Exhibition: August 1, 2020 - November 29, 2020

Shelter, Place, Social, Distance: Contemporary Dialogues from the Permanent Collection

Exhibition dates: August 1, 2020 - November 29, 2020
Online Exhibition

Since the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption around the world, from economic uncertainty to national public health emergencies to mandated quarantines. As the global community struggled to make sense of it all, an explosion of new words and phrases emerged. This pervasive terminology—shelter in place, social distancing, flatten the curve, PPE, and more—offered a practical shorthand with which to frame the rapidly changing world and united us through shared cultural touchpoints.

While many terms are inextricably associated with the pandemic, certain words, when decontextualized, represent recurring themes in contemporary craft. In this regard, Shelter, Place, Social, Distance: Contemporary Dialogues from the Permanent Collection adopts the COVID-19 lexicon as a conceptual springboard for exploring how the universal subjects of home, placemaking, community, and isolation are represented in Fuller Craft Museum’s permanent collection. The artworks, created at different times throughout the institution’s history, offer a new lens through which to examine a historic event, even as it continues to unfold. And like all great works of art, the forms invigorate our understanding of the times in which we live.

Exhibiting Artists:
Marilyn Andrews
Jim Bassler
Tony Berlant
Syd Carpenter
Richard Cleaver
Jodi Colella
Cynthia Consentino
Eddie Dominguez
Carol Eckert
Julie Elkins
Vincent Ferrini
Mary Fischer
Robin Grebe

Rick Hirsch
Kim Kelzer
Niho Kozuru
Tom Loeser
Jenny Mendes
Mary Merrill
Nancy Michel
Gerardo Monterrubio
Judy Moonelis
Megumi Naitoh
Peter Olson
Frank Ozereko
Flo Perkins
Marc Petrovic

Laura Petrovich-Cheney
Keith Rowe
Chuck Sharbaugh
Micah Sherrill
Rosanne Somerson
Jacquie Stevens
Billie Ruth Sudduth
Akio Takamori
The Pussyhat Project
Alexandra Watkins
Derek Weidman
Lawrence Wheeler
Janis Mars Wunderlich


In order of appearance: Julie Elkins, Walk Home, 2003 | Kim Kelzer, Home on the Range, 1991 | Alexandra Watkins, The Big Dig Necklace #1426, 1993 | Tom Loeser, Double Rocker Back to Back, 2005 | Janis Mars Wunderlich, Sewn Together, 1995