Mary Lee Hu (born 1943 in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland, Greater Clevelan ...

) is an American artist, goldsmith, and college level educator known for using textile techniques to create intricate woven wire jewelry.

Career

Hu first became fascinated with metalwork during high school introductory courses. She later explored more work with metals during a summer camp. She went on to attend

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, for two years and then went to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan to complete her undergraduate degree. During her undergraduate education Hu developed her skills and continued to work with small scale metalwork and

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

. In 1966 while earning her graduate degree in Metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, Hu studied under renowned metalsmith

L. Brent Kington L. Brent Kington (July 26, 1934 – February 7, 2013) was an art educator and visual artist who worked in blacksmithing and sculpture. Kington was a product of the studio craft movement in jewelry and hollowware. In 1969 he served as the first pr ...

. It was during this time that Hu started to work with fiber inspired techniques after taking a

fiber arts Fiber art (fibre art in British spelling) refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as ...

course. This led to the development of her signature style of wire wrapped jewelry. Since the late 1960s Hu has developed new techniques in coiling, wrapping,

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

, and twining wire. Her work consists mostly woven wire earrings, rings, bracelets, brooches, and neckpieces that emulate natural forms, movements and symmetry. After completing her master of fine arts degree, Hu traveled to various places and took up different teaching positions until she joined the metal arts program in the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in the School of Art in 1980. She retired from the University of Washington as professor emeritus in 2006. Hu is a member and past-president of the . In 1996 Hu was inducted into the American Craft Council College of Fellows. Hu has received three National Endowment of the Arts Craftsman Fellowships. Her work is in major collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the American Crafts Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Hu is the winner of the 2008 Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

Education

*1965: B.F.A.

Metalsmithing A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest metalworking occupations. Shaping metal with a ...

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cr ...

Bloomfield Hills, MI Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Birm ...

*1967: M.F.A.

, Southern Illinois University,

Carbondale, IL Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

Teaching

*1968-1969: Southern Illinois University *1976:

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

*1976:

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

*1976-1977:

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

*1977-1980:

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

*1980-2006:

Awards and grants

*1975: Best in Show, Best in Metals, Outstanding Craftsman of the North Central Region, Purchase Award, \"Beaux Arts Designer/Craftsman '75\", Columbus Museum of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH *1976:

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Crafts Fellowship *1978: All-University Research Grant,

*1979: All-University Research Grant,

*1984:

Crafts Fellowship *1988: Alumni Achievement Award, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale *1992:

Crafts Fellowship *1996: Appointed as a Fellow of th
American Crafts Council
*1999: Elected "Master of the Medium" for the James C. Renwick Alliance, the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian,

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

*2001-02
Flintridge Foundation
Award for Visual Artists *2002 Donald E. Peterson Endowed Fellowship for Excellence, College of Arts and Sciences,

*2004: Invited to start a Mary Lee Hu research collection a
The Archives of American Art

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. *2008: The Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement from Artist Trust of Washington.

Public collections

Arkansas Arts Center The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum is undergoing an expansion and renovation. During this time, it is closed to the ...

, Little Rock, AR * The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

* Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH * Illinois State University *

Museum of Arts & 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 ...

(formerly American Crafts Museum),

*Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art,

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

*The

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

*The

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

*The

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

*The

Tacoma Art Museum The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an art museum in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It focuses primarily on the art and artists from the Pacific Northwest and broader western region of the U.S. Founded in 1935, the museum has strong roots in the c ...

, Tacoma, WA *

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 ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

* University of Indiana Art Gallery, Bloomington, IN *

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 ...

Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

Exhibitions

;1967 * Crafts Alliance Gallery,

St. Louis, MO St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

;1969 * ''"Young Americans '69"'',

Museum of Contemporary Crafts 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 ...

New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

;1970–72 * ''"Goldsmith ‘70"''
Minnesota Museum of Art

St. Paul, MN Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

;1974 *

Iowa City, IA Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

* ''"World Silver Fair"'', International competition,

Taxco Taxco de Alarcón (; usually referred to as simply Taxco) is a small city and administrative center of Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, from the cit ...

and

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

* ''"Profile 1974"'', Humber College,

Rexdale Rexdale is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located north-west of the central core, in the district of Etobicoke. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of Highway 401 (Ontario), Highway 401 and east of Highway ...

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada ;1974–77 * ''"Goldsmith/74"'', by the Renwick Gallery and th
Minnesota Museum of Art
;1975 * ''"Contemporary Crafts of the Americas: 1975"'', Competitive exhibition,

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

national tour * ''"Beaux Arts designer/Craftsmen ‘75"'',

Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collect ...

, Columbus, OH. ;1975–76 * ''"Forms in Metal-275 Years of Metalsmithing in America"'',

;1976 *

, Madison, WI * ''"6 Contemporary American Jewellers"'', Electrum Gallery,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

;1977 * Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH * Illinois State University,

Normal, IL Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...

* ''"Creative Jewelry"'', Design Center, Manila, Philippines ;1978 * ''"Modern American Jewelry Exhibition"'', Mikimoto & Co., Tokyo * ''"American Crafts at the Vatican Museum"'',

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

Goldsmith Hall
London (with Harper, Scherr, Seppa) ;1978–82 * ''"Silver in American Life"'', Yale University Art Gallery ;1979 * Eastern Kentucky University Gallery,

Richmond, KY Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-l ...

* ''"Fourth International Jewellery Art Exhibition"''
Jewellery Designers Association
Mikimoto,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

;1979–81 ;1980 *

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) is a non-profit community arts campus that offers arts education programs and contemporary art exhibitions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It also provides services and resources for artists th ...

Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

* ''"International Jewellery 1900-1980"'', Kunslerhaus,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

;1981 *

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

Grand Forks, ND Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

* ''"Tenth anniversary Exhibition"'', Electrum Gallery,

* ''"The Golden Thread-Textures in Gold"'', Touring International Competition ;1981–85 * ''"Good as Gold: Alternative Materials in American Jewelry"'', Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian,

, national tour ;1982 * Middle Tennessee State University,

Murfreesboro, TN Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

;1983 * University of Louisiana,

Lafayette, LA Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

* Invitational of American Jewelry, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Traditional Industry,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

;1984 * The Hand and the Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ ;1984–85 * "Jewelry USA", organized by the

Museum of Art 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 ...

, national tour ;1985 * ''"Barbara Rockefeller Associates Collection"'', Anatole Orient Gallery,

* ''"Masterworks of Contemporary American Jewelry: Sources and Concepts"'',

* ''"International Jewelry Invitational"'', Rudolf Dentler Gallery, Ulm,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

;1985–87 * ''"American Jewelry NOW"'',

, Asia tour ;1986–88 * ''"Craft Today, Poetry of the Physical"'',

, national tour ;1987–90 * ''"The Eloquent Object"'', organized by The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, US and Japan tour ;1988 * Concepts Gallery, Carmel and

Palo Alto, CA Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

* ''"Korean-American Contemporary Metalwork Exhibition 1988"'', Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea ;1989 * ''"Mary Lee Hu: Goldsmith"'', The Merrin Gallery,

;1989–93 * ''"Craft Today USA"'', Museum of Arts and Design,

and European Tour ;1991 * ''"The 20th Anniversary Show"'', Electrum Gallery,

;1992 * ''"Design Visions, The Second Australian International Crafts Triennial"''. Art Gallery of Western Australia * ''"Helen Williams Drutt Collection"'',

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

;1993 * ''"Documents Northwest: 6 Northwest Jewelers"'' Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA ;1993–96 * ''"Sculptural Concerns: Contemporary American Metalworking",''

Fort Wayne Museum of Art The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) is an American art museum located in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, Allen County, United States. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art contains permanent collections and national traveling exhibitions and is accredite ...

, national tour ;1994 * ''"Mary Lee Hu: Master Metalsmith"'', National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis, TN ;1997 * ''"Celebrating American Craft"'', Kunstindustrie Museum,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

;2000 * ''"Curves Revisited"'', Susan Cummins Gallery,

Mill Valley, CA Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

;2001 * ''"Flet/Braid"'', Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum,

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

;2002 * Summer Arts Festival Mirabela Arts Exhibit, Odegaard Undergraduate Library,

* ''"Exuberance"''
Facere Jewelry Art Gallery

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

(with Kevin Glenn Crane) ;2003 * ''"The Art of Gold"'' organized by the Society of North American Goldsmiths and tours by Exhibits USA

Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...

;2004 * ''"The Art of Gold"'' *The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR *The

Mint Museum of Art The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collection ...

Charlotte, NC Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...

Anchorage Museum of History and Art The Anchorage Museum is a large art, history, ethnography, ecology and science museum located in a modern building in the heart of Anchorage, Alaska. It is dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art and history of Alaska. The mu ...

Anchorage, AK Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

*''"Korean & American Metalsmithing Exhibition"'', Kepco Plaza Gallery, Seoul, Korea.

References

Flintridge Foundation, Mary Lee Hu, Seattle, WA, jewelryArtist Mary Lee Hu at Facere Jewelry Art Gallery

Career

Education

Teaching

Awards and grants

Public collections

Exhibitions

References

External links