2021 Maine Craft Artist Award: Tim McCreight

MAINE CRAFT ARTIST AWARD: 2021 PRESENTATION CEREMONY + RECEPTION

Supporters of Tim McCreight and Marian Baker are invited to attend the award presentation and reception Tuesday, November 23, 2021, at 5:30 during a ceremony at Maine College of Art + Design, Portland, Maine. The ceremony will include the award presentation and the special tradition of the presentation of the Award Pins, custom-made for the Awardees by MCA Professional Members Lisa and Scott Cylinder.

Space is limited; proof of vaccination and registration are required.

2021 Maine Craft Artist Award Pin by Lisa & Scott Cylinder

The Maine Crafts Association (MCA), a statewide nonprofit organization that builds upon Maine’s rich craft traditions by nurturing a vibrant, supportive, inclusive craft community and strong individual craft artist practices, has named artist, author, and educator, Tim McCreight of Harpswell, Maine as a 2021 recipient of the MCA Maine Craft Artist Award. The award recognizes McCreight’s commitment and dedicated career of service to the craft field, as well as his high proficiency in the technical understanding of many aspects of fine craft.

In 2009, the Maine Crafts Association began to annually honor individual Maine craft artists in recognition of their exceptional bodies of work and contributions to the field. The award bestows prestige and acknowledgment, conferring upon the artist’s work a distinguishing mark of excellence.

The award Juror is guided by these benchmarks: excellence in craftsmanship, inspired design, a singular voice or style, and a career of service to the field. The 2021 awards were selected from many deserving peer nominations by MCA Founder, Carolyn Hecker. Carolyn served as Executive Director for more than a decade, establishing the MCA as a statewide organization and network of craft artists. Since founding the MCA in 1983, Carolyn has remained involved and supportive of the organization and craft artists throughout Maine.

Tim McCreight

Perhaps most widely known as a leader in craft publishing, McCreight has produced over twenty highly respected texts dedicated to the technique and design of metalsmithing and jewelry making. His works are known for their comprehensibility and clarity, including The Complete Metalsmith, known as a staple text in most metals education programs. The text is widely revered by developing students and accomplished craft artists alike. His publishing company Brynmorgen Press, founded in 1985, produces texts on a wide variety of craft media, written by renowned makers within the field.  Additionally, McCreight has created several videos dedicated to teaching techniques and has developed apps for mobile devices to connect with the modern maker. 

Dedicated to furthering the education of younger generations of metalsmiths and designers, McCreight has taught full-time for over 25 years at institutions including Maine College of Art & Design. He has taught hundreds of workshops throughout the United States, as well as internationally, including Canada, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. 

McCreight has served on several leading boards of directors including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the American Craft Council, and our own Maine Crafts Association. He has also served as the presiding member of the board of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

In addition to his long-standing career as an author, craft educator, and board member, McCreight is the co-founder of the Toolbox Initiative, a nonprofit program to correct the imbalance of resources affecting the jewelers and craftspeople in West Africa. The program accepts and distributes donated tools, and uses funding to purchase harder to acquire tools for distribution to makers.

In a conversation about the award recipient, Hecker voiced her deep appreciation for McCreight and his career, stating,

“Tim McCreight is a legend in craft, in Maine of course, but far beyond. His work, creative voice, and craftsmanship are only outshone by his own expansive career in education, leadership in developing precious metal clay as a craft medium, and his admirable Toolbox Initiative. His deep dedication to the field, the artists, and the medium is seemingly endless and generously shared through his books, his initiatives and as an educator. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to honor his legacy in this way, through the Maine Crafts Association, where I witnessed the beginnings of his incredible career as a peer and friend.”

On behalf of the Maine Crafts Association, Carolyn Hecker also selected potter and educator Marian Baker of Yarmouth, Maine as a 2021 Maine Craft Artist Award Recipient.