(413): Pioneering Western Massachusetts

JoAnn Kelly Catsos, Jubilation, 2006, natural and stained black ash splint.

(413): Pioneering the Western Massachusetts will explore the works and careers of five makers who have been responsible for the development of western Massachusetts’s internationally renowned craft community: Josh Simpson (glass), Mark Shapiro (ceramics), Silas Kopf (woodworking), JoAnn Kelly Catsos (baskets), and Mara Superior (ceramics). The creative community and rural environment of Western Massachusetts offers opportunities for makers that are unlike those found anywhere else, and those featured in (413) have played a significant role in the region’s creative development. And for all those included in the exhibition, the bucolic setting and open creative community offers a distinct sense of place that is evident in their work.