Working Lecture and Event Schedule 

 9:30      Coffee service begins/registration

10:00    Opening Remarks

10:15    The Philadelphia Cultural Ecosystem: Patricia Wilson Aden

11:00   Emerging Voices, presented by CERF+:  Zindzi Harley: I Go to Prepare a Place for You:
             Afro Feminist Approaches to Spacemaking and Curating in Modern Museums

11:15   AI and Advanced Technology in Craft: Tool or Takeover? Doug Bucci, Andrew John Wit, Jazmyn Crosby, moderated by Jennifer                         Zwilling.

12:00    Networking Lunch – RSVP required

1:00       – Gallery tour

1:30    Emerging Voices, presented by CERF+: Maria Kozanecka: Lifelines from Polish Folk Art: Reconnecting with home, making, and           community after loss

1:45    Dr. Tariem Burroughs and Cindy M. Ngo: Linking Public Health to the World of Arts and Crafts: A Holistic Approach to Well-being

2:30  Emerging Voices, presented my CERF+: Dr. Jasmine Yarish Craftivism as Feminism, Bricolage as Abolitionism, and the 2018
          Candidacy of Paula Jean Swearengin.

2:45     Coffee Break

3:00   Emerging Voices, presented my CERF+: Steven KP: Interlopers 

3:15    What has Craft reality TV done for you?  Alexander Rosenberg, Gemma Hollister, moderated by Joseph Marsini.

4:00  Happy Hour – connect with symposium participants, share stories of craft, and explore the Galleries at Moore.

Speaker Bios

Patricia Wilson Aden is President & CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which leads, strengthens and amplifies the voices of 400+ member organizations that make up the region’s cultural community. Aden is an unwavering advocate for the arts and culture sector with more than 40 years of experience leading non-profit and cultural institutions, most recently as President of The Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee and as President & CEO of the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

During her tenure at AAMP, Aden preserved a strong financial future for the museum by establishing strategic partnerships, delivering nationally acclaimed programming, and creating deeper donor engagement. At the Blues Foundation, she led the adoption of the Foundation’s Statement Against Racism and its accompanying Action Plan, furthered the Blues Foundation’s Blues in the Schools program, and helped develop the museum’s Blues Guide, while shepherding the organization through the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Aden has also served in executive roles for the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.

Aden currently serves on the board of PA Humanities and is Vice Chair of the Friends of Cooch’s Bridge in Newark, Delaware. She was selected to serve as a member of the National Museum of African American Music’s Music Industry Relations Council. She has also served on the Smithsonian Affiliate Advisory Council and is a member of the Links, Inc. (Philadelphia Chapter). She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and other national and state level granting agencies.

Aden holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Spelman College and a master’s in historic preservation from Cornell University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Davis & Elkins College.

Doug Bucci is an artist and educator in the field of jewelry who uses digital processes to explore and display biological systems and the effect of disease on the body. Computer-aided technologies enable him to view and simulate not only data, but also patterns and cell forms, which he transforms into meaningful, personal, and wearable art. Bucci views his digital process as one that allows for creative freedom unfound in traditional handmade methods.  Bucci’s work is in the collections of the Windsor Castle, Berkshire, London; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Newark Museum, New Jersey; Deutsche Goldschmiedehaus Hanau, Germany; Design Museo, Helsinki; and the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Dr. Tariem Burroughs is the Executive Director for External Partnerships at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. Tariem has worked at the intersection of health, education, and community relations for much of his career. He has always had the drive to make programs sustainable yet innovative and fresh to provide communities with the resources that they need to thrive. With years of experience as a provider, evaluator, and educator in the field of public health, he aims to contribute to the growth and development of a public health workforce that is innovative, nimble, and creative. He sees the value of art in making this a reality. Tariem is a native Philadelphian and has a PhD in Sociology and has Masters in Organizational Development and Leadership, Education Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Science in

Jazmyn Crosby is an interdisciplinary artist whose work investigates transmission and the environment. Born and raised in New Mexico, Jazmyn lives in Philadelphia where she received her MFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. She got her BFA from the University of New Mexico. Jazmyn is an educator, an event facilitator, and musician. She is a founding member of Graft Gallery/Collective and is currently an adjunct instructor at the Tyler School of art and Architecture, The University of Delaware, Moore College of Art and Design and teaches courses at Fleisher Art Memorial.

Jazmyn has exhibited her work extensively through group and solo exhibitions in many cities including; Albuquerque, Montreal, Long Beach, Philadelphia, Prague, and New York. Exhibition venues include the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, Santa Fe Center for the Contemporary Arts, 516 Arts, Icebox Project Space, Amos Eno Gallery and The Cherry Street Pier. Awards and residencies include; Artist and residency through Conversations in Contemporary Art sponsored by Concordia University, Artist in residence at Pink Noise Projects, and grants obtained through the Fulcrum Fund and Somos ABQ. Recently she was InLiquid’s 40th Parallel North Preservation Brigade Artist Ambassador in collaboration with Rabbit Recycling.

Zindzi Harley Based in the Music City, Nashville, TN, Harley is a curator, writer, and creative director whose work explores the contributions and impact of Afro-feminism to the dynamic history and development of culturally specific institutions and contemporary museums. She received her B.A. in Arts administration with a minor in Art History from the University of Kentucky and a M.A. in Museology from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where she served as the first Diversity Equity and Inclusion Fellow for the Museum Studies program. During her time at the University of the Arts, she was awarded the President’s Fund for Excellence where she curated her first zine during the pandemic, Distant Memory, connecting artists with their practice across cities during the shutdown. She is an alumna of  the first cohort of the Studio Museum in Harlem Museum Professionals Seminar and is currently a PhD candidate in Art Theory, Aesthetics, and Philosophy at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. Harley formerly served as Assistant Curator at the African American Museum in Philadelphia where she worked on traveling exhibitions such as Derrick Adams: Sanctuary, Vision & Spirit: Black Artists in the Bank of America Collection, and Project Curator for Past Present Projects working on site-specific shows such as Black Quantum Futurism’s Ancestors Returning Again / This Time Only to Themselves. Harley has curated independently on exhibitions including the Future of Clay (ClayStudio), In Communion (Delaware Contemporary), Imagined Futures, and Amplified: Art, Music, Power  (National Liberty Museum). Zindzi’s interests in institutional activism lies at the intersection of private arts engagement and public impact. She believes in bridging the gap between marginalized communities with the visual arts by harnessing the power of interdisciplinary and experiential curation, making the museum mainstream. She is the founder of the Philadelphia Chapter of Black Girls in Art Spaces where she has collaborated with museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fabric Workshop Museum, Philadelphia Magic Gardens, and Delaware Art Museum to program private arts experiences for women of color. Harley has curated programming with notable arts organizations and galleries such as Mural Arts Black Artist Fellowship and Paradigm Gallery. Her work as a museum professional and writer has been cited on platforms such as BET, Magic & Melanin Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Grio. She is the Founder of Zindzine, a Philadelphia-based arts and culture publication showcasing local artist interviews and submissions.

Gemma Hollister began working with glass at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, where she graduated in December 2021 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in glass. Since then, she has traveled throughout the country in pursuit of further technical glass education at institutions such as the Corning Museum of Glass and Pilchuck Glass School. She was a contestant on season 4 of the Netflix series Blown Away.  Gemma works full-time as a production glassblower and co-owner of Antolini Glass Co., a Philadelphia-based glass studio.

Maria Kozanecka is a Polish-American artist-researcher interested in how we pass down customs and craft while navigating challenges such as loss, distance, and ephemerality. With an appreciation for how things are made, she has experience project managing a range of design disciplines and currently works as a digital content designer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She studied art history at Yale University and enjoys continued learning at The Royal Drawing School, Bard Graduate Center, UnionDocs, and IDEO U.

Steven KP is an artist, jeweler, and educator with a practice rooted in questions of material culture, empathy, and the complexity of care.  Academically trained as a jeweler and working in a long lineage of immigrant and diasporic carpenters, KP’s carved and cast works are known for their lyrical qualities that can be read as metaphors and embodiments of lived queer experiences. By using hand tools and a jeweler’s bench, their carved and entangled gestural forms are rendered with care in response to the embedded wounds, scars, and growth marks of the material block in a consciously slow and reciprocal practice. Their material-based research and making has positioned KP as a leading voice in craft and art discussions surrounding object-agency, queer ecology, and intergenerational responses to loss and lineage.  KP received their Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in Jewelry and Metalsmithing and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently residing in Providence, Rhode Island, they hold teaching positions between the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and RISD as well as an instructor for Tiffany & Co Apprenticeship Program. KP’s work and critical writing has been widely featured in publications such as Metalsmith Magazine, Ornament Magazine, The Decorative Arts Trust, Art Jewelry Forum, and German arts and culture magazine, Art Aurea. Their work is housed in numerous private and public collections nationally and internationally including the Museum of Art and Design in New York, NY and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI. KP’s practice is primarily represented by Gallery Loupe in Montclair, New Jersey, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h in Montreal, Quebec, and Galerie Beyond in Antwerp, Belgium.

Joe Marsini is an Assistant Teaching Professor for the Paul F. Harron graduate program in Television & Media Management in the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University. Joe’s expertise is in media business and his teaching style focuses on making complex business concepts more accessible to those pursuing a variety of careers in the media industry. His finance and accounting background, combined with his television industry expertise, provides a unique perspective to Westphal students.  Prior to teaching, Joe was a practicing CPA while working for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Arthur Andersen before specializing in the media industry. He served as the Director of Finance of NBC10 WCAU-TV, the NBC owned-and-operated television station in Philadelphia, where he was responsible for all financial operations of one of the leading television stations in the fourth largest market in the United States. His specialties include audience measurement, programming, market positioning, launching new show formats, sales forecasting, financial planning and analysis, and related industry and technology trends.     
 

Cindy M. Ngo, a Philadelphia native and daughter of immigrants, draws inspiration for her art from Guatemalan community art, particularly “Alfombra.” Cindy is passionate about transforming this fleeting artwork, which usually lasts only seconds, into lasting pieces. She wants to involve the community in the art creation process and foster a connection between the community and nature by using dyed sawdust. Her background as an event coordinator has equipped her with the skills to advocate for others, especially those whose stories have not been told or seen as “the other”.

Alexander Rosenberg is an artist, educator and writer based between New Jersey and Philadelphia. He received a Master of Science in Visual Studies from MIT and a BFA in glass from Rhode Island School of Design. His artistic practice is rooted in the study of glass as a material, in conjunction with broad interdisciplinary investigation crossing over into many other media and research areas.  Alexander pursues his practice with artist residencies, teaching, performances and exhibitions locally and internationally. He is the recipient of the Christine and Stephen Procter Fellowship, the 2012 International Glass Prize, an Awesome Foundation Grant (2019), The Sheldon Levin Memorial Residency at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, A Windgate Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, The Esther & Harvey Graitzer Memorial Prize, UArts FADF Grant, and the deFlores Humor Fund Grant (MIT). He has attended artist residencies at RAIR, The MacDowell Colony, Wheaton Arts, Urban Glass, Vermont Studio Center, StarWorks, Pilchuck Glass School, GlazenHuis in Belgium, Rochester Institute of Technology, Radical Heart (Detroit), and Worcester Craft Center. His writing has been published in Glass Quarterly Magazine, The Glass Art Society Journal, and the Art Blog. He was a founding member of Hyperopia Projects (2010 – 2018), headed the glass program at University of the Arts (2010 – 2017), and was an artist member of Vox Populi gallery (2012 – 2015). He was cast on the Netflix Series, Blown Away in 2018 and taught at Salem Community College from 2018 to 2021. He is currently the Glass Studio Director at Wheaton Arts.

Jasmine Noelle Yarish (Dr. JNY) is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). Before joining the UDC faculty in the fall of 2020, she held visiting assistant professorships at her undergraduate alma mater, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Augustana College. A first-generation student raised in the Appalachian hills of central Pennsylvania, her expertise is in the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, spatiality, material culture, and democratic theory. Since completing a Ph.D. with certificates in Black Studies and Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, under the mentorship of Cedric J. Robinson, Fernando Lopez-Alves, and Eileen Boris, she aims to extend the idea of abolition democracy theorized by W.E.B. Du Bois to include political and intellectual contributions made by black women in and around the city of Philadelphia during the era of Reconstruction in the mid to late nineteenth century. She was a recipient of the APSA Inaugural Minority-Serving Institution Virtual Book Workshop Award. She is currently a diversity scholar with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a fellow for the 9th cohort of ELEVATE with the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. With publications in peer-reviewed journals, including the National Political Science Review (the flagship journal of NCOBPS now titled the National Review of Black Politics) and the Journal of Women, Politics, & Policy, as well as chapters in edited volumes – Populist Nationalism in Europe and the Americas (Routledge 2019) and Creolizing Frankenstein (Roman & Littlefield 2024), place Dr. JNY’s scholarship prominently in the growing literature on the “Third Reconstruction.” 

Andrew John Wit leads research focused on novel building systems generated through composites, emerging tools and robotics. He is a co-founder of the interdisciplinary research group wito*, Laboratory for Intelligent Environments; co-author of the book I, Nobot, a co-editor of the books, Towards a Robotic Architecture and Recalibration: On Imprecision and Infidelity, the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)’s 2018 conference papers proceedings and project catalog.  

Wit has been a two-time elected member of ACADIA’s board of directors, where he chaired the scientific committee; served as an editorial board member for the International Journal of Architectural Computing; co-guest editor for a special issue of the Architectural Science Review; and serves as an associate editor for the Journal Construction Robotics.
 
Wit’s research and projects have been highly recognized. His book Towards a Robotic Architecture was listed as The Architects Newspapers’ favorite tech book of 2018. Wit’s collaborative project UTenSAils received a Best of Practice Award in 2007 by the American Institute of Architects for the Advanced Fabrics Exhibition, an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2007 by the Industrial Fabrics Association International, along with the widely-published Underwood Pavilion and woven carbon fiber installations, rolyPOLY, cloudMAGNET and Dinner for Six. Wit’s work has been featured at numerous galleries, international conferences and refereed publications.

Jennifer Zwilling is the Curator and Director of Artistic Programs at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. As an active scholar in the craft world she has forged relationships across museum, academic and media boundaries. At The Clay Studio Zwilling administers the Resident Artist Program, The Clay Studio Collection, and the Guest Artist Program. She guides the Exhibition Program in concert with co-curators and the Exhibition Council, and has recently produced exhibition including Figuring Space and Between Horizons. As a member of the leadership team she shapes programming in support of The Clay Studio’s mission – to support artists and community through the ceramic arts.

Recent Symposium History

2023: Craft Works

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2022: Public | Private

CraftNOW’s 2022 symposium and programming centered on the theme Public | Private and explored continually evolving concepts of shared versus personal space.  The keynote speaker was be Michael Lewis, architectural critic for the Wall Street Journal and author of Philadelphia Builds: Essays on Architecture, Frank Furness: Architecture and the Violent Mind, and City of Refuge.  Other presenting institutions included Craft in America, The Center for Art in Wood, Wharton Esherick Museum, varying divisions of the Philadelphia Mummers Parade, and four emerging scholars.

View 2022 Symposium >

2021: Environmental Effects

CraftNOW’s 2021 symposium Environmental Effects examined how communities and interiors shape our experiences, when sustainability issues are expressed through craft, and the greater impact of our contemporary material culture. Longer presentations were complimented by shorter Pecha Kucha style talks. Dr. Kelli Morgan was keynote having contributed the chapter Crafting Diversity in our recent publication Craft Capital: Philadelphia’s Cultures of Making.

View 2021 Symposium >

2020: Cultures of Making

CraftNOW’s 2020 symposium Cultures of Making examines the many ways community, activism, research, and connection develop out of collaborative craft practices in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia to the Santa Clara Pueblo and beyond. Keynote speakers Vashti DuBois, Executive Director of The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia, and Hinda Mandell, editor of Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats, are central to each day’s conversation as we talk and think about the role of craft as a tool for provocation and exchange, especially in this heightened time of social unrest.

View 2020 Symposium >