James Renwick Alliance
​Chrysalis Award for Emerging Artists

2021 FOCUS: METAL
The Chrysalis Award was created by the James Renwick Alliance to promote and inspire US-based emerging craft artists. Emerging is defined as someone early in their professional artistic career, with no regard to age, and has not had a solo museum exhibition or exclusive representation by a commercial gallery. The ideal candidate demonstrates excellence in their work and a commitment to developing in unique and dynamic ways.

Our 2021 award will focus on emerging artists working in METAL. Different mediums will be represented each year.

​Application Deadline: August 1, 2021
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The awardee will be selected by an independent panel of jurors who are recognized experts in each year's field of focus. The 2021 Chrysalis Award is generously made possible by JRA member, Stan Asrael.

The awardee will receive a $5,000 unrestricted award, a one-year membership to JRACraft, opportunity to give a formal presentation about their work at a JRACraft event, and a trip to Washington, DC to meet with other artists, collectors, and JRA members.

Because of health concerns, the 2021 events may be conducted virtually. 

The 2021 Jurors include:

Carissa Hussong, has been the Executive Director of The Metal Museum in Memphis, TN for over a dozen years. The Metal Museum is the only museum in North American dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the art and craft of fine metalwork. The Museum achieves its mission through changing exhibitions, a permanent collection and library, demonstrations, the creation of artwork, artist residencies and educational opportunities.

Karen Rotenberg, a collector of contemporary craft and 21st Century Art Jewelry, was the founder and director of Alianza Contemporary Crafts located in Boston for forty years. An Honorary Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art and an Honorary Member of the Board of Advisors at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, she recently chaired the Visiting Committee of the Department of Fashion, Textiles and Jewelry at the MFA. She has also served on the Board of the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, and on the Arts in Education Committee at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Chris Shea is an Artist, Designer and creator of furniture and architectural metalwork outside of Washington, DC. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery and in numerous private collections around the country. Shea's work has been shown at Fuller Craft Museum, Woodson Art Museum, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the Metal Museum, The Society of Arts and Crafts and more. 
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Artwork by 2020 JRACraft Chrysalis Awardee, Kate Roberts.

2021 Metal: Rachel David

This year, the Alliance is proud to support Rachel David who represents a change in the future of metalworking. Her expressive work and support for women in blacksmithing signifies our support not only for her but also her effort to affirm in a gender-biased field that “skill and craftsmanship are superior to brute force.”

​Rachel David received a Bachelor of Arts from Evergreen State College in 2004 and has continued her studies through workshops at Penland School of Craft, John C. Campbell School of Craft, Nunez Community College and Haywood Community College where she recently received a machining certification. In 2019, she was featured in 40 Under 40: The Next Generation of American Metal Artists at the Metal Museum in Memphis, TN and received the Smithsonian Craft Show’s Best in Show Award and the Artists Gold Choice Award. In addition to her artistic practice, David is a founding member of the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths which supports inclusivity through mentorship, support and scholarships. 

Our deepest gratitude to JRACraft member Stan Asrael for sponsoring this year’s award.

2020 CERAMICS: KATE ROBERTS

"My practice is a meditation on time and its role in the decay of objects and memories.  Inspiration is drawn from historical objects, the architecture around me, or a personal relationship.  The physical properties of my materials - parched, cracked clay and vitreous porcelain - at once delicate and dense emulate states of decay in nature yet are built and mended by hand. This contradiction, of meticulously crafting the ravages of time, is at the foundation of my work."

"I was impressed by the wide range of work presented by these ceramic artists.  They presented complex views rooted in materiality and process, unique and diverse global traditions, varieties of techniques and skills that bridged ancient processes with science and technology. So many had personal stories to tell that revealed the multicultural and hybrid fabric of this country." - 2020 Juror, Ibrahim Said

In light of the ongoing pandemic, the Alliance raised additional funds to award three Awards of Excellence. These artists include Maxwell Mustardo, Eliza Au, and Chris M. Rodgers.

2019 Mixed media: Richard james

Richard W. James creates large-scale surreal figures out of meticulously crafted earthenware and found objects. Influenced by his upbringing in rural Tennessee and the craft skills handed down from his parents and grandparents, James’ often unsettling contemporary ceramic sculptures incorporate the materials and processes he associates with the informative years of his life to question the cultural lenses in which he grew up.

​​“The jurors were impressed with James’ superb craftsmanship but ultimately it was his unique vision and voice that captured our attention. We were delighted to have strong interest in the Chrysalis award from all over the United States this year, with a record number of applications, demonstrating vibrancy in the craft field” -  former JRA President, Michele Manatt 

2018 Glass: Dean Allison

"Dean described his work as a documentation of human form, an exploration into the ways we perceive others and a study of portraiture in studio glass. Using a combination of old and new processes and materials, he aims to capture a moment in time. He is especially interested in understanding individuals through an analysis of subtle gesture, physical attributes and the immediate perceptions those attributes spark. He described how glass is the perfect medium for him, since it has characteristics common to people: it is transparent, opaque, fragile, broken, sharp, incompatible, rough, polished and colorful." - JRA Board Member and Chrysalis Committee Chair, Nikki O'Neill

2016 Fiber: Shea Wilkinson 

"I work primarily with free motion quilting, which allows me the capability of not only forming the texture of the piece, but also the imagery and narrative, using a needle and thread. I use quilting as the anchor for my enthusiasms through different bodies of work, from extraterrestrial to natural worlds, from mythical to the scientific." - Shea Wilkinson, 2016 Awardee
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