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Sally D. Francisco pursued the vision for Peters Valley with determination, energy, and a creative spirit, setting a firm foundation for the organization to grow and become what it is today. We are grateful that we’ve been able to stay in touch with Sally’s children, Susan, Bond, and Doug over the past years. Below, they reflect back on their memories from those earliest days, when Peters Valley was just an idea.

Susan Francisco:

 

Bond Francisco:

In 1970 I moved out to the West Coast. On those occasions when I was home, I’d take every opportunity to visit Peters Valley. [I] took a weaving course, and wood carving (sculpting!) with Emil Milan. I knew my mother as a force of nature, and am so very proud to her and all she accomplished. I also want to acknowledge the part that our dear father played. I am forever grateful for his role in supporting our mother in her endeavors, as she did his. I went on to support myself all through the 80’s as a street artist making and selling neckties in the SF Bay Area. So I guess some of my mother’s “crafty” genes made their way into my being. So delighted to be still celebrating Peters Valley 50 years later!

Doug Francisco: 

I was at home (being only 15 years old ) for the entire P.V. saga. At home for the ” Elfwood Craft Store ” in our West Orange house in the late 50’s . The entire First Mountain Crafters conception, founding and success in West Orange N.J. Moving to Wantage in Sussex county, the founding and success of the Kittatinny Craftsmen. When the whole debacle of the Tocks Island project revealed itself with the abandonment of all of the Parks service buildings in Bevans, she saw an opportunity to continue her passion for giving artists the vehicle to drive their respective craft skills and teaching contributions towards a much bigger and all encompassing goal. 50 years later the vision she had is vivid and flourishing.

I can remember coming home from school and finding pages and pads of yellow legal paper all over the kitchen table. Names of new contacts, phone numbers of park service go-to’s. The phone receiver still warm from countless calls to prospective donors and craftsmen, anyone who could help. Mom steered the boat, and she got it done. Through all of this she kept a wonderful sense of humor and always had some sort of dinner on the table for us when Dad got home from his long daily commute to New Brunswick. Lots of casseroles.
I volunteered with some nudging here and there at Peters Valley in the early days cleaning bat guano from the floor of what is now Sally D. Francisco gallery ( her first office there), just general clean up. In some magical way she could turn a small annoying request into something you actually wanted to do and felt good about when the task was accomplished. That was her style and I believe the key to her many successes.

The first glimpse of the Peters Valley Success story I had was the first Peters Valley Fair. Emil Milan carving a bird, Andy Wilner turning a table leg on a lath , the hammer and strike of the blacksmith at his craft, weavers weaving , jewelers wire wrapping earrings, all in one place and crowds of people coming to see. All this due to her and her crew.

I am so proud to have been her son and am so happy Peters Valley lives on.

We thank each and every student, teacher, visitor, donor, board member, and volunteer of Peters Valley over the last 50 years for helping steward the mission Sally Francisco set out to fulfill. We truly would not be here without you and your support. If you are able, we hope you consider supporting Peters Valley at year end with a gift of $25, $50, $100 or more as we set the foundation for the next 50 years. Thank you so much for your support.

A note from Peters Valley Executive Director, Kristin Muller…

November 25, 2020

Dear Friends,

We need your continued support today to take the learning, practice, and appreciation of craft into 2021.

Thanks to you, we have thus far successfully navigated the historic challenges of 2020. Our 50^th Anniversary was not what we expected it would be. Still, the Peters Valley staff and board regrouped, pivoted, and fulfilled our mission all because of the generous support from our committed community.

We’d like to share some key highlights from this transformative time and ask for your continued support for what we are poised to do in 2021:

1. We are in the midst of restoration work to the Valley Brook Farm House, a project funded by the New Jersey Cultural Trust and the National Park Service

2. Bruce Dehnert, our Ceramics Head, is days away from completing the full rebuild of the Noborigama kiln

3. The Peters Valley website has been redesigned & optimized to showcase our virtual and in-person offerings

4. Our anniversary exhibition, From the Ground Up: Peters Valley School of Craft, at the Hunterdon Art Museum is now open to the public and has received incredible local and national press

5. We have connected with our community virtually, presenting 28 free online programs to over 2,300 viewers, a virtual Craft Fair, and a series of online workshops, eliminating barriers to the “Peters Valley experience”

This was all possible thanks to YOU and your sustained commitment to Peters Valley and our mission.

After a year of historic challenges, your appeal contribution is especially critical. We have an urgent need to raise $100,000 by December 31 and ask for your support to help us reach our goal.

In 2020, our 50^th Anniversary year, we had hoped to both celebrate and build a strong financial foundation for the next 50 years. However, Peters Valley, like so many other arts organizations, was placed under an extreme financial burden due to the pandemic. After suspending our workshop season, donations from our friends and supporters have become even more critical to Peters Valley’s future; we truly rely on your support in order to impact lives through craft this year, next year, and well into the future.

We are deeply committed to artists and craftspeople. In 2021, we will continue to develop ways to put them to work and to promote the learning, appreciation and most of all, the practice of craft.  We will foster creativity and curiosity, and offer opportunities for new audiences to gain access to making and makers through our programs.

Can we count on your support? We all have the capacity to help facilitate a safe and resilient future for our beloved Peters Valley. Today more than ever a financial gift to Peters Valley, regardless of its size, has critical and urgent impact. You can give anytime online or give us a call. We love to connect with you.

Please support Peters Valley and help carry it forward into a bright and creative future. Thank you in advance for your support.

Gratefully,

Kristin Muller

Executive Director

 

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.

Learn More

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.