Between 1975 and 1985 Boston University’s Program in Artisanry (PIA) crystalized the ambitions of the studio craft movement like nothing before it. As important to the field of craft history—and wider art histories—as sites like Black Mountain College or the Haystack Mountain School of Craft, the PIA is intertwined with the MFA’s history of collecting and exhibiting artwork, as well as generations of students across the country. In an open and dynamic conversation, grapple with PIA’s tension between breaking aesthetic, conceptual, and disciplinary boundaries while simultaneously fostering a more inclusive and diverse landscape for contemporary craft.
Michelle Millar Fisher, Ronald C. and Anita L. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts
Thursday, March 21, 2024