HOUSTON, TX.- World-renowned sculptor Martin Puryear will open the American Craft Council's national leadership conference - "Shaping the Future of Craft" - with a powerful keynote address Thursday evening, October 19th, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston . Top leaders in the field - artists, curators, collectors and scholars - will join Puryear at the conference to stimulate dialogue and debate on current trends and future possibilities for craft in contemporary culture.

The panel discussions, to be held at the Hilton Americas Hotel throughout Friday and Saturday, October 20-21, will delve deeply into these critical areas of concern - New Artists/New Work; Contemporary Craft: Museums, Galleries, Alternative Spaces; and Scholarship/Critical Writing - to open conversations and create new partnerships, collaborations and possibilities for craft.

Speakers and panelists include: Glenn Adamson, Head of Graduate Studies, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Edward "Ned" Cooke, Jr., Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts, Yale University; Mary Jane Jacobs, Independent Curator; Brett Littman, Deputy Director, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center; Joan Livingstone, Professor, Fiber and Material Studies, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Peter Marzio, Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Matilda McQuaid, Deputy Curatorial Director, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Michael Roth, President, California College of the Arts; Warren Seelig, Artist and Distinguished Professor, University of the Arts, Philadelphia; Susan Yelavich, Department of Art and Design Studies, Parsons The New School for Design.

The $700 registration fee includes the two-day conference and resulting publication, a private reception Thursday at the Museum of Fine Arts , and dinner Friday at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. A tour of local museums and galleries is available Thursday, October 19 for an additional $75 (for transportation and lunch). Space is limited. Registration closes October 1.

For more information, contact:
Lily Kane
Director of Education, American Craft Council
(212) 274-0630 ext. 272
lkane@craftcouncil.org

The American Craft Council is a national, nonprofit public educational organization founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb. The mission of the Council is to promote understanding and appreciation of contemporary American craft. Programs include the bimonthly magazine AMERICAN CRAFT, annual juried shows presenting artists and their work, the Aileen Osborn Webb Awards honoring excellence, a specialized library, workshops and seminars. http://www.craftcouncil.org