Page 159 - Constructing Craft

necessarily presume either reputation nor (sic) financial reward
and, secondly, that saving for kiln and workshop may require
creating a marketable product as well as the more esoteric
object – just ideas from a provincial ex nightschool [sic] hobby
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potterer.

Melanie Cooper. Photo: New Zealand Crafts

Linking the Past and the Future

By the early 1990s the reputations of the most admired older craftspeople were

being defended in terms of educational qualifications. In a 1991 editorial Edith Ryan
acknowledged that many of those who were assessing the polytechnic courses had

not received a formal education in craft; however, she claimed that, ‘recent research

has revealed that the majority of these senior greats [often self-taught New Zealand
craftspeople recognised internationally] have had tertiary art education abroad or in

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our fine art schools.’ The source of the research for this statement was not
revealed but the statement itself was necessary to ensure that the craft

qualifications retained their status. Furthermore, Ryan, adumbrating future trends,

outlined where the new graduates might find work. She believed they would
become ‘art teachers … curators, art administrators, gallery personnel – directors,

exhibition and education officers, conservators, critics, artists in industry and so

Constructing Craft