The Betty Feves retrospective opens at the Museum of Contemporary Craft on Thursday, adding to an already wonderful series of retrospectives weve already been treated to this year by Nauman and Rothko. Feves, a ceramicist who studied with Clifford Still isn't terribly familiar to me so I relish this chance. Apparently, she is pretty much THE driving cultural force for the Pendelton area and even its current leading light James Lavadour owes a great deal to her. The woman left a modernist legacy 50 miles wide. Maybe its the research of the curator or perhaps it is the uncovering of a life's work but few things get me up in the morning like a good retro of an opinionated woman who redrew the cultural landscape in the region.

Here's the PR: "In Generations: Betty Feves, Museum of Contemporary Craft situates Feves and her work within the context of the overlapping arenas of Modernism, American Regional Art, and the American Craft Movement. The exhibition connects her functional and sculptural work to the community, music, mentors and advocacy for higher education that influenced and marked her career.

This retrospective, which is supported by a generous grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and which marks the close of the Museum's 75th Anniversary year, honors the significant cultural and artistic impact of an under-appreciated regional artist. It traces Feves' formal and conceptual evolution through her sculptural work, her sketchbooks, her exploration in experimental firing processes and her deep roots in the community and landscape around Pendleton, Oregon."


Exhibition | Betty Feves: Generations
March 15, 2012 - July 28, 2012
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
724 NW Davis Street, Portland, 97209