CRAFTING A LEGACY:
40 YEARS OF COLLECTING & EXHIBITING AT THE METAL MUSEUM

This exhibition showcases work from the Metal Museum’s past, current, and future Master Metalsmiths and Tributaries artists.
 
The Master Metalsmith exhibition series began in 1983 as a way for the Metal Museum to honor the most influential metal artists of the day. In the years since its inception, it has brought the work of more than 30 internationally acclaimed metalsmiths to Memphis for solo exhibitions. Inspired by this series, one of the most important collections in the Metal Museum’s Permanent Collection of art objects is the Master Metalsmith Collection. It represents 32 of the 36 Master Metalsmiths and includes over 80 original works of jewelry, hollowware, sculpture and architectural objects.

The Tributaries exhibition series began in 2007 with the goal of supporting underrepresented and underrecognized metal artists with solo exhibitions at the Museum. Along with the exhibition, Tributaries artists travel to the Museum to present a gallery talk or slide lecture and some artists elect to teach workshops in the Museum’s smithy, foundry or small metals studio. With over 35 Tributaries exhibitions completed or in the planning process, the Museum has celebrated some of the most talented artists who are shaping the metals field today. The Metal Museum actively collects the work of these artists to document the early and evolving stages of their careers.

This exhibition features 36 Master Metalsmith and 30 Tributaries artists with each artist represented by 1 piece (or set of pieces) for a total count of 78 objects. These artists represent both the heights of achievement and the promising future of the metals field, and they work with a variety of metals, 
processes and forms, including jewelry, furniture, sculpture, hollowware, hardware, tools, and architectural ironwork. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with interviews from Founding Director James Wallace and current Executive Director Carissa Hussong, an introduction essay, artist biographies, and visual documentation of these unique and important works.