Rosanne Brody Raab ’55: Showcasing the art of fine crafts

Rosanne Brody Raab

A music major at Skidmore, Rosanne Brody Raab '55 earned an M.A. in education, married, taught school, and raised a family. End of story? Not exactly. In 1979 she became co-director of the Craftsman's Gallery in Scarsdale, N.Y., which specialized in artworks made of glass, clay, fiber, metal, and wood. She went on to found her own art-advising business, Rosanne Raab Associates, and by the '90s, Raab was a success in the field of fine crafts; she lectured at universities and curated major exhibitions of furniture, jewelry, wearable art, tableware, and other crafts, including Please Be Seated (for the Crafts Council of Ireland) and the traveling exhibition Borne with a Silver Spoon. Raab served as juror for major craft exhibitions and lectured at distinguished institutions, including the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design), the Smithsonian, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is the author of The Craft Collector, a guide to fine craft in the New York City area, and frequently contributes articles to Silver Magazine. 

What draws you so strongly to crafts?

It has the "hands-on" quality that I value in art. Texture, materials, and functionality, in wonderful objects that enrich my daily life such as plates, glasses, artwear—these are some of the qualities that attract me.

How did you go from a being a music major to a highly successful career in contemporary craft/art? 

Good luck and timing! As co-director of the Craftsman's Gallery, I learned about the gallery world by visiting artists' studios, university departments, and juried craft fairs. My favorite role was discovering new work, identifying the major leaders in the field, and mounting the exhibitions—the gallery did six exhibitions a year. In 2001, I applied to the doctorate program at the Bard Center for Decorative Arts. After a five-year period in which I completed the course work and two language requirements, I withdrew in order to have more time to pursue my independent work and personal interests.

How are the artists selected to deliver the annual Raab Lecture?

The door is always open for me to suggest artists, but it's the Skidmore Art Department's call. A committee selects the speaker, rotating among the various craft media—metal, ceramics, fiber. I think the conversation next year will be about textiles. It is most rewarding to have these major figures come to campus, not just to present the public lecture but to interact in the studio one-on-one with students. This year the Raab Lecture artist was Kurt Weiser (acclaimed for the blend of oddness and elegance in his painted-porcelain ceramics)—and the students were saying, "Oh, my God! Kurt Weiser!" I think that's the essence of it all.

How do you define your current role in the craft community?

As a craft and design historian, I organize exhibitions, lecture, and write about my specialty: contemporary American silver—flatware and hollowware, including tea services and vases—from 1950 to the present. In the 1990s, I did projects with corporate clients who identified crafts as a medium to be appreciated for craftsmanship and aesthetic beauty. These collections appeared in public spaces outside the museum world, such as the White Plains, N.Y. corporate headquarters of General Foods; Fortunoff, N.Y.; and the Vista International Hotel at the World Trade Center.

In your own life, is there a single precious object of craft that you greatly admire?

I especially love a fabulous beaded neckpiece by Sharon Church (a member of Skidmore's Class of 1970 and the 2008 Raab Lecture artist.) It was shown in an exhibition called Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical. I owned it for many years, but recently donated it to the Museum of Arts and Design.

What do you look for in evaluating an object of craft?

Originality is the factor that captures my eye. Many artists echo their teachers and other artists, or works from earlier ages. With so many years in the field, I have learned how to identify the origin of a form, a technique, the introduction of a new material, where an idea originated. But whether an idea is an artist's own, or an echo of someone else's, what matters is what that artist does with it. It's all about how the idea evolves into an original work of well-crafted art, be it hand-made, machined, or both. Sol Lewitt once said, "Art is an idea." I agree whole-heartedly. ~ Interview by Barbara Melville, Office of Communications

Tags: rosanne brody raab, kurt weiser