First Selections

First Selections, an exhibition of works selected by PNCA professor Frank Irby from the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

As Glenn Adamson, a leading craft scholar and Director of the Museum of Art and Design, wrote in 2008's Unpacking the Collection, “…the collection of Museum of Contemporary Craft: a regional collection, to be sure, and one that includes masterpieces and modest piece alike… It is a place to engage with the realities of craft in its full range and in all the vibrant particularity that only a local story can provide. If you are looking for a true picture of modern craft – or at least a part of its infinitely varied fabric – you need look no further.”

The Museum's 1,300+ piece permanent collection is a regional treasure, one that preserves and makes accessible 75+ years of significant craft and design works. With the transition of the Museum to the Center for Contemporary Art & Culture, the collection moves to the Center's keeping.

As steward of this collection, the Center has invited longtime PNCA faculty member Frank Irby (who himself has works in the collection) to curate the first exhibition of works out of the collection to be exhibited in the Center's Collections Studies Lab.