JAMES RENWICK ALLIANCE FOR CRAFT

BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR OF GLENSTONE

11/15/2026

GLENSTONE MUSEUM | POTOMAC, MD
PRICE TBD
RESERVED FOR CAUCUS MEMBERS ONLY

Sunday, November 15, 2026 | 10am-11am

Join fellow Caucus members for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Glenstone with Assistant Curator Yuri Stone! With Glenstone’s limited capacity and coveted timed ticketing, this event will only be open to Caucus members.

YURI STONE

Yuri Stone is Assistant Curator at Glenstone, a modern and contemporary art museum located in Potomac, Maryland. As assistant curator, he works with artists to realize exhibitions, long-term installations, and publications. Most recently, he co-curated Ellsworth Kelly at 100, a career survey of the artist’s work which will travel to internationally venues in the coming year. At Glenstone, he has also curated monographic exhibitions by Doris Salcedo (2022), R.H. Quaytman (2022), Charles Ray (2021-ongoing), and a career survey of work by Jeff Wall (2021). In 2022, he coordinated the installation of Richard Serra’s Four Rounds: Equal Weight, Unequal Measure, a monumental, permanent artwork installed in a custom-designed building made to house the artwork at Glenstone in perpetuity.

REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

Water Court at Glenstone Museum

Glenstone Assistant Curator, Yuri Stone

MOROCCO TRIP

10/4/2026

EXPLORING MoroccAN CRAFTS:
AN INSIDER'S TRIP TO MOROCCO
CAUCUS MEMBERS only
for questions, please contact [email protected]

October 4 - 14, 2026

Captivating craft, hidden histories, and stunning landscapes await you on this ten-day trip to Morocco! Located in North Africa, Morocco embraces the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast and is distinguished by its Berber, Arab and European influences. Moroccan medinas invite you to discover treasures hidden behind high ocher walls. Explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the cities of Rabat, Fez and Marrakech, among other sites. Our tour also takes you to the Tangiers homes of top interior decorators, collectors, and authors, which boast some of the best gardens of Morocco. Traveling with AroundArt, a Spain-based tour organizer with years of experience developing art-focused trips to Morocco, we are guarenteed an insider’s view of the country and access to lovely private homes.

trip highlights

three days in tangiers

Your time in Tangiers begins with a welcome dinner at Dar Quetzane, the private home of British collector Gordon Whatson. Enjoy exclusive visits to stunning private residences and gardens, including those of Umberto Pasti, Veere Greeney, and the iconic Villa Mabrouka, once home to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. Explore the historic Kasbah Museum and its Andalusian Garden, the vibrant Medina and the ‘weaving Souk’ Fondouk Chejra, artisan showrooms like New Tangier and Made in Tangiers, and a curator-guided tour of Gazebo, the beautiful home and garden of interior designer Veere Greeney, designed by landscape architect John Mason.

three days in fez

Stop over in Rabat on the way to Fez, and enjoy lunch and a visit to the Joana de Vasconcelos exhibition at the Museum Mohammed V, among other landmarks. In Fez, you’ll stay at the Palais Faraj Hotel & Spa for three nights. In Fez, expert Mr. Bouftila will guide you through the golden gates of the Royal Palace, the old Medina with its Medersa Bou Anania, the Nejjarine fountain, the Karaouyin Mosque. Excursions from Fez will take you to UNESCO World Heritage Site Volubilis, a Roman archaeological site, and the imperial city of Meknes with architectural gems and the fabulous Sultan Gardens.

Four days in marrakech

Begin your journey to Marrakech in Casablanca with a tour of its maritime Coast o Corniche and a visit to the magnificent Hassan II Mosque, before heading to your hotel, Les Jardins de la Koutoubiya, for your five-night stay in Marrakech. Here, you’ll witness the architectural wonders of the Saadian Tombs and Badi Palace. Discover Morocco’s rich artistic and cultural heritage through private visits to the Jewelry Museum (Le MAP), Yves Saint Laurent’s Villa Oasis, the Majorelle Gardens, and the MACAAL Museum of African Art. Stroll through the vibrant Jemaa el Fna square, shop at artisan souks including Trésors des Nomades and Beldi Country Club, and unwind in lush gardens and historic villas throughout your unforgettable four days in Marrakech.

ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT!

detailed itinerary

Registration Form

Pricing/Terms & Conditions

Beldi Country Club, Marrakech

Fez

Royal Valkyrie, Joana de Vasconcelos, at the Musée Mohammed VI d'Art Moderne et Contemporain

Marrakech Medersa Ben Youssef by Heather Cowper, 2014

Morocco Jardin Majorelle by Yves Saint Laurent

DR. MICHELLE MILLAR FISHER: READING CRAFT

7/1/2026

ReaDING CRaft: Exploring a discipline through the texts that have shaped it
4 WEEK ONLINE ZOOM COURSE
$109 JRACRAFT MEMBERS | $139 NON-MEMBERS

July 1 - July 29, 2026
Wednesdays 12pm - 1:15pm ET

Every discipline is formed, shaped, and re-formed by the texts that constitute its discourse. Craft history is still a nascent discipline, and the texts that describe its boundaries and centers are both significant and yet still hungry for better company. Each week in this course we will come together to discuss a few key texts — excerpts, essays, and short-form popular writing — that have in their own ways impacted craft history, give us something meaty to discuss, and point towards what might still be needed or what could come next. The course will require active participation from those in attendance and will be shaped much like a friendly, conversational, engaged book club.

meet your instructor, dr. michelle millar fisher

Dr. Michelle Millar Fisher is the Ronald C. and Anita L. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Previously, she worked at The Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum. Her work focuses on the intersections of people, power, and the material world. At the MFA, she is working on “Craft Schools: Where We Make What We Inherit” which took her on a train journey across all 48 contiguous US states. She leads an independent team on a project called “Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births.” She holds an MA and an M.Phil in Art History from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and received an M.Phil and PhD from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). She publishes widely on art, design, and architecture.

REGISTER TODAY!

MEMBER MEET-UP: WESLEY CLARK STUDIO TOUR

7/1/2026

WESLEY CLARK STUDIO TOUR
College Park, MD 20740
IN PERSON | MEMBERS ONLY
FREE

Wednesday July 1, 2026 | 1:00pm

Join JRACraft members for a studio tour with Wesley Clark, in person at his studio in College Park, MD! Peek behind-the-scenes of Clark's work, see some current projects, and learn about his studio process.

Due to to limited space, registration is limited to the first 20 guests who will be sent the complete address upon registration. This tour will including walking and standing; some seating will be available during the studio tour.

Wesley clark

Wesley Clark currently resides in Hyattsville, MD, with his wife and two beautiful children. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from The George Washington University. At the core of his practice, Clark primarily creates mixed media wood assemblages that read as familiar and are often hybrids of two, or more, objects/concepts. He refers to these objects as fictional artifacts, made to look as if they’ve lived a life prior to being on display prompting viewers to question their importance and create their own narratives. Clark has exhibited works at institutions such as the Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC; Fisk University, Nashville Tennessee; University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland; as well as Scope and Prizm Art Fair, Miami, Florida during Art Basel. Clark’s work can be found in public and private collections such as: the Asheville Art Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, and Kaiser Permanente. In 2016 Clark was commissioned by The American Alliance of Museums to create a temporary public artwork. That foray has led to several permanent public artworks located throughout Washington, DC and Maryland.

Wesley Clarke

Wesley Clarke working in his studio

Wesley Clarke, My Big Black America, 2015, stain, spray paint, latex, salvage wood. Installed in the lobby of the Asheville Art Museum. Posing in front of work, JRACraft Board member Christina Waddler and Windgate Foundation Grants and Operations Manager Ashley-Pauline Moore

MARY MILLS: AMERICAN GLASS

6/9/2026

AMERICAN GLASS: BORN OF NECESSITY, CRAFTED WITH SOUL
4 WEEK ONLINE ZOOM COURSE
$115 JRACRAFT MEMBERS | $145 NON-MEMBERS

June 9 - June 30, 2026
Tuesdays 7pm-8:30PM ET

Discover 250 years of glassmaking in America. Immigrant craftsman and entrepreneurs initially focused production on the necessities—primarily windows and bottles. Regardless, glassblowers found opportunities to “play” in the factory. Using major museum collections, historic photographs, videos, and archaeological collections, this course will examine how the demand for specific skills and opportunities for creativity evolved with changes in technology and design trends. Special emphasis will be placed on the origins of the American Studio Glass movement and the shift from factory to studio.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR: MARY MILLS

Mary Mills is the Director of Exhibitions and Collections at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center in Millville, New Jersey, and is curator for the Museum of American Glass. Her recent exhibitions include Transformations: The Wasserstein Collection of Contemporary Glass; Centuries of Tomfoolery: Trick Glasses, Pipes, and Whimsical Delights; and Amber Cowan: Alchemy of Adornment. Mills also serves as historic glass specialist for AECOM Cultural Resources, assisting archaeologists in identifying and interpreting glass artifacts recovered in Philadelphia.

Mills formerly held the position of Education Programs Manager at The Corning Museum of Glass, where she received the Richards Award for Research in American Glass and is now a Fellow. She lectures extensively and has taught American and European glass for graduate programs at the Winterthur Museum, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Mills holds a master’s degree from the University of Delaware Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. She has served on many nonprofit boards and has been a Trustee of The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass since 2005.

Register today!

Mary Mills

Judith Schaechter, "Fine Example," 2000; courtesy Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center

Don Friel, Jacob's Ladder, 1998; courtesy Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Millville, NJ.

HANDWORK, SOULWORK: BLACK CRAFT IN THE UNITED STATES

6/1/2026

handwork, soulwork: black craft in the united states
4 WEEK ONLINE ZOOM COURSE
$115 JRACRAFT MEMBERS | $145 NON-MEMBERS

June 1 - June 22, 2026
Mondays 6pm - 7:30pm ET

Handwork, Soulwork: Black Craft in the United States offers a social history of quiltmaking, pottery, basketmaking, and blacksmithing. Each week, we will explore a different practice, the craftspeople working within that practice, their work, and the material conditions in which they created their work. While we will cover renowned craftspeople with an exhibition and publication history, we will focus on the people whose provenance records and museum interpretive labels identify them as “unknown.”

Participants will leave the class with a capacious understanding of Black craft and approaches to writing about this creative labor.

meet your instructor, dr. aleia m. brown

Dr. Aleia M. Brown is a Faculty Fellow in the Museum Studies Program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University. She is also a public historian, curator, and writer whose work explores the convergence of Black struggles for freedom, museums and memory, and craft. Brown’s public history praxis prioritizes work with/in counterpublics, or the expansive spaces that the mainstream GLAM (Galleries Libraries Archives and Museums) sector has intentionally forgotten, oversimplified, exotified, or dispossessed. Her most noted exhibitions are We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women (Smithsonian Renwick Gallery) and the traveling exhibition Ubuntutu: Life Legacies of Love and Action (Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation/Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, South Africa and Michigan State University Museum).

REGISTER TODAY!

Dr. Aleia M. Brown

“Freedom Quilt” Jessie Telfair In the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Jennie Pettway and another girl with the quilter Jorena Pettway. In the collection of the Library of Congress

CHRIS MALONE COFFEE & CONVERSATION

5/30/2026

COFFEE & CONVERSATION
VIRTUAL STUDIO TOUR WITH CHRIS MALONE
HOSTED ON ZOOM
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Saturday May 30, 2026 | 11am-12pm ET

Join JRACraft for a behind-the-scenes virtual studio tour with DC-based doll artist, Chris Malone. Chris’s work is rooted in traditional African doll making but takes it a step further by utilizing it as a medium to explore spirituality and ancestry. In creating these sculptures, Chris strikes a balance between imaginative play and spiritual practice. Chris will introduce viewers to his work and discuss his influences, creative process, and techniques.

CHris malone

Chris Malone is a self taught visual artist who creates beautiful and imaginative dolls. His work is nationally recognized and has been featured in galleries in New York, New Orleans, and Washington DC, as well as in numerous books and doll magazines, such as “Doll Art Quarterly,” Lark Crafts’ “Masters Polymer Clay, Major Works By Leading Artist, and North Light Books’ “Creative Time and Space.” In addition, his soft sculptures were featured in the 2012 film, “Woman Thou Loosed: On the Seventh Day.” Chris has also become prolific in creating 3D mosaics.

Chris Malone in his studio

Babuka, Chris Malone. Awarded Best in Show, Creative Craft Council Exhibition at the Strathmore Mansion, Rockville

In his studio, Malone works on I Can Only Suggest, the Choices Are Yours. Photo by Steven M. Cummings

ALVARO VILLA ARTIST TALK

5/14/2026

2025 CHRYSALIS AWARDEE
free and open to the public | hosted on zoom

Thursday, May 14 | 1PM - 2PM ET

Join us for the Chrysalis Award Artist Talk with 2025 Chrysalis Awardee in Mixed Media, Alvaro Villa! This free talk will be hosted on Zoom and registration is required to receive the Zoom link.

Alvaro is a Mexican-American mixed media artist whose work is deeply tied to his identity and spirituality. He uses ceramics as a grounding practice to connect with his ancestors and work with the four elements of water, earth, wind and fire, while incorporating other materials, including glass, fabric, broomcorn, wood and paint. Through his work, Alvaro explores the magic and spirituality embedded in everyday objects. Whether through ceramics, hand-sewing, or rituals like sweeping, Alvaro’s work becomes a form of healing and a way to channel energy and intention, by infusing domestic objects like brooms or clothing irons with symbolism to honor personal memories and cultural practices.

Thank you to Kathy Furlong and Amanda M. Phillips for generously sponsoring this year's award.

Chrysalis Awardee Alvaro Villa, holding Broom Rifle

Broom Rifle, 2025, 60 x 10 x 3 in, Ceramic, Leather, Broomcorn

Sun Broom and The Inner Planets, 2024, Installation, Ceramic, Broomcorn, Tempera Paint

Both And over Either Or, 2024, 18 x 20 x 8 in (Hourglass) Canvas 115 x 57 in, Ceramic, Ceramic grog, Glass, Canvas, Paint

INOVA ARTS COLLECTION TOUR

5/1/2026

JOAN HISAOKA HEALING ARTS GALLERY
SCHAR CANCER INSTITUTE | FAIRFAX VA
PRICE TBD
RESERVED FOR CAUCUS MEMBERS ONLY

Friday, May 1, 2026| 11am-12:00pm

Join fellow JRACraft Caucus members for an exclusive tour of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute's Healing Arts Gallery! The Inova SCI's Arts and Healing Program is dedicated to exhibiting fine art that explores the innate connection between healing and creativity through a rotating exhibition schedule and a gallery featuring contemporary artists. The program curates a healing environment to support those affected by cancer through art installations and ongoing exhibitions. Consistent with Inova’s stated goal of providing patient-centered care, the program also includes performing arts events and other workshops, not only for patients and their families but for Inova staff as well.

After the tour, all participants are invited to a "no-host" meal at a restaurant to spend more time together and discuss the tour.

register now!

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BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR OF GLENSTONE

REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

MOROCCO TRIP

trip highlights

DR. MICHELLE MILLAR FISHER: READING CRAFT

MEMBER MEET-UP: WESLEY CLARK STUDIO TOUR

MARY MILLS: AMERICAN GLASS

HANDWORK, SOULWORK: BLACK CRAFT IN THE UNITED STATES

CHRIS MALONE COFFEE & CONVERSATION

ALVARO VILLA ARTIST TALK

INOVA ARTS COLLECTION TOUR

register now!

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REGISTRATION COMING SOON!

trip highlights

​register now!

who we are

WHAT WE DO

JOIN US

register now!