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Date: 1/25/2023
CHICOPEE – The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston awarded Chicopee artist Keysha Rivera a $2,000 grant to finance her future artistic endeavors. The award is a part of the art society’s first year of their Craft Innovation Jumpstarter Grant program.
The Society of Arts and Craft in Boston has been in existence for 125 years. The organization is at the forefront of the American craft movement, fostering the development, sales, recognition and education of fine craft. Their mission is to support and celebrate craft makers and their creativity.
The jumpstarter grant is part of the society’s larger efforts to adapt and meet the needs of modern craft artists. The Society of Arts and Crafts Director Brigitte Martin shared that the program’s creation was inspired by a “strategic revaluation” in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The organization has undergone a strategic revaluation … It became necessary because of the pandemic. Like many nonprofit businesses, we really had to evaluate what kind of programs we want to run, what kind of impact we want to provide, and more importantly, what kind of impact is needed to support our cultural standard barriers,” said Martin in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
Martin believes craft work can have a holistic impact across various sectors. She highlighted how one weaving artist integrated brail language into clothes to help a low-vision person discern the differences between outfits.
“We have seen in our practice the incredible impact that craft knowledge and craft expertise can provide. The solutions are driven in the health care industries and in many other technology-forward industries that are based on the knowledge our makers have,” said Martin.
Martin also stressed that an emphasis on fostering innovation through craft is noticeable absent across the country.
“Incentivizing innovation in craft is something that’s really missing in New England and is not something that is even done on a national level,” said Martin.
The first year of funding derives from the Society of Arts and Crafts’ board of directors. Martin noted that an additional three years of the program are made possible by financial support from the craft-based organization Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation.
“They felt this is so worthy of doing, they granted their support for three years … If you get support like this, you know you’re on the right track,” said Martin.
Rivera is one of two recipients for the grant alongside Caitlyn March – a program director for Dedham’s Mother Brook Arts and Community Center. Rivera was born and raised in Holyoke before relocating to Chicopee.
After graduating from Holyoke Community College with a degree in Health, Rivera pivoted to focusing full time on her digitally-enhanced fiber artwork. Her pieces tie closely to her heritage, revolving closely around cultural preservation and the exploration of her Afro-Indigenous family roots. Rivera describes her creation as “soft sculptures” that archive vivid memories in her life.
Martin considered Rivera a great fit for the grant due to her innovative approach to crafts.
“Textiles generally in our field are understood as weaving, knitting, basketry … In her work, she is integrating fiber or fabrics with digitization. It is exactly that approach – putting a digital image on a fabric – that is the new aspect. In our field, I have not seen this approach,” said Martin.
For Rivera, her genesis in arts started by taking elective courses during her college education.
“I really enjoyed creating things and I am really passionate about creating stories using material and different types of medium,” said Rivera in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
A friend of Rivera encouraged her to pursue the idea of printing images on fabric. Rivera shared that the duo collaborates to imprint some of her photobook memories into textiles crafts.
“Lately, I’ve been taking photos from my family photos book and transferring them over digitally. From there, I collaborate with my friend to make prints from fabric,” said Rivera.
Rivera’s artwork holds sentimental meaning to her. She shared how experiences utilizing family photos helped her discover her family’s own artistic legacy.
“I never really considered my parents to be artists until I realized they took photographs of everything in their life. That’s their artist legacy, and I really like to incorporate that into my art,” said Rivera.
With the grant funding, Rivera will continue to explore the blending of technology and craft. She plans to have a gallery showing of her creations at the end of 2023.
“I’m hoping to create a legacy of my own through digital storytelling,” said Rivera.
Readers can learn more about the Society of Arts and Crafts at https://societyofcrafts.org/.