Displaying items by tag: glenn adamson

Pier Sixty was at least a bit calmer last night than the name of the evening’s main event would suggest. The MAD Gala was a lively scene, but more notable for the refinement of its revelers than any chaotic debauchery on their behalf.

But that’s fitting, after all, since the Museum of Arts and Design has recently sought to bring a more cohesive unity to the two wide-ranging charges to which the institution owes its name. Director Glenn Adamson, who has now been with the institution for just over a year, has worked to bridge the arts and design elements of MAD’s programming with a renewed focus on craft, and craftspeople. One need look no further than the museum’s current survey of emerging designers and craftspeople from Latin America to find his vision put in place.

New York’s Museum of Arts and Design (formerly the American Craft Museum) is currently hosting its inaugural “NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial,” an exhibition that highlights the city’s vast and varied creative communities. The first show to be organized under the leadership of the museum’s new Director Glenn Adamson, “NYC Makers” spotlights the work of 100 artisans, artists, and designers, living and working in New York City. The roster runs the gamut from famous creative figures such as performance artist Laurie Anderson and multimedia artist/singer-songwriter Yoko Ono to furniture designers, fashion designers, and architects.

The goal of the exhibition is to further the museum’s ongoing commitment to craftsmanship across all creative fields, promoting not only makers who exhibit their work in a museum setting, but also those who operate behind the scenes or on a more practical level. Makers featured in the exhibition were nominated by a pool of over 300 New York City-based cultural leaders, including curators, choreographers, academics, and journalists. Finalists were hand-picked by a jury led by Adamson and exhibition curator Jake Yuzna, the museum’s Director of Public Programs, based on their mastery of their respective craft.