Craft in America Premieres New Season with Episodes: SCIENCE & COLLECTORS

[Los Angeles] – SCIENCE and COLLECTORS premiere on PBS December 27 at 9pm and 10pm, respectively (check local listings).

Streaming starts November 12th on the PBS App, pbs.org/craftinamerica, and craftinamerica.org.

The episodes comprise the newest season of Craft in America. The Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary series has produced 16 seasons since 2007, discovering the beauty, significance and relevance of handmade objects and the artists who make bring them to life.

“Craft in America…[has a] knack for telling big stories… about the formation of culture, the purpose of creativity, the idea that the pursuits of beauty and utility are foundational to humanity.” – New York Times

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SCIENCE

SCIENCE investigates the unexpected intersection between art and the sciences, spanning technology, engineering, biology, math, and the climate emergency. Nature, space, algorithms, and more serve as inspiration for artists connecting their work to the world around them, from the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico to the computer science labs of MIT to NASA and the International Space Station. The featured artists are Erik & Martin Demaine, Joan Takayama-Ogawa, Chris Maynard, John Luebtow, Joseph & Sergio Youngblood Lugo and Karen Nyberg.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

Erik & Martin Demaine (Cambridge, MA)
We begin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Erik and Martin Demaine combine math with art. Erik is an MIT professor of computer science and the father-son team takes inspiration from their research to create unique curved-crease origami sculptures from folded paper.

Joan Takayama-Ogawa (Los Angeles, CA)
We find ceramic artist Joan Takayama-Ogawa at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. Joan is a passionate artist and educator who uses her work in clay to respond to the ongoing climate emergency.

Chris Maynard (Olympia, WA)
We travel to Olympia, Washington, to meet Chris Maynard, who creates intricate art entirely from bird feathers. Inspired by his love of the natural world and his background as a biologist, Chris hopes to give people a new perspective on nature through his art.

John Luebtow (Los Angeles, CA)
Back in Los Angeles, we meet John Luebtow, a glass sculptor and teacher. He introduces us to the founder of the modern kindergarten, Friedrich Froebel, and how Froebel’s geometric “gifts” inspired John and generations of other artists.

Joseph & Sergio Youngblood Lugo (Santa Clara Pueblo, NM)
The Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico has been home to a long tradition of Native potters, including brothers Joseph and Sergio Youngblood Lugo. Joseph and Sergio demonstrate the ancestral firing technique that produces their unique polished pottery.

Karen Nyberg (Salt Lake City, UT)
We end the episode with retired NASA astronaut and quilter Karen Nyberg. Karen brought quilting to the International Space Station and inspired the international quilting challenge that connected makers from all over the world. Karen continues to create art inspired by space and science.

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COLLECTORS

COLLECTORS reveals the essential role that craft appreciators play in the community. It examines how collectors affirm and inspire the artists they support and how the art enriches the lives of the collectors in turn. The episode highlights collections from Chicano art to teapots to wooden spoons, looking at what drives collectors and how their support furthers artists at all stages of their careers. The featured artists and institutions are Cynthia Lockhart, Carolyn Mazloomi, Sara Vance Waddell, American Craft Council, Peter Shire, Sonny & Gloria Kamm, Fleur Bresler, Judith Chernoff & Jeffrey Bernstein, Norm Sartorius, Cheech Marin, Yolanda González, Francisco Palomares, Frank Romero and Jaime “Germs” Zacarias.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

Carolyn Mazloomi, Cynthia Lockhart and Sara Vance Waddell (Cincinnati, OH)
COLLECTORS opens in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Carolyn Mazloomi, an artist, collector and curator and the founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN). We meet Cynthia Lockhart, a quilt artist who has found community with the WCQN, and Sara Vance Waddell, a collector of women’s art, and learn how the three women have developed a friendship through collecting that has provided inspiration and encouragement in their lives.

American Craft Council (Baltimore, MD)
In Baltimore, Maryland, we meet several dynamic young collectors and the artists they support at the American Craft Council’s annual show, American Craft Made Baltimore. This celebration of craft provides an opportunity for artists and collectors to meet in person and connect over the art that brings them together.

Sonny and Gloria Kamm and Peter Shire (Los Angeles, CA)
We meet Sonny and Gloria Kamm and their vast collection of teapots in Los Angeles, California. They lead us to artist Peter Shire and discover the joy he finds in creating unique objects, from teapots to mugs to furniture.

Fleur Bresler, Judith Chernoff and Jeffrey Bernstein, and Norm Sartorius (Washington, D.C., and Parkersburg, WV)
In Washington, D.C., we visit the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and meet three collectors who have donated work to the museum, Fleur Bresler, Judith Chernoff and Jeffrey Bernstein. They explain why sharing their collections with the public is an essential part of their connection with artists and introduce us to Norm Sartorius, a wood artist who makes fascinating and original spoons.

Cheech Marin, Yolanda González, Francisco Palomares, Frank Romero and Jaime “Germs” Zacarias (Riverside, CA)
Returning to California, comedian and collector Cheech Marin takes us to the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum. Cheech has made a lifelong project of collecting and encouraging Chicano artists and found a home for his collection at the Riverside Art Museum. Yolanda González, Francisco Palomares, Frank Romero and Jaime “Germs” Zacarias are among the featured artists we meet from his collection.

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