Museum of Craft and Design celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2024

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 8, 2024)– Kicking off 2024, the Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) is celebrating its 20th Anniversary exploring the creative process and current perspectives in craft and design through engaging exhibitions and experiential programs. MCD is excited to commemorate this important milestone year as it continues its vision to make creativity accessible for everyone.

Having welcomed over a million visitors from across the globe since its founding, MCD is known for its bold and innovative exhibitions and inspiring MakeArt programs. Additionally, with its expansion of the MakeArt programs with Mobile MakeArt in 2020, MCD has served over 102,700 people throughout the community since the Mobile MakeArt van hit the streets. MCD’s exhibitions and programs are the bedrock of the organization and reflect a creative and collaborative spirit, as well as a deep commitment to community engagement.

Founded in 2004, MCD’s exhibitions and programs have always championed artists and designers in the world of design and craft. Through its exhibitions MCD explores and redefines the role of craft and design in our dynamically changing culture, encouraging visitors to see the world differently. With each new installation, the museum provides a platform for emerging and established artists, designers, makers, and craftspeople, showcasing work that broadens the boundaries of what craft and design can be.

MCD marks its 20th Anniversary milestone in 2024 with four new exhibitions, representing over 130 artists and designers; planning over 75 MakeArt programs in the museum and throughout surrounding communities; and the expansion of MCD’s MakeArt Accessible program. Additionally, an exciting roster of events including studio visits with exhibiting artists, behind-the-scenes experiences for MCD Members, and unique opportunities to learn about the creative process with artists and designers will commemorate this special year.

Museum of Craft and Design’s 2024 Exhibitions
In addition to a full schedule of MakeArt programs for all ages (signature programs listed below), MCD will present the following ongoing and new exhibitions in 2024:

Winter 2023-2024
Designing Peace
Currently on view through February 4, 2024

Designing Peace explores the unique role design can play in pursuing peace. Organized by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the exhibition features design projects from around the world that look at ways to create and sustain more durable peaceful interactions—from creative confrontations that challenge existing structures to designs that demand embracing justice and truth in a search for reconciliation.

Winter/Spring 2024
Indie Folk: New Art and Sounds from the Pacific Northwest
February 24–June 30, 2024

The Pacific Northwest is home to a unique artistic ecosystem involving craft traditions, pre-industrial cultures, and Indigenous and settler histories. For the artists—patchwork quilters and abstract painters alike—a rural and working-class ethos of passed down knowledge and making do with what you have is as foundational as academics and studio technique. Indie Folk features an intergenerational array of 17 notable artists from throughout the region including Marita Dingus, Warren Dykeman, Joe Feddersen, Blair Saxon-Hill, Sky Hopinka, and Cappy Thompson. A playlist of Indie Folk music selected by Portland’s Mississippi Records, a record label and shop, will accompany the exhibition, filling the galleries with the sound of the Pacific Northwest.

Mr. Roboto
February 24–June 30, 2024

Mr. Roboto showcases a collection of design activities and experiments that test the creative possibilities of collaborating with a robot. Conducted by approximately 60 San José State University students, this exhibition demonstrates how designers and robots can work together to create the world around us. Mr. Roboto will feature over 100 objects, including 28 3-D printed textiles, 26 robotic letterform drawings, 36 robotic light paintings, and a robot-aided stop-motion animation. The exhibition will highlight how this type of education and experience can open the door to the future of craft and design for the next generation and give them the space, skills, and imagination to explore new activities and opportunities.

Summer/Fall 2024
Neon as Soulcraft
July 20 – November 24, 2024

Neon as Soulcraft makes the argument that manual competency, haptic knowledge, and craft are powerful tools for creative problem-solving and social change. In a world that is becoming increasingly automated, it is more important than ever for us to comprehend how things are made, how they function, and how we can maintain them in the pursuit of a more sustainable world. Neon artist group celebrating neon as fine art and vocation, illuminating the process of hand-creating neon, and promoting the future of the form.

Winter 2024
RugLife
December 14, 2024 – April 20, 2025

Rugs and carpets have defined the character of space since animal skins began to warm and adorn cave dwellings; the earliest known Persian rugs are nearly 2500 years old. Given this long history—entwined with religion, culture, and nature—it is not surprising that artists continue to find potential in the form of the rug. Guest curators c2-curatorsquared have selected 13 artists, designers, and makers hailing from 9 different countries around the world, including Lebanon, the Netherlands, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States. While many artists take a formal approach to the subject matter, others engage in cultural critique, taking on the appropriation of cultural, racial, and gender roles and stereotypes within the framework of a decorative object turned art object.

2024 Signature MakeArt Programs
MakeArt Family Days: March 2 and September 7.
MAKE: January 18, June 20, and October 17.
MakeArt Accessible: January 24, March 6, June 26, September 11, and October 23.
View upcoming events at sfmcd.org/events

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For more information and interview requests, contact Sarah Beth Rosales, Marketing and Communications Director, Museum of Craft and Design at sbrosales@sfmcd.org or 415.773.0303.

About the Museum of Craft and Design
The Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) is San Francisco’s only museum devoted to craft and design. Founded in 2004, MCD showcases designers, makers, and artists through an exciting and distinctive series of craft and design-focused exhibitions and public programs. MCD explores the creative process and current perspectives in craft and design through inspired exhibitions and experiential programs. Learn more at sfmcd.org.