Maine Crafts Association announces 2018 MCA Master Craft Artist Award Recipient David Wolfe, Master Printer
The Maine Crafts Association (MCA), a statewide non-profit organization promoting the work of Maine’s craft artists, has named printer David Wolfe of Portland, Maine as a 2018 recipient of the MCA Master Craft Artist Award. Steve Cayard of Wellington, Maine and Patricia Daunis-Dunning of Portland, Maine are also 2018 recipients.
Recipients are selected for demonstrating excellence in craftsmanship, inspired design, a singular voice or style, and a career of service to the field.
A Celebration, Awards Presentation and Reception for the 2018 Awardees will be announced at a later date.
In recognition of 10 years of the MCA Master Craft Artist Award, all recipients from 2009 through 2018 will be featured in an exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA in 2019. Exhibition dates are June 8-October 27, 2019 with a public opening reception on Sunday, June 9, 2019 from 2-5pm.
The 2018 MCA Master Craft Award nomination process began in late 2017 with submissions from past award recipients, members of the Maine Crafts Association, and the public. The 2018 recipient was selected by Andres Verzosa, an art advocate, collector, curator, and writer with a distinguished history of service to Maine artists and arts organizations.
Verzosa writes, “We have a lot to be proud of in the Maine arts community, the state is rich with master-level artists. From the long list of stellar nominees, I’ve selected three who are highly regarded by their peers, possess accomplished bodies of work, demonstrate long histories of working in their communities, and have achieved significant recognition in their field. David Wolfe is a leader in the Portland printmaking community; his print house serves as hub and resource, and places Portland on a national scale map for printmaking. Steve Cayard was a catalyst in the renaissance of birch bark canoe-making with David Moses Bridges (deceased in 2017) and is included in the 2018 Portland Museum of Art Biennial. Patricia Daunis’ designs have been worn nationally for decades, and her studio is a place of growth for many up-and-coming jewelers.”
DAVID WOLFE
Master printer David Wolfe founded Wolfe Editions, a letterpress and fine art printing studio with educational programming in Portland, Maine in 1997. Prior to opening his own studio, he worked for several well known printing establishments, including Stinehour Press in Lunenberg, Vermont and Anthoensen Press in Portland. Wolfe’s woodcuts, prints and handmade books are in the collections of Bates College Museum of Art, Bowdoin College Museum of Art Special Collections and the Portland Museum of Art, as well as numerous private collections. He has led many workshops at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and was Lead Printmaker in Residence at Penland School of Crafts in 2009. Wolfe studied printmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Portland-based printmaker Lisa Pixley remarks, “David Wolfe is a master letterpress printer, an incredible teacher, and stalwart champion of his craft. Throughout the 90s, as print shops were closing or scrapping their analog presses, Wolfe was collecting them, lovingly rebuilding them and keeping them running. When he opened Wolfe Editions, there were very few shops in the country exploring this fusion of commercial and fine art mediums. Young artists and printers flocked to Wolfe’s beautiful studio and incredibly preserved equipment, where he pioneered ideas of text and images in new, exciting and innovative ways, and helped letterpress become a fully respected art form in its own right. David’s generosity to others and his dedication to his craft is one of the reasons Maine has such a strong tradition in Print.”
In the tradition of the Master Craft Artist Award, Wolfe is invited to teach at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle ME for MCA Workshop Weekend. Information and registration for the 2019 program (May 9-12, 2019) will be published at mainecrafts.org in the fall of 2018.