Mary lee hu biography for kids

American artist, goldsmith and educator

Mary Lee Hu (born 1943) is an American artist, goldsmith, and college educator, known for using textile techniques to create intricate woven wire jewelry.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Mary Lee Hu was born 1943, in Lakewood, Ohio.^[3] Hu first became fascinated with metalwork during high school introductory courses. She later explored more work with metals during a summer camp.^[4]

She went on to attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for two years; followed by Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to complete her undergraduate degree (BFA 1965, metalsmithing).^{[citation needed]}

During her undergraduate education Hu developed her skills and continued to work with small scale metalwork and jewelry. She received a graduate degree (MFA 1967, metalsmithing) from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where she studied under metalsmith L. Brent Kington.^{[citation needed]} It was during this time that Hu started to work with fiber inspired techniques after taking a fiber arts course.^[5] This led to the development of her signature style of wire wrapped jewelry.

Career

Since the late 1960s Hu has developed new techniques in coiling, wrapping, weaving, knitting, and twining wire. Her work consists mostly woven wire earrings, rings, bracelets, brooches, and neckpieces that emulate natural forms, movements and symmetry.^[6]

After completing her master of fine arts degree, Hu traveled to various places and took up different teaching positions until she joined the metal arts program in the University of Washington in the School of Art in 1980. She retired from the University of Washington as professor emeritus in 2006.^[7]

Hu is a member and past president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.^[when?] In 1996 Hu was inducted into the American Craft Council College of Fellows.^[8] Hu has received three National Endowment of the Arts Craftsman Fellowships. Her work is in major collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the American Crafts Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Hu is the winner of the 2008 Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.^[9]

Teaching

Awards and grants

• 1975: Best in Show, Best in Metals, Outstanding Craftsman of the North Central Region, Purchase Award, \"Beaux Arts Designer/Craftsman '75\", Columbus Museum of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH^[10]
• 1976: National Endowment for the Arts Crafts Fellowship
• 1978: All-University Research Grant, Michigan State University
• 1979: All-University Research Grant, Michigan State University
• 1984: National Endowment for the Arts Crafts Fellowship
• 1988: Alumni Achievement Award, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
• 1992: National Endowment for the Arts Crafts Fellowship
• 1996: Appointed as a Fellow of the American Crafts Council
• 1999: Elected "Master of the Medium" for the James C. Renwick Alliance, the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, DC
• 2001–2002: Flintridge Foundation Award for Visual Artists
• 2002 Donald E. Peterson Endowed Fellowship for Excellence, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Washington
• 2004: Invited to start a Mary Lee Hu research collection at The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
• 2008: The Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement from Artist Trust of Washington.

Public collections

• Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York^[11]
• Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
• Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois
• Museum of Arts and Design (formerly American Crafts Museum), New York City, New York
• Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Washington D.C.
• Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois^[12]
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, Texas
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.^[3]
• Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England^[13]
• University of Indiana Art Gallery, Bloomington, Indiana
• Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

Exhibitions

1967

1969

1970–72

1974

• University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
• "World Silver Fair", International competition, Taxco and Mexico City, Mexico
• "Profile 1974", Humber College, Rexdale, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

1974–77

1975

1975–76

1976

1977

1978

• "Modern American Jewelry Exhibition", Mikimoto & Co., Tokyo
• "American Crafts at the Vatican Museum", Vatican City
• Goldsmith Hall, London (with Harper, Scherr, Seppa)

1978–82

• "Silver in American Life", Yale University Art Gallery

1979

1979–81

1980

1981

1981–85

1982

1983

1984

1984–85

1985

• "Barbara Rockefeller Associates Collection", Anatole Orient Gallery, London, England
• "Masterworks of Contemporary American Jewelry: Sources and Concepts", The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
• "International Jewelry Invitational", Rudolf Dentler Gallery, Ulm, Germany

1985–87

1986–88

1987–90

1988

• Concepts Gallery, Carmel and Palo Alto, CA
• "Korean-American Contemporary Metalwork Exhibition 1988", Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea

1989

1989–93

1991

1992

• "Design Visions, The Second Australian International Crafts Triennial". Art Gallery of Western Australia
• "Helen Williams Drutt Collection", Helsinki, Finland

1993

1993–96

1994

1997

2000

2001

2002

2003

• "The Art of Gold" organized by the Society of North American Goldsmiths and tours by Exhibits USA Crocker Art Museum

2004

• "The Art of Gold"
• The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
• The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
• Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, AK
• "Korean & American Metalsmithing Exhibition", Kepco Plaza Gallery, Seoul, Korea.

References

External links