Form, Function, Fantasy: The Craft Art Collections

The Burchfield Penney Art Center’s craft art collections have grown tremendously since 1988, largely due to the creation of the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment for Fine Arts in the Craft Media and the 1994 gift of The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Craft Art. The exhibition Form, Function, Fantasy: The Craft Art Collections included more than 100 works made of clay, glass, wood, metal, and fiber, reflecting a wide range of styles and techniques in both functional and non-functional objects. A fully illustrated catalog of the craft art collections included an essay by Michael Parks, Ph.D., chair of the art education department of Buffalo State College at the time this exhibition was presented. Educational programs were presented in conjunction with the Hamburg Central School District (in a suburb of Buffalo). Funding for the exhibition and collection catalog was provided by Lockport Savings Bank (now First Niagara Financial Group).