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NEWS RELEASE
RE: Craig Nutt artwork acquired by
Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery
For Immediate Release:
For further information or
photographs contact: Craig Nutt, 615.952.4308
Smithsonian
Acquires Piece by Tennessee Woodworker
The Renwick Gallery of the
Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art has added a work by
Kingston Springs, Tennessee woodworker Craig Nutt to its
permanent collection. Nutt's Radish Salad Bowl was
purchased through a gift of the James Renwick Alliance, a
nonprofit organization that supports acquisition of significant
works for the Renwick Gallery. The Renwick Gallery houses one of
the nations preeminent collections of objects made by American
craft artists.
Standing nearly five feet tall,
the Radish Salad Bowl depicts a 12 inch diameter radish
with leaves upright, supported by three yellow cayenne peppers.
The brightly lacquered, turned and carved wooden radish separates
to create two salad bowls and revealing a bleached-white maple
interior. The radish leaves become salad servers.
Nutt is internationally recognized
for his wooden furniture and sculpture that often utilize giant
vegetables. His ten-foot long flying ear of corn Corncorde
was commissioned for the Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport
and installed just before the Atlanta Olympic Games.
In addition to the Renwick
Gallery, Nutt's work is in numerous public collections, including
the Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile Museums of Art in Alabama,
the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, and the Columbus Museum in
Georgia. He is the recipient of artists' fellowships from
Alabama, Tennessee, and the National Endowment for the
Arts/Southern Arts Federation, and has been honored with the
University of Alabama's Alumnus Arts Award (1997) and the Alabama
Governor's Arts Award (1985).
Nutt has been active in arts
organizations on the local, regional and national level, and
currently serves as a trustee and chair of communications for the
Furniture Society an international organization dedicated to
"advancing the art of furniture making." He chairs the
web site committee for the Furniture Society and was one of the
conference coordinators for the Furniture '99 conference held in
June 1999 in Smithville, Tennessee.
Radish Salad Bowl is
currently on view at the Renwick Gallery.
Craig Nutt's work may be seen on
the web at: www.craignutt.com
The Furniture Society's web site
is: www.furnituresociety.org
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