BROCKTON, MASS.- Fuller Craft Museum, New England’s home for contemporary craft, presents Living Treasures of North Carolina Craft. On display May 12, 2012 – August 5, 2012.

The Living Treasures of North Carolina Craft exhibition preserves a connection to the rich lineage of traditional craft makers from the region. North Carolina has been home to generations of American makers, a fertile ground for the practice and revival of traditional crafts—as well as opportunities for the innovative expressions of the future. With its eclectic collection of glass apples, fireplace andirons, ceramic vessels, furniture, baskets, and candlesticks, this exhibition displays the duality of traditional and contemporary craft at play.

For the first time this show travels to New England, bringing a representative selection of work from the artists recognized with the North Carolina Living Treasures award. Boat wrights, potters, luthiers, marqueters, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, weavers, and glass artists—since 1986, the University of North Carolina Wilmington has celebrated the talents of these individuals dedicated to the preservation and innovation of craft with the Living Treasures Award.

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of studio glass, the Living Treasures award was given to two glass artists, Richard Ritter and Mark Peiser. The exhibition also features the work of Cynthia Bringle, Thayer Francis, Julian Guthrie, Bea Hensley, Harvey Littleton, Sid Luck, Sid Oakley, Ben Owen III, Robert Rigaud, Norman Schulman, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Hiroshi Sueyoshi, and Arval Woody.

Richard Ritter (2011 recipient) lives and works in Bakersville, N.C. In 1993 he was one of 70 artists whose work was selected for “The White House Collection of Craft,” a traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution. His work is included in many permanent collections including the Asheville Art Museum (Asheville, N.C.), the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), and the Mint Museum of Art (Charlotte, N.C.).

Mark Peiser (2011 recipient) lives and works in Penland, N.C. He is a founder of the Glass Art Society, of which he is now an honorary member. He has been involved with the Studio Glass Movement since 1967, and his work is included in many public and private collections worldwide. Mark received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass in 2004, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glass Art Society in 2010. http://www.markpeiser.com/