A Symbiotic Partnership: Marrying Commerce to Education at Gustav Stickleys 1903 Arts and Crafts Exhibitions

By Bruce A. Austin

The 1903 Syracuse, New York, Arts and Crafts Exhibition is a signature event in the Movement's history. But were it not for what else happened, the exhibition could be dismissed for what it was: Gustav Stickley's self-serving, shameless shilling for his hometown United Crafts furniture enterprise. Following a twelve-day run in Stickley's salesrooms, the exhibition moved ninety miles west to Mechanics Institute in Rochester. Stickley's traveling exhibit predates by a decade what is usually acknowledged as the first art exhibition held at multiple venues, the New York Armory Show. A Symbiotic Partnership reveals the driver of the courtship that led to an unusual marriage between a commercial furniture manufacturer and a not-for-profit educational >institution: a corner cupboard. This previously undocumented cupboard-server, purchased by Mechanics Institute from United Crafts in 1901, spurred a partnership for a co-sponsored exhibition pivotal in the Arts and Crafts Movement's growth -- transforming decorative arts and art education.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1939125952
• ISBN13: 9781939125958
• Release Date: August 2022
• Publisher: RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 9.2" x 9.7"