The Rosen Group has announced the Merit Award Program winners for the February, 2001, Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft Show. Recipients receive booth space at minimal cost at the February show, as well as mentor support with an established exhibiting artist and marketing support from The Rosen Group. The Merit Award Program is designed to help emerging artists enter wholesale markets more quickly and get their careers off the ground.
Merit Award winners for the February 16-19 show are:
Claire Maunsell, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Media: Glass
One-of-a-kind decorative items (bottles, plates, vases, etc.)
Jana Pavlasek, Originality, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Media: Ceramics
Bottles and figurines
Holly Goeckler, West Chester, PA
Media: Mixed and miscellaneous
Functional candle holders, plates, flatware, etc.
Birgit Kupke-Peyla, Salinas, CA
Media: Metals
Gold and Silver Jewelry
Merit Award Program selection criteria were innovative design ideas, creativity of work, market viability of work, and the artist is new to the Buyers Market of American Craft.
Part of our mission has always been to help new artists get started, commented Wendy Rosen, president of The Rosen Group. Our program of providing free booth space to guilds for their members to 'test the waters' of a major wholesale show inspired us to expand the program to promising individual artists. The Merit Award Program will provide that extra boost that many artists need to make the leap into wholesale.
More than 2300 American and Canadian studio artists participate annually in the Buyers Markets of American Craft. Each wholesale-only show features the finest production and limited-edition work in contemporary, transitional and traditional styles. Retailers buying at the shows include craft gallery and specialty shop owners, as well as buyers from museum shops, boutiques, jewelry stores, mail-order catalogs, clothing stores and furniture stores. The Summer Philadelphia Buyers Markets of American Craft is scheduled for July 13-15, 2001 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
The Rosen Group, based in Baltimore, Md., also publishes NICHE magazine, the exclusive trade publication for craft retailers, and AmericanStyle magazine, the arts and lifestyle magazine for collectors of fine American craft.
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