Waste Not, Want Not: Craft in the Anthropocene brings together contemporary artworks created from previously existent materials to reimagine craft in the shadow of the twenty-first century. Utilizing second-hand discards or industrially manufactured materials, artists transform refuse into highly crafted forms. Exhibited objects speak to the unique and impending challenges of the current age, simultaneously blurring the distinctions between industrially made commodities and the traditional realm of handcraft. Together, the works reveal how artists are employing craft techniques and knowledge to reimagine the role of the artist in the twenty-first century—and how reuse is just one facet of a desperately needed response to our current era.

Waste Not, Want Not: Craft in the Anthropocene brings together contemporary artworks created from previously existent materials to reimagine craft in the shadow of the twenty-first century. Utilizing second-hand discards or industrially manufactured materials, artists transform refuse into highly crafted forms. Exhibited objects speak to the unique and impending challenges of the current age, simultaneously blurring the distinctions between industrially made commodities and the traditional realm of handcraft. Together, the works reveal how artists are employing craft techniques and knowledge to reimagine the role of the artist in the twenty-first century—and how reuse is just one facet of a desperately needed response to our current era.

The exhibition A Shared Legacy: Gifts from the Robyn and John Horn Collection celebrates a transformative donation to Fuller Craft Museum’s permanent collection by collectors Robyn and John Horn. The important gift of 32 objects includes many significant examples of American craft by prominent artists such as Stephen De Staebler, Hoss Haley, Robyn Horn, Mary Giles, Harvey Littleton, Albert Paley, and more. Many craft media are represented in the grouping, including wood, metals, ceramic, basketry, glass, and stone.

Fuller Craft Museum is the recent recipient of stellar examples of enamel arts, gifted from the Enamel Arts Foundation Collection as part of their national initiative to increase access to this extraordinary genre of contemporary craft. These acquisitions represent a broad range of artistic interests, subjects, and techniques. The selection, currently on view, includes wearable forms, three-dimensional objects, and wall-mounted plaques and panels, allowing audiences an overview of enameling along with insight into the various forms artists have used in their exploration of this medium.

Small Wonders includes work by some of the leading figures in late 20th-century American enameling such as June Schwarcz, Harold B. Helwig, Joseph Trippetti, Barbara Minor, Kate Berl, and Sarah Perkins. The exhibition will also display works from emerging leaders in the field, namely Martha Banyas, Jessica Calderwood, and Zachery Lechtenberg. What’s more, the inclusion of New England artists Lilyan Bachrach, Marion Lang, Rick McMullen, and Barbara Seidenath engages artists living and working in the region.