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Made in the Middle
New work in contemporary craft from the West Midlands.

This exhibition is a partnership with Craftspace and Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.             On show at Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum until 2 September 2007 Follow this link to see our programme of free talks. Follow this link for details of the Pushing Boundaries symposium. One of the largest national crafts exhibitions to take place in the UK opened in the West Midlands at Rugby Art Gallery & Museum in November 2006. [click here to go straight to the tour schedule] What is Made in the Middle? Made in the Middle is a major survey of contemporary craft from makers with a connection to the West Midlands. Selected by a panel of curators, design historians and leading national makers, 37 cutting edge makers are showing their latest work in this national touring exhibition. Made in the Middle takes place every three years attracting over 37,000 visitors and this will be the sixth in the series. The exhibition will tour to 9 other major galleries throughout the UK. Theme The exhibition explores ‘routes to an object’, investigating how inspirations and career paths create the passion, skills and ideas that lie behind each piece of work.  The work This wealth of creativity on display includes ceramics, glass, jewellery, metalwork, textiles and furniture from both recent graduates and makers with international reputations. This diversity of talent includes lighting designer makers such as Elaine Sheldon and Dominic Cooney of Sheldon Cooney, Emma Welsh, and Dominic Bromley of Scabetti, mother and son jewellers Jane and John Moore and glass makers Clare Henshaw and Stuart Garfoot. Over 100 objects are on display supported by video and sound recordings, work you can touch and a family activity guide.  NEVAC video archive Craftspace and Rugby worked with the National Electronic and Video Archive for the Crafts (NEVAC) to video three significant makers – Ndidi Ekubia, Bridget Drakeford and the partnership of Sheldon Cooney - for this national archive, each talking about their ideas, making processes and careers.  Buy craft Made in the Middle is an opportunity to purchase craft that is rarely available in the region and is supported by the Arts Council England’s Own Art Scheme, developed to encourage people to purchase and commission art and craft.  At Home commissioning project Passionate about encouraging people to own craft and explore their own experience of living with craft, Craftspace and Rugby art Gallery and Museum have been working together on a project that offers local people, some in supported accommodation, the opportunity to commission a new piece of craft for themselves. The exhibition will include photographs of their commissions in their homes and tells the story of their involvement in the commissioning process.  For more infromation see At Home With Craft. Artists Ndidi Ekubi, Helen Cass, Sally Greaves-Lord, Sian Fletcher, Jim Partridge, Ermine Jackson, Kate Pemberton, Deb Roberts, Karina Thompson, Joanne Ayre, Bridget Drakeford, Dennis Farrell, Rosamonde Ingram, Andrea Walsh, Nicola Richards, James and Tilla Waters, Dominic Bromley, Scabetti, Emma Welsh, Elaine Sheldon and Dominic Cooney, Sheldon Cooney, Dena Bagi, Stuart Garfoot, Clare Henshaw, Dean Hopkins, Yoko Izawa, Anna Lorenz, Jane Moore, John Moore, Shivani Patel, Betty Pepper, Isabella Hart, John Grayson, Claire Malet, Marcus Steel, Melanie Tomlinson, Natalie Cole and Wayne Pottinger (ALSO), Ranbir Kaur, Ruth and Adrian Spaak Partners Made in the Middle is a partnership between Craftspace, a Birmingham based crafts agency, and Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, a contemporary gallery space in the heart of Rugby, Warwickshire. Sponsorship Made in the Middle is being supported by VSM (UK) Ltd., distributors of Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff sewing machines. We are working in partnership with them and Made in the Middle textile artist Karina Thompson. Follow this link for more information. Tour Schedule 14 November 2006 – 14 January 2007  Rugby Art Gallery & Museum, Little Elborow Street, Rugby, CV21 3BZ  27 January – 14 March 2007  MAC Cannon Hill Park Birmingham B12 9QH  24 March – 5 May 2007  Worcester Museum and Art Gallery Foregate Street, Worcester, WR1 1DT  18 May – 29 June 2007  Artworks-mk Parklands Great Linford Milton Keynes MK14 5DZ  13 July – 2 September 2007  Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum Royal Pump Rooms The Parade Leamington Spa CV32 4AA  15 September – 11 November 2007  Shire Hall Stafford Market Square Stafford ST16 2LD   24 November 2007 – 4 Jan 2008  Bilston Craft Gallery Mount Pleasant Bilston Wolverhampton WV14 7LU  18 January – 29 February 2008  Brewery Arts, Cirencester Brewery Court, Cirencester, GL7 1JH  15 March – 26 April 2008  The Herbert Jordan Well, Coventry CV1 5QP  Images (clockwise from top left) Melanie Tomlinson, ‘and then I saw a deer’, Printed tin automata Pottinger and Cole, Hanger Chair, Oak Sheldon Cooney, Bulldog light, Blown glass Betty Pepper, ‘the necklace that knew too much’, Textile and mixed media  Celebrating 21 years of Craftspace.  Press For national press enquiries please contact: Mary Rahman at MRPR, 0207 7491136, mary@mr-pr.com www.mr-pr.com [click here to go back to the top of the page]