LLOYD HERMAN DOCUMENTARY

​THE JAMES RENWICK ALLIANCE SUPPORTS DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE RENWICK GALLERY, LLOYD HERMAN
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The James Renwick Alliance announces today their support for the Northwest Designer Craftsman documentary about the life and accomplishments of Lloyd Herman, founding Director of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Art Museum. The film is part of the Living Treasures Project series, documenting pioneers of the contemporary craft movement.
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"The Renwick opened in 1972 as a center for changing exhibitions in craft, design, decorative and folk arts.  With no budget to buy objects, we only casually began to collect as worthy works were occasionally offered as gifts.  Nor did we have funds for lectures and other public programs with which to build an audience.  So when a small group of Renwick fans met with me to discuss how they could help, I was delighted, and the James Renwick Alliance was born!  Today I learned that the JRA has chosen to make a very generous gift toward a biographical video of my craft career sponsored by Northwest Designer Craftsmen.  I could not have been more pleased.  Thank you friends at the JRA!" - Lloyd Herman 

​As founding director of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in 1972, Lloyd’s dream was to have craft, art, and design join its rightful place among the Smithsonian’s family of museums in the heart of the nation’s capitol for all to learn and enjoy the world over. He’s done that, and much more.

In the thirty-one years since retiring from the Smithsonian Institution, he has continued to curate exhibitions on craft and design topics for such clients as the United States Information Agency, the Smithsonian Institution and various museums and traveling exhibition services. He has lectured on American crafts throughout the United States, and in Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Japan, and has juried numerous art competitions in the United States and abroad.
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He is an Honorary Lifetime Member of Northwest Designer Craftsmen, a member of the American Alliance of Museums, an honorary member of the American Society of Interior Designers, an honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council, trustee/secretary of the Highline Historical Society, and has been decorated by the monarchs of Denmark and Belgium for exhibitions that he organized on the crafts of their countries.