1991

Michigan State University Museum; Cuesta Benberry Ephemera Collection; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project

Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Two pages of an exhibit catalog

AFRICAN-AMERICAN FIBER ARTISTS
TEXTILES & QUILTS

Jonathan Bruce, Director
Edjohnetta Miller, Guest Curator
Margaret Penn, Guest Curator
Community Renewal Team CRT
CRT'S CRAFTERY GALLERY
a creative environment for the arts, accessible to the handicapped
1445 Main Street Hartford, Connecticut

The CRT's Crafter Gallery

Over the past decade, CRT's Craftery Gallery has established itself as a major cultural arts institution, earning a regional and increasingly national reputation as a first rate institution distinguished by the high quality of its cultural programming.

Established in 1974 under the leadership of its present Director, Jonathan Bruce, the Crafter Gallery operates under tha auspices of the Community Renewal Team of Greater Hartford, Inc. (CRT).

Thoughout its history, the Craftery Gallery has maintained a constant stream of exhibits by local, regional and national artists, photographers, and craftspeople, with accomanying "Meet the Artist" receptions to expand the audience and to involve the community with artists and their work. The Crafter Gallery is the only exhibition space in the Greater Hartford area that maintains cultural programs on a continuing basis that are geared to the needs of the Black and third world community.

OPUS INC./Arts & The Aging
Incorporated in 1978, OPUS is a nonprofit organization with a dual purpose: to provide cultural enrichment through high quality arts performances and residencies to low-income, minority and institutionalized senior citizens in the Greater Hartford area; and to provide employment in non-traditional settings for professional artists in all disciplines. One of the few arts organizations of its kind in the country, OPUS has presented arts programming in hospitals, senior citizens centers and nursing homes.

OPUS provides specialized employment training for noted artists interested in working with the elderly, develops new audiences and encourages community support for numerous professional artists. To date, OPUS, INC. has served over 20,000 seniors. In addition, OPUS has often led the way in intergenerational programming, bringing seniors together with younger artists, as well as with young children in community settings.

Edjohnetta Miller,
Coordinator

Acknowledgments
Funding for this exhibition is made possible in part through grants from: the Connecticut Department of Human Resources; the Connecticut Commission on the Arts; the Greater Hartford Arts Council; the National Endowment for the Arts/Expansion Arts Program; and a special audience development grant from the Roberts Foundation. Program activities support includes: Friends of the Craftery; the Collective Expression appearance is made possible in part through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Music ... courtesy of the Artists Collective, Inc.; the ITT Hartford Insurance Group; Heublein, Inc.; Northend Agents Publication; the Stereo Shop; Network Video Services of New York and the Artists Alternative of Hartford-based Visual Artist/Designer Wayne K. Jackson's promotional video and demonstration materials in part, courtesy of Network Video Services of New York and Artist Alternative of Hartford; the City of Hartford Office of Cultural Affairs/Parks and Recreation Department; the Hartford Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; the Prince Hall Grand Chapter Order of Eastern Star for the State of Connecticut, Inc. courtesy of Grand Worthy Matron Dorothy C. Parks and the CRT Craftery Gallery Advisory Council.

Operation of the Craftery's newly renovated facility is made possible through the Community Renewal Team of Greater Hartford, Inc. (CRT) under the leadership of Paul C. Puzzo, President/CEO.

Cover image courtesy of Cincinnati, Ohio Exhibiting Quilter/Designer Carolyn Mazloomi, Coordinator of Women of Color Quilters Network, entitled: "The Family" Patchwork Appliqued, Hand Painted and Quilted; 1989, 56" x 60", copyright Carolyn L. Mazloomi. Photography courtesy of Stephen Hanks of Hartford, Connecticut.