FEBRUARY 6, 2015 — MAY 10, 2015

With the demand for locally sourced goods and handmade products on the rise, terms like handcrafted, craftsmanship, and artisanal are household words in the food industry and marketplace. Art-and-food-fusion events are increasingly prevalent, while craft, in this arena, denotes customized products and services. In response to these trends and recent scholarship, Dining and Discourse: A Discussion in Three Courses looks critically at the intrinsic relationship between craft and dining. The exhibition features 26 emerging and mid-career artists working in wood, glass, ceramics, fiber, metal, and mixed media. The show challenges contemporary notions of functionality, status, and aesthetics by moving beyond the presentation of the beautifully set dinner table to spark discussion about the past, present and future of craft. Organized into three dining-room vignettes—Role Play, Hunter-Gatherer, and Opulence and Excess—Dining and Discourse reveals new flavors within the age-old partnership of craft and food, as contemporary makers find inspiration in the dining experience.

Visit Dining and Discourse on Tumblr to see interviews and read more information about related programming:

http://diningdiscourse.tumblr.com

Featured Artists

Corey Ackelmire
Nicholas Bivins
Sam Chung
Susan Dwyer
Haand
Danny Kamerath
Studio WAC
Grace Zuniga
Jessica Broad
Chris Campbell
Margaret Dorfman
Seth Gould
Clark Kellogg
Robbie Lobell
Adrien Segal
Smith Shop
Margaret Bohls
Blair Clemo
Shari Mendelson
Sarah Rebekah Byrd Mizer
Jaydan Moore
Susan O’Brien
Lisa Orr
Ellie Richards
Tom Shields
Nanda Soderberg

Selected Press

Nancy Zastudil, “Food for More than Thought,” Arts and Culture TX

Photography by Logan Beck