Glenn Adamson (born 1972) is an American curator, author, and historian whose research and work focuses on the intersections of design, craft, and contemporary art. Adamson is currently

editor-at-large An editor-at-large is a journalist who contributes content to a publication. Sometimes such an editor is called a roving reporter or roving editor. Unlike an editor who works on a publication from day to day and is hands-on, an editor-at-large con ...

The Magazine Antiques ''The Magazine Antiques'' is a bimonthly arts publication that focuses on architecture, interior design, and fine and decorative arts. Regular monthly columns include news on current exhibitions and art-world events, notes on collecting, and book ...

, editor of Journal of Modern Craft, a freelance writer and a curator. Adamson has held previous notable appointments as the Director of the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

, Head of Research at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, and as Curator at the

Chipstone Foundation The Chipstone Foundation is a Wisconsin-based foundation dedicated to promoting American decorative arts scholarship. Originating from the private collection of Stanley and Polly Stone, the foundation uses its objects and resources to support dec ...

Personal life

Glenn Adamson was born in 1972 and raised in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts along with his identical twin brother Peter Adamson. Glenn Adamson earned his B.A. in History of Art from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1994 and his PhD in Art History from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 2001. Adamson is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.

Museum and curatorial work

Museum of Arts and Design

From 2013 to 2016 Glenn Adamson served as the Nanette L. Laitman Director of the

in New York City, NY. Adamson's hire at the Museum of Arts and Design came as a somewhat surprise. Previously, Adamson had been a critic of the museum, using a 2011 review of the exhibition ''The Global Africa Project'' in the magazine ''Art in America'' to critique the institution itself. Adamson's critiques included the architecture of the museum's new building and their gallery layouts, the 2002 name change, and the "incoherent execution" of exhibitions. Holly Hotchner, director of the Museum of Arts and Design from 1996 to 2013, responded to Adamson's critiques in a letter to the editor of ''Art in America'' in 2011 where she defended many of the topics Adamson critiqued. In spite of this previous tension, the museum found Adamson to be the "most exciting candidate" when searching for Hotchner's replacement in 2013. In 2016, when Adamson stepped down from his post as Director at the Museum of Arts and Design, the museum stated:

"During his tenure, Dr. Adamson led the institution through a period of significant growth of its programming and resources, and built a new leadership team. Dr. Adamson spearheaded an exhibitions program that explored and expanded MAD's unique mission and role in the arts ecology of New York and the nation, including ''NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial''; ''Ralph Pucci: The Art of the Mannequin''; ''Pathmakers: Women in Art'', ''Craft, and Design, Midcentury and Today''; ''Wendell Castle Remastered''; ''Studio Job: MAD HOUSE''; and ''Voulkos: The Breakthrough Years''. Dr. Adamson created the position of Windgate Research Curator, in collaboration with the Bard Graduate Center, to further enhance the scholarship of MAD's publications and exhibitions. He also expanded MAD's noted artist-in-residence program by engaging younger artists from traditionally under-represented communities, through an initiative funded by a grant from the New York Community Trust."

Victoria and Albert Museum

From 2005 to 2013 Glenn Adamson served as the Head of Research at the

. During his time there, Adamson published several books and essays, as well as co-curated the exhibition ''Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990'' along with Jane Pavitt. Adamson was also a key proponent in initiating the "Rapid Response Unit" of the V&A, where contemporary objects like 3D printed guns and " pussy hats" are added to the museum's collection quickly in direct response to contemporary culture.

Chipstone Foundation

Glenn Adamson served as Curator for the

from 2000-2005. The Chipstone Foundation focuses on the study, preservation, and championing of American material culture with heavy emphases on the decorative arts. This mission can be seen reflected in Adamson's work there, where he curated such historically American focused exhibitions as ''Skin Deep: Three Masters of American Inlay'' and ''Tea Table Coffee Table''. In addition to his curatorial work, Adamson also made regular contributions to the Chipstone's journals ''American Furniture'' and ''Ceramics in America''.

Guest curatorial work

*2003 ''Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World'', Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI *2013 ''fix fix fix'', Gallery SO, London, UK *2017 ''"Things of Beauty Growing”: British Studio Pottery'' (co-curated with Martina Droth and Simon Olding), Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT *2017 ''Static'',Friedman Benda Gallery, New York City, NY *2017 ''Beazley Designs of the Year'', Design Museum, London, UK *2018 ''Raw Design'', Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, CA *2021 ''Crafting America'', Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Selected publications

Books

*''Craft: An American History'' (Bloomsbury, 2021) *''Fewer Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects'' (Bloomsbury, 2018) *''The Invention of Craft'' (Bloomsbury, 2013) *''The Craft Reader'' (Berg, 2010) *''Thinking Through Craft'' (Berg, 2007) *''Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World'' (MIT Press, 2003)

Book collaborations

*''Creating Ourselves: The Self in Art'' (Whitechapel Gallery, 2017) (co-authored with

Frances Borzello Frances Borzello is a British art historian and scholar, feminist art critic and author. Her work specializes in the social history of art, and includes study on the social position of European woman artists in the context of their society, the ...

Nicholas Cullinan Nicholas Cullinan (born 1977) is an art historian and curator. On 6 January 2015 it was announced that he would be the 12th director of the National Portrait Gallery in London, a post he took up in the spring. Cullinan was born in Connecticut a ...

, and

Amelia Jones Amelia Jones (born July 14, 1961) originally from Durham, North Carolina is an American art historian, art theorist, art critic, author, professor and curator. Her research specialisms include feminist art, body art, performance art, video art, i ...

) *''Art in the Making: Artists and Their Materials from the Studio to Crowdsourcing'' (Thames & Hudson, 2016) (co-authored with Julia Bryan-Wilson) *''Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery'' (Yale University Press, 2016) (co-edited with Martina Droth, and Simon Olding) *''Peter Voulkos: The Breakthrough Years'' (Black Dog Publishing, 2016) (co-authored with Elissa Auther, Barbara Paris Gifford, Jim Melchert,

Ruby Neri Ruby Rose Neri (born 1970) is an American artist based in Los Angeles, California. She was born and raised in California's Bay Area, drawing creative influence from her parents and their friends. Her father is Manuel Neri, a prolific sculptor assoc ...

, Andrew Perchuk, and

Jenni Sorkin Jenni Sorkin (born August 29, 1977) is an American art historian, curator, and educator. She is best known for her writing in art criticism, and for highlighting work by feminist artists and artists working in fiber and associated crafts. B ...

) *''Paul Evans: Crossing Boundaries and Crafting Modernism'' (Arnoldsche, 2014) (co-authored with Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Helen W. Drutt English, Robert Slifkin, and Gregory Wittkopp) *''Surface tensions: Surface, finish and the meaning of objects'' (Manchester University Press, 2013) (co-edited with Victoria Kelley) *''Global Design History'' (Routledge, 2011) (co-edited with Giorgio Riello and Sarah Teasley) *''Postmodernism: Style and Subversion'' (V & A Publishing, 2011) (co-edited with Jane Pavitt) *''Hand + Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft'' (Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 2010) (co-authored with Valerie Cassel Oliver and Namita Wiggers) *''Unpacking the Collection: Selections from the Museum of Contemporary Craft'' (Museum of Contemporary Craft, 2010) (co-authored with Janet Koplos and Namita Wiggers)

Articles and essays

*''A Young Designer's Pulpy and Surprisingly Personal Furniture'' (

Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking ...

, 2018) *''Katherine Westphal, Fiber Art Pioneer, Dies at 99'' (

, 2018) *''A Shrewd Designer Balances Craft and Commerce'' (

, 2018) *''Great Estates: How Contemporary Ceramics Are Keeping Chatsworth Relevant''(

Frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

, 2018) *''Fallen Idylls'' (

, 2018) *''The Future Starts Here: Jes Fan'' (Crafts Magazine, 2018) *''The Seamless Weaving of Fine Arts with Crafts'' (

, 2017) *''Weaving Together the Story of a Forgotten Pop Artist and Her Rugs'' (

, 2017) *''Normal Design'' (

Art in America ''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...

, 2017) *''Silver Spoons'' (

, 2017) *''The Complexity Complex'' (

, 2017) *''Demo Job: Craft, Art, and the Politics of Demonstration'' ( Art Jewelry Forum, 2016) *''Summer Work: The Art of Pae White'' (

Afterall Afterall is a nonprofit contemporary art research and publishing organisation. It is based in London, at Central St Martins College of Art & Design. It publishes the journal ''Afterall;'' the book series ''Readers,'' ''One Works'' and ''Exhibiti ...

, 2013) *''Issues & Commentary: Tsunami Africa'' (Art in America, 2011) *''The American Arcanum: Porcelain and the Alchemical Tradition'' (Ceramics in America, 2007) *''Mannerism in Early American Furniture: Connoisseurship, Intention, and Theatricality'' (American Furniture, 2005) *''The Politics of the Caned Chair'' (American Furniture, 2002) *''The Furniture of Sam Maloof'' (American Furniture, 2002)

The Journal of Modern Craft

''The Journal of Modern Craft'' (first launched in 2008) is a peer reviewed academic journal focused on interdisciplinary writings on the topics of design, craft, art, architecture, and related fields. The journal is published by Taylor & Francis, and releases three issues a year. The editorial board consists of Glenn Adamson (USA); Tanya Harrod, Independent Scholar (UK); Edward S. Cooke Jr.,

(USA); Stephen Knott,

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

(UK); Elissa Auther, Windgate Research Curator,

Bard Graduate Center The Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture is a graduate research institute and gallery located in New York City. It is affiliated with Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The gallery occup ...

and Center for Craft, Creativity and Design (USA);

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

(USA). The journal is funded in part by the Windgate Charitable Foundation and The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design, with Joseph McBrinn,

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

(UK) as the Book Review Editor, and Namita Wiggers,

Museum of Contemporary Craft The Museum of Contemporary Craft based in Portland, Oregon was the oldest continuously-running craft institution on the west coast of the United States until its closing in 2016. Located in downtown Portland's Pearl District, the museum's mission ...

(USA) as the Exhibition Review Editor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Glenn 1972 births Living people American art curators Directors of museums in the United States Cornell University alumni