Maine Crafts Association announces the MCA 2016 Master Craft Artist Award Recipients: Elizabeth Busch – Quilt maker, sculptor, arts administrator, and educator.
Join the celebration: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Friday May 13th, 7:00pm
The Maine Crafts Association (MCA), a statewide non-profit organization promoting the work of Maine’s craft artists, has named artist Elizabeth Busch of Glenburn, Maine as the 2016 recipient of the MCA Master Craft Artist Award. Recipients are selected for demonstrating excellence in craftsmanship, inspired design, a singular voice or style, and a career of service to the field.
The 2016 MCA Master Craft Award process began with nominations submitted from past award recipients. The 2016 recipient was researched and selected by Diana Greenwold Assistant Curator of American Art at Portland Museum of Art.
Elizabeth Busch
“Elizabeth Busch,” declares Ms. Greenwold, “is a multi-talented quilt maker, painter and sculptor whose body of work showcases a keen eye for color relationships and a sophisticated sense of composition. Though trained as a painter, Busch’s experience in architecture is evident in her numerous large-scale installations displayed throughout the United States. Composed of floating acetate in bold tones that are woven and suspended from the ceiling, Busch’s sculptures are designed to bend and flex with currents of air. These sculptures enliven libraries and lobbies in public buildings and bring jolts of color and motion to otherwise unoccupied space.
A pioneer in the field of textile art, Busch uses paints, dyes, and patchwork techniques to fashion lushly toned works. Her quilts pair bright hues and patterns against one another to create startling compositions. Busch’s quilts are composed of geometric forms in abstract compositions. Often painted, these art objects expand the bounds of fiber into the realm of painting and collapse distinctions between fine and decorative art.
Busch is a lifelong teacher who has conducted numerous workshops in Maine, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and throughout the United States. She has taught at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, in Deer Isle Maine, where she also served as the assistant director in 1989. In addition, Busch has led courses at the University of Maine and McMurry College in Abilene, Texas. Her ceaseless experimentation to develop new materials and techniques and her continued commitment to educating the community about her discoveries make her the ideal recipient of the 2016 Master Craft Artist Award.”