” Appalachian State U, Boone, sponsored by Smithsonian Associates, July 23, 1999
“Craft: A History,” guest lecture and panel, Penland School of Crafts, 1989
“Craft Revival,” Mountain Heritage Center, Cullowhee, NC, Sept. 24 and 27, 2006
“Evening with Gertrude Stein,” Middle Tennessee State U, Murfreesboro TN, 1988
"Historic Ceramics in the Museum Collection," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1988
“Making & Meaning: Craft Studies Learning Community,” University of North Carolina/Asheville, July 13, 2005
“Making & Naming: Objects of Studio Craft,” Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, June 16, 2007
"Mercer/ Turn-of-the-Century Craftsman,” Tennessee Tech, Cookeville, 1987
“Moving Forward, Looking Back: Traditional Appalachian handwork as an expression of progressive reform ideology in America, 1896-1929,” Virginia Tech research colloquy, Blacksburg VA, November 1999
“Objects, Process, and Meaning,” Art Museum of Western VA, Roanoke, April 14, 2000
“Regarding the History of the Object,” Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, Nov. 16, 2006
“Ruskin, Morris, and Aunt Lou Kitchen: Appalachian Craft Revival, 1896-1929,” National Museum of American Art/Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, Mar 12, 1999
"Ruskin, Morris, and Aunt Lou Kitchen: the Historic Craft Revival," University of North Carolina/Asheville, April 18, 2005
“Samuel Yellin: Craftsman without Peer,” Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC, Feb. 20, 2003
“Smithsonian Folklife Festival,” (invited speaker), Appalachian Studies conference, Cherokee, 2004
“Southern Craft: A Revival in the Mountains,” Asheville Hardware,, April 23, 2008
“Southern Craft: A Revival in the Mountains,” Craddock Center, Blue Ridge GA, Oct. 27, 2007
“Theories and Methods of Art History,” panel, Craft Studies program, University of North Carolina/Asheville, Nov 15, 2005
“Validation and the Art Establishment,” State of the Craft conference, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond VA, Aug. 1989
“Woman-to-Woman: The Southern Craft Revival,” keynote address for Gender Research conference, Western Carolina University, March 26, 2008.

Curator / Consulting curator

Andy Warhol Early Portraits, organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1996
Audrey Flack, New York, Recent Work, on loan from artist, 1997
Christo, New York, Wrapped Coast, on loan from artist, 1993
Colored Clay: A National Survey, Appalachian Center, Smithville TN and Pewabic Pottery, Detroit; 1983
Cycles, computer-generated environment, organized by the Center for Creative Arts, Sweet Briar VA, 1994
Faith Ringgold, New York, Women of Color, on loan from artist, 1990
Francis Whitaker: National Heritage Fellow, Flagstaff AZ: Artist Blacksmith Association of North America (traveling), 1999-2001
Hammer & Hand: Contemporary American Metal 2004 (juried), Calvin College, Grand Rapids MI, 2004
John Cage Watercolors, organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1989
Kathe Kollwitz, organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1995
Miles Carpenter: A Second Century, Radford University Art Museum, 1990
Robert Beckman, Nevada, Secular Light, on loan from artist, 1998
Sculpture Purchase Competition, Radford VA: Radford U campus, annual, 1990-1997
Telling our Regional Story, Welcome Center, Madison County NC, 2007
Winslow Homer: Prints from Harper’s, selections from the Anderson Gallery collection, Richmond VA, 1995

Reviews / Commentaries

"Alan Rosenberg," clay, New Art Examiner (Chicago), review, 1986
"Albert Paley," New Art Examiner (Chicago) review, 1991
“Albert Paley,” Southeast College Art Review 2003: 256-257
“Amalia Amaki: Boxes, Buttons and the Blues at the National Museum of Women in the Arts,” Southeast College Art Review XIV No. 5 (2005): 497-499
"Approaches to Contemporary Rug Hooking," Fiber Arts (Sept/Oct 1991): 51-56
“Blacksmith Art Exhibit,” Metalsmith 27 No.1 (January 2007) review, 46.
“Blacksmithing with a Southern Accent: Metalwork from the Southeast,” review, Anvils Ring 36, No. 2 (Winter 2008): 20-22
"Cate Fitt," textiles, New Art Examiner (Chicago) review, 1987
"Eloquent Object," Art Papers (Atlanta) review, 1989;
"Faith Ringgold," Art Papers (Atlanta) review, 1989;
"Intrinsic Nature," New Art Examiner (Chicago) review, 1997
"Jack Earl," New Art Examiner (Chicago) review, 1992
"Jewelry Now," New Art Examiner (Chicago) review, 1987
"Metals Expression II," metal, Art Papers (Atlanta) review, 1991;
"Niewald/ Crane," ceramics, New Art Examiner (Chicago), review, 1995
“Not just a pot...a way of life,” Mountain Xpress (Asheville) commentary, July 19, 2006: 6
“On fire for heritage,” Mountain Xpress (Asheville), commentary, June 14, 2006: 7
“Points of Entry: Drawings of Albert Paley,” SE College Art Review 2004: 376-379
“Virginia Derryberry: Second Nature,” Southeast College Art Review XV No. 1 (2005): 54-57

Preservation and region

Books

Blue Ridge Roadways: A Virginia Field Guide to Cultural Sites, an interpretation of the built environment (Winston-Salem: John F. Blair Publishers, 2006)
Handbook of Appalachia, Author of chapter on “Visual Arts.” (Knoxville: UT Press, 2006)
Images of America: Christiansburg,Co-author (Charleston SC: Arcadia Press, 2005)
Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Editor of section on Visual Arts; Author of Visual Arts overview and multiple entries (Knoxville: UT Press, 2006)
Lost Cause: Women, Art and the Landscape of Southern Memory, Author of chapter on rural cemetery movement (Knoxville: U of Tennessee, 2003)
Objects and Meaning: New Perspectives on Art and Craft,Co-Editor; Author of two chapters, “Regarding the History of Objects”and “Reading the Language of Objects” (Scarecrow Press hardback 2003, paperback 2005)

Museum manuals

Interpretive Plan, Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archive, 2004
Get it in Writing: Documenting your Collection, manual, Arts & Crafts conference, Asheville NC, 2003
Interpreting Regional Artifacts, Virginia Tech Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2001
Manual de Museologia, manual, American Embassy Panama and National Institute of Culture, Panama City, 2000

Conference papers / Journal articles

“Arcadia: Contemplating Rural Virginia’s Homestead’s,” Blue Ridge Symposium, Explore Park, Roanoke VA, 1999
“Cultural Diversity for Sale: Building a Global Museum Community,” National Humanities conference, Blacksburg VA, March 25, 2002
“Cultural Tourism: The Next Frontier,” Southeast American Craft Council conference, Arrowmont School, Gatlinburg TN, 1998
“Cultural Tourism,” Preserving Community Identity conference, Newport VA, January 29, 2000
“Documentation and Interpretation,” Appalachian Studies conference, Maryville, TN, March 23, 2007
“Emancipation Era Education,” Appalachian Studies conference, March 18, 2005
“Exhibition Reviews” (editor) Southeast College Art Review, 2003-2008
“Fireside Industries and Industrial Institutes,” Appalachian Studies conference, Cherokee NC, March 2004
“Folklorist’s Digital Toolkit,” NC Folklore Journal 53 (Fall-Winter 2006): 29-38
“Form & Function for the Future: Adaptive Reuse” Virginia Association of Museums Quarterly (fall 2005): 3
“Heritage Matters,” National Park Service magazine (Dec. 2004): 14-15
“Issues in Academic Museums,” Southeast College Art conference, New Orleans LA, Oct 1994
“Museums, Race, and Communities: Projects/Obstacles/Strategies,” Southeast Museums conference, Oct. 2002
“On a Shallow Foundation of Freedom: Building the Campus of the Christiansburg Institute,” Smithfield Review VI (2002): 38-70
“Preserving the Craft Revival” (chair) Appalachian Studies conference, Maryville, TN, March 23, 2007
"Racial Cooperation and Philanthropy,” Conference of Quaker Historians, Swarthmore College; June 22, 2002
“Reinterpreting the Cultural Contributions of African Americans,” Virginia Association of Museums conference, March 11, 2002
“Visibility as a Solution to Austerity: Academic Museums” (abstract) Southeast College Art Review 1994: 65
“What are Curators Looking For?” Southeast American Craft Council conference, Lynchburg VA, June 1992
“What do we Leave Behind?” History Museum and Historical Society of Western Virginia Journal 15 (2002): 49-52
“Where Have All the Treasures Gone? Museums in Latin America,” Globalization & Cultural Diversity conference, Roanoke VA, September 20, 2002

Invited lectures / seminars

“Arts in Appalachia,” (invited) Appalachian Studies conference, Maryville, TN, March 24, 2007
“Assessments and Accreditation,” Southwest Virginia Assoc. of Museums, Jan. 28, 2002
“Cherokee Craft Revival,” Qualla Arts & Crafts Cooperative, Cherokee NC, sponsored by NC Humanities Council, March 2004
“Collections Management for Collectors,” Arts & Crafts Society, Asheville NC, 2000-03
“Documentation & Digitization,” workshops for digital project, Hunter Library, Cullowhee NC, Nov. 21, 2005 and Oct. 24, 2006
“Exhibit Development and Implementation,” seminar, Claflin University, Orangeburg SC, 2001
“Digital Exhibits: Hunter Library’s Partnership,” Museums in Partnership, Asheville NC, Aug. 16, 2007
“Exhibit Fundamentals: Starting with a Plan,” Museums in Partnership, Asheville NC, Aug. 16, 2007
“Importance of Museums,” University of Panama, Nov. 28, 2000
“Interpreting Regional Artifacts,” Virginia Tech Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2001
“Latin American Artifacts: Who Owns Them?” Western Carolina UniversityHispanic Heritage Month, Oct. 11, 2006
“Museum Administration,” Museo de Arte Contemporaneo and University of Panama´, Republic of Panama´, 2000-2001
“Museum as an Educational Resource,” Museo Afro-Antilliano, Panama, October 18, 2000
“Museum Assessments and Accreditation,” Southwest Virginia Association of Museums, 2002
“Museum Collections,” Museo del Canal Interoceanico de Panama´ and University of Panama´, Republic of Panama´, 2000-2001
“Smithsonian Folklife Festival,” (invited speaker), Appalachian Studies conference, Cherokee, 2004
“Using Archival Resources in Heritage Preservation and Public History Projects,” Friends of the Library lecture, Montgomery County VA, Oct. 25, 2005
“Validation and the Art Establishment,” State of the Craft conference, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond VA, Aug. 1989
“Vital Words and Vital Actions: Partnerships for a Healthy Region,” Appalachian Studies Plenary Session speaker (invited speaker) Radford VA, March 19, 2005

Digital presentations / websites

“Arts in Appalachia: A Celebration,” Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, April 19, 2007
“Contemplating Rural Virginia’s Homesteads,” image projections/reading, Explore Park, sponsored by the Western Virginia Land Trust, 1999, 1998
“Photographic Documentation: Preserving a Sense of Place,” History Museum of Western Virginia, Feb. 8. 2002
“Regionalism and a Sense of Place,”Curator, electronic exhibition in conjunction with William Ferris lecture, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, March 18, 2002
“Virtual Christiansburg Institute,” Curator/editor of award-winning digital history on-line, 2001, at http://www.christiansburginstitute.org/