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October 4-January 10, 2020 at the Hunterdon Art Museum

We are so excited to announce From the Ground Up: Peters Valley School of Craft, the first-ever exhibition examining Peters Valley‘s fifty-year history and key moments that have defined the institution – from its earliest formation as an experimental craft colony, to the building of its renowned Japanese wood-fired or Anagama kiln in 1980, to the prominence of women blacksmiths at Peters Valley in the early 2000s. The show, curated by Elizabeth Essner will run from Oct. 4 – Jan. 10 at the Hunterdon Art Museum (HAM) in Clinton, NJ. Stay tuned for sneak peeks and details regarding the virtual opening reception and programs. See the full exhibition listing and more information on HAM’s website here.

We are incredibly grateful to our exhibition and catalog funders, including the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the Windgate Foundation, the Marie and John Zimmermann Fund and John Sheridan and Andrea DuFlon. Also many thanks to The Graphics Office and McSquared for their work on the exhibition design.

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Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, a remarkable gift totaling nearly $1,000,000 dollars has been made to five of the nation’s leading craft schools — Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME), Penland School of Craft (NC), Pilchuck Glass School (WA), Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (TN), and Peters Valley School of Craft (NJ).

This anonymous gift was made with the sole intention of providing stipends to teaching artists whose workshops have been cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.  In total over 550 artists will benefit from this support, across the country and internationally, and helps recognize the time spent preparing and planning their workshops. The schools are not retaining any part of the gift; it will all go to our instructors.

Since 2012 Haystack, Penland, Pilchuck, Arrowmont, and Peters Valley have been working together as a consortium to promote craft education on a national level. In recent months we have continued to support one another in new ways, by thinking through the implications of a global health pandemic on our respective organizations and learning from each other as we move through these difficult times. Our partnership and ongoing collaboration has allowed the opportunity to advocate for the artists who are central to our mission and we are profoundly grateful for the unprecedented support we have received on their behalf.

 “This gift is truly an act of transformational philanthropy, providing direct support to artists who have experienced a loss of income as a result of the need to suspend programming for the 2020 season, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic”

We are thrilled to share this stunning video that captures the essence of what happens at Peters Valley and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the school.While the “Peters Valley experience” may be on hold for this year, we hope this video inspires you to step into your studio (or sit down at your kitchen table!) and try something creative. We think you’ll find it as special as we do. Watch the Video

Peters Valley School of Craft has always made the health and safety of its community a top concern. We are carefully monitoring conditions associated with the spread of COVID-19, and are following the guidance of the State of New Jersey Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations on keeping commercial establishments safe. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/workplace-school-and-home-guidance.pdf.  

We are taking the following steps effective immediately:

– 2020 Workshop Season Update: In light of the global novel Coronavirus pandemic, Peters Valley School of Craft has made the difficult decision to cancel all scheduled programming for our 2020 season. We look forward to welcoming you back to campus again when it is safe to do so! For more information visit our COVID-19 FAQ page

– The Gallery will be closed to the public but you can support working artists and our programs by shopping our retail gallery online. www.petersvalleygallery.org

– Our Administrative office and studios will be closed to the public.

– We have cancelled our physical 50th Annual Craft Fair this year and are holding a Re-Imagined Virtual Craft Fair on September 19-20, 2020. Stay tuned for details!

– While there will be reduced face-to-face interactions with our customers, our administrative operations will continue to operate remotely. 

We will navigate this situation as it develops and will be responsive, responsible and nimble. For the most up to date news please visit our social media. We look forward to future programming and to seeing you on campus when it is safe. If you have any questions please email info@petersvalley.org. We will do our best to keep you informed and do our part to prevent, reduce and slow the spread of the virus.