The Alberta Craft Council’s second annual Craft Collaborations, an online auction fundraiser and in person exhibition in celebration of the province’s enormous creative talent. Craft Collaborations brings together 40 artists from across the province and across disciplines to create one-of-a-kind work. 

A select number of works were also on display in our Calgary Craft Gallery.

Participating Artists: Arlene Westen & Cheryl Brown, Kara Bussey & Michelle Atkinson, Todd Safronovich, Kathy Bateman, Jill Allan & John Krizan, Kaleb Romano & Syr Morrison, Leslie Delanty & Kasia Koralewska, Corinne Cowell & Mindy Andrews, Nicole D. Riedmueller & Mireille Perron, Mao Chen & Chris Savage, Anna Burger-Martindale & Jill Nuckles, Christine Pedersen & Robin DuPont, Tara Owen & Crys Harse, Darren Petersen & Leah Petrucci, Quichen Li & Jessica Van De Brand, Leah Cathleen & Sara Young, Darcy Gusse Edinga & Trenton Leach, Judy Weiss & Sharon Rubuliak, Leah Petrucci & Daniel Labutes, Jennifer Illanes & Shona Rae, Simon Wroot & Todd Safronovich & William Miles.

Has the pandemic left you with the need for some comic relief? We invited Fine Craft artists working in all traditional and contemporary craft media to join in the fun and to create their interpretations of kitsch craft.

Kitsch: Craft So Bad That It’s Good is a group exhibition of works from Alberta Craft Council members. Creators responded from across the province to kitsch it up with humorous works that and will make you laugh and cringe all at once - crossing lines and breaking rules.

Craft artists working in all traditional and contemporary craft media were invited to create their interpretations of kitsch craft; Craft that shares a knowing wink with the viewer, craft that wears kitsch on its velour sleeve as a rhinestone badge of honor, craft that’s appeal is found in its bad taste and ironic value.

Stuck indoors during the covid winter, artists turned to their resourceful natures to design and create objects responding to our strange covid times and using materials that were readily at hand in their covid hideouts! Many of the participating artist created new one of kind objects unlike anything you have seen in the Alberta Craft Council before.

Kitsch: Craft So Bad That It’s Good subverts the rules around good taste, and crosses the line, making you laugh and cringe all at once! The resulting exhibition is exciting, curious, challenging, eccentric and hilarious!

Participating artists: Abby Light, Ananda Holdsworth, Breanna Barrington, Hellen Beamish, Annette Ten Cate, Carly Hines, Ciara Jayne, Corinne Cowell, Dale Learner, Donna Brunner, Ellie Shuster, Emily Nash, Erik Lee, Erika Dueck, Jennea Frischke, Jennifer Hartley-Illanes, JoAnna Lange, Kaleb Romano, Karla Mather-Cocks, Susan Kristoferson, Laura O'Connor, Lauren Chipeur, Margaret Hall, Matt Gould, Matthew O'Reilly, Meghan Wagg, Mireille Perron, Pour Celine Frit, Puck Janes, Rochelle Hammond, Ruth-Anne French, Sandra Lamouche, Sara Norquay, Sara Young, Sarabeth Carnat, Shona Rae, Siri McCormick, P. Susannah Windrum, William Miles.

View the online exhibition.

Watch Craft and Kitsch – So Good That It’s BAD**, a virtual talk about Kitsch organized by the Alberta Craft Council featuring Historian Dr. Jennifer Salahub.

Read the review of Kitsch: Craft So Bad That It’s Good published by Galleries West.

Listen to On Art: ‘Kitsch: Craft So Bad That It’s Good’, an interview with ACC Executive Director Jenna Stanton published by CKUA on September 10, 2021.

A group exhibition featuring 20 craft artists from the Northwest Territories. Organized by NWT Arts and by the newly formed Craft Council of NWT.

The stories told by craft in the Northwest Territories are both the stories of tradition and culture that belong to the northern Indigenous peoples, as well as the stories of the settlers who moved here and carried their home traditions with them in the form of their crafts.

When studying Northwest Territories craft, it is possible to trace unique family traits through successive generations – the way an experienced beader, carver, or hide tanner’s own style has been adopted into the work of younger craftspeople. Some craftspeople are purists, adhering to tradition. Others blend traditional techniques with contemporary styles, revitalizing their craft for a modern world.

This exhibit includes a variety of work from 20 craftspeople across the Northwest Territories. It celebrates the diversity, vibrancy and resiliency of its creators.

View the Virtual Exhibition Walkthrough

View the online Exhibition

Shop Crafted NWT Feature Gallery Online Shop

Learn about Crafted NWT Artists