IC:Innovative Craft Blog

Every vote counts! – help raise the profile of craft

Posted Thursday 7 May 2009, 10:57am

Elizabeth Goring writes:

People listening to Radio 4’s arts magazine programme ‘Front Row’ on the evening of Tuesday 5 May will have heard great news for the UK’s craft sector! Lord Puttnam announced the shortlist for the Art Fund Prize for the best museum or gallery – the second stage of a judging process that reduced the previous Long List from 10 down to four. I was thrilled to hear that one of our partners – Ruthin Craft Centre – has deservedly made it into that select group of four, seeing off fierce competition from the likes of the Sackler Centre for Education at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Lord Puttnam recounted his (completely justified) praise of Ruthin at such length that he had to be nudged to move on to discussing one of the other shortlistees before he ran out of time. (If you’re quick you can catch it on BBC iPlayer’s Listen Again service.) His comments included: ‘Ruthin Craft Centre is a lovely surprise, everyone who’d been there was knocked sideways by it, and it got four votes very quickly. It is run by people with amazing commitment and a historical commitment to arts in North Wales – the thing’s got it all actually – it is the sort of thing you would like to see replicated in every single region and community in the country.’

The presence of Ruthin Craft Centre on the Long List has already enormously helped raise the profile of craft, both in the wider arts sector and further afield. But it’s worth pointing out that the Art Fund Prize is worth £100,000 to the winner. How wonderful if that could be used to benefit craft, makers, their communities and potential audiences. Now it’s on the Short List, Ruthin has a very real chance of winning. The Ruthin team already has a long and distinguished history of doing excellent work for the sector, and now they have a stunning new building though which even more can be achieved. For the first time, the public can vote for the eventual winner of the Prize, and the popular vote will count as one vote at the final judges’ meeting. Can I encourage you to show your support for Ruthin? Log on to www.artfundprize.org.uk, hit Short List 2009 and follow the prompts through the very quick and simple voting process. Winner to be announced on 18 June…watch this space.

Meanwhile, Innovative Craft is raising its profile internationally. Amanda and I have just had an Opinion Piece published in Metalsmith (the beautifully produced bi-monthly publication of the Society of North American Goldsmiths). It’s titled ‘Pursuing Innovative Craft. On the value of learning through doing’. We’ve already had some really good feedback about this article, and would like to hear your views too. For those of you who are not (yet) subscribers to Metalsmith, SNAG have kindly allowed us to put it onto our website.  www.snagmetalsmith.org