Wisconsin makers featured in home exhibit

“Handmade for Home: The Craft of Contemporary Design” featured at the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in West Bend, Wis. earlier this year, featured the work of nearly 30 of Wisconsin’s top contemporary artists and designers who create sophisticated, functional objects for the home.

The exhibition, which ran from March 30 through May 19, celebrated the tradition of handmade one-of-a-kind pieces as well as new methods of customized design and production.

The exhibit featured furniture makers Reid Eric Anderson, Patrick Burke, Tom Loeser, Charles Radtke, and Randy Sahli. Maggie Jo Sanderson, a senior at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, won the exhibit’s newcomer award for a sleek contemporary desk design.

For more, visit www.wisconsinart.org.

The theme for the 26th annual juried woodworking contest at the Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern, Pa. is “Lighting.” A jury will select certain pieces to be put on display in the visitor center gallery from Sept. 8 to Dec. 29.

According to the museum, Esherick, an esteemed woodworker, integrated lighting into his work such as in his 1958 Cabinet Desk which features lights that turn on when a drawer is pulled open, or the light-activating closet and cabinet doors throughout the Studio. He created lamps whose sculptural forms emphasize the contrast between light and dark, casting bold shadows across the room.

“As the exhibition aims to celebrate innovative approaches to lighting, jurors will consider indoor and outdoor lighting of all kinds – functional, sculptural and conceptual,” the museum explained.

For more information, visit www.whartonesherickmuseum.org.