‘VisionMakers 2010’ will open Friday in Tulsa [Tulsa World, Okla.]

Aug. 29--VisionMakers is coming home.

On Friday, Living Arts of Tulsa will host the opening of "VisionMakers 2010," marking the first time this juried exhibit of work by Oklahoma craft artists has been presented in Tulsa in two decades.

The show, sponsored by the Brady Crafts Alliance, will feature 29 works by 23 Oklahoma artists, including such well-known artists as Ron Fleming, Kreg Kallenberger, Whitney Forsyth and Shan Goshorn.

These works were chosen from more than 180 entries by the show's juror, Jeannine Falino, curator of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

In her juror's statement, Falino said, "The strengths of this year's VisionMakers in textiles, wood-turning and basketmaking demonstrate that the participants in the exhibition draw upon a deep well of regional practice."

Falino added, "The power of human imagination is profound, and when artists are encouraged to realize their visions, our cultural horizons have no limits."

VisionMakers grew out of the landmark exhibit "The Eloquent Object,"

created in 1987 by Tom and Marcia Manhart and shown at the Philbrook Museum of Art. This show was an overview of the so-called "studio craft" movement -- media and techniques usually associated with practical or decorative work being used to create highly expressive and finely made works of art.

It also was an eye-opening experience for everyone who saw it. One of those was Tulsa fiber artist Jean Ann Fausser.

"That was such an inspirational show," she said. "It really changed the way I thought about the work I was doing."

"The Eloquent Object" generated such interest in studio craft art that the State Arts Council instigated VisionMakers in 1988. This juried competition, which also premiered at Philbrook, was designed to showcase Oklahoma artists working in ceramics, fiber arts, collage, wood, mixed-media -- just about anything that did not fall into the conventional fine art categories of "painting" and "sculpture."

In 1991, the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition took over the VisionMakers show and presented it every other year at locations in and around Oklahoma City. (The 1996 show was shown in Oklahoma City and at the Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville.)

However, following the 2009 show, the board of OVAC decided to suspend VisionMakers and devote the time and effort the show needed to other projects.

"I'm a member of OVAC's board, and this decision came up about the same time that the Brady Craft Alliance was getting under way," Fausser said, who is also on the board of the Brady Craft Alliance. "And it made sense for the new group to take it over and take it to a new level."

The Brady Craft Alliance was founded by Myra Block Kaiser. Kaiser has been involved in studio craft art as a curator, consultant and collector. For 10 years, she operated Fiberscene.com, a leading online source for fine textile art and curated more than 50 exhibits featuring fiber art work.

"We did a show earlier this year called 'Modern Materials,'?" said Fausser, who serves as co-chair of VisionMakers with Kaiser. "But we consider VisionMakers to be our inaugural exhibit."

In addition to the new works on display, the exhibit will include a slide show presentation of works that were created by Tulsa artists for the first two VisionMakers -- emphasizing the idea of this show coming home, Fausser said.

Previous VisionMakers exhibits were relatively large shows with more than 100 objects on display. Fausser said the Brady Craft Alliance ultimately received 189 entries from Oklahoma artists for the 2010 VisionMakers.

"The size of the show was left to the juror," Fausser said. "Myra dealt with her directly and she was asked to pick the best and most representative pieces for the show."

One of Fausser's own works -- "Let Me Entertain You," part of her "Temptress in a Teapot" series of teapot fiber sculptures -- is included in the show.

"The only reason I entered was because there was a time in the process where we were afraid we wouldn't get too many entries," she said. "Normally, artists have two years to prepare for this show, but we were doing this only a year after the last VisionMakers. The juror had no idea who I was."

James D. Watts Jr 581-8478

[email protected]

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