We are pleased to share our lineup and poster for the 2023 Roycroft Winter Festival!
This year’s Roycroft Winter Festival, held on December 2 and 3, 2023, will have an exciting and significant change in locale. This year’s Winter Festival, a long-standing tradition in East Aurora, will be held on the grounds of The Park School in Amherst.
24 Roycroft Masters and Artisans will be set up in Park's Clement Hall. The Park School is a beautiful, modernist style campus with a renowned academic program that combines progressive private education with intensive arts immersion. The arts focus of the school makes it a fitting locale to host the Roycrofters, and we are very excited for the opportunity to engage with an expanded audience and to share the Roycroft tradition of dedicated hand-craftsmanship.
Founded in 1912, The Park School of Buffalo is WNY’s only co-ed, PreK - Grade 12 and Montessori school, and was also ranked #1 Best Private K-12 School in Buffalo and Erie County by Niche for its second consecutive year. Park was founded by a group of Buffalo parents who had met with the influential philosopher John Dewey. Under Dewey's guidance, Park began educating children in 1912 around the philosophy that deep learning occurs through constant experimentation and problem solving. The curriculum has always been interdisciplinary, as such, the arts are integrated into all academic subjects. Park students are academically and socially prepared problem solvers equipped with confidence, critical thinking skills, and a desire to make the world a better place. The school has three visual art studios and a woodworking shop. Therefore, Park's partnership with the Roycroft Winter Show is a natural outgrowth of the school's history and mission.
Earlier this year, RALA was approached with the opportunity to collaborate with Park School, and subsequent conversations revealed considerable mission overlap and a shared history in the Arts & Crafts movement, making the decision to hold this year’s Winter Festival on the grounds of the school an easy one. This temporary change in venue is an exciting opportunity to connect the Roycroft Renaissance and the modern Roycroft Artisans with a broader segment of Western New York Arts & Crafts collectors who may have been prevented from traveling East Aurora in previous years, and the Roycroft Artisans are looking forward to sharing East Aurora’s proud Arts & Crafts traditions with the larger WNY arts community. This will be the first Roycroft Winter Festival held outside of East Aurora in the organization’s history. Park School’s proximity to both the northtowns and the City of Buffalo is in keeping with RALA’s mission to promote and further the evolution of Roycroft.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Roycroft to host their winter art show. Art education is core to the Park educational experience and our students, families and teachers are very lucky to have the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the wonderful artists who will be showing their work, “ said Keith Frome, President of Park School. Saturday and Sunday, December 2-3rd; 10am-5pm both days The Park School, 4625 Harlem Rd, Amherst, NY
While it may seem out of character to hold a Roycroft Festival outside of East Aurora, the Roycrofters at Large has a long tradition of branching out to far afield locations, including special displays at the Arts & Crafts Conference in Asheville, NC, Tri-Main Center in Buffalo, and the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY.
The Roycrofters have also been represented at the Burchfield-Penney Museum, and were represented in “By Our Own Hands: The Roycrofters Continue the Handcraft Tradition of the Arts & Crafts Movement” in Oil City, PA in 2017.
We are grateful to the vision and wisdom of our board in these past decisions to expand our presence in WNY and beyond, and are very excited to see what comes out of this collaboration with Park.
This year’s festival will feature 24 Roycroft Masters and Artistans representing the strongest qualify of fine art in wood, metal, fabric, jewelry, clay, glass, book arts, prints, drawing, painting, and photography. These Artisans have been accepted by the Roycrofters At Large Association’s Master Artisans based on their high standards of work through a Juried process. The Roycrofters At Large Association was founded in 1976 with the mission to keep the Arts & Crafts Movement alive guided by principles set forth by founder Elbert Hubbard. Artisans proudly display the registered “double R mark” representing the quality of their work, and are the only modern working artists permitted to represent themselves as Roycrofters, honoring the design core values of Hubbard and the founding artists of South Grove Street. We are proud to carry this tradition forward.
The Roycroft Winter Show is a traditional opening of gift giving season, and offers a wonderful selection of handcrafted items made with the highest standards in craftsmanship. This year’s festival will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 2 & 3, 2023.
Park School is located 15 minutes from Darwin Martin and downtown Buffalo and 13 minutes from the Northtowns and Niagara County, making it possible for lovers of Roycroft to visit who may have been prevented from attending because of difficulty of travel to East Aurora in years past. Even so, it is still just 28 minutes from East Aurora, and the campus provides easy, comfortable and ample parking - something we are especially relieved to be able to offer. A nominal admission fee of $1 will be charged for adults to support our fundraising intitiatives. This year's lineup includes:
Michael Cancilla, Artisan in Painting
Robin Gower, Artisan in Jewelry
Gregory Hain, Artisan in Leather
Thomas Ciminelli, Emerging Artisan 2022 Fellow, Leather
Kathy Cairns Hendershott, Master in Fiber
Patricia Cancilla, Master Jeweller
Susan Cudaback, Master Glassworker
Timothy Dunn, Master Metalsmith
CJ Hurley, Master Painter
Shawn Krueger, Master Oil Painter
Karen Matchette, Master in Drawing
Brian Newton, Master Woodturner
Thomas Pafk, Master Furnituremaker
Peter Potter, Master Photographer
Louise Richens, Master in Fiber
Henry Schmidt, Master Sculptor
Karen Sienk, Master in Fiber
David Tundo, Master Metalsmith
Ronald VanOstrand, Master Metalsmith
Laura Wilder, Master Printmaker
Eileen Delduca, Master Goldsmith and Jeweler
Mission Guild, Masters in Clay, Wood and Jewelry
The Goodie Box
Raffle tickets for the RALA “Goodie Box” will also be available. The Goodie Box is a tradition of the organization for over 20 years, and is the backbone of its non-profit fund-raising initiatives. This year’s box contains items created by Roycroft Artisans and Master Artisans valued at over $6,000. This is the final show where tickets can be purchased for the drawing, which will be held in February 2024, at the 37th National Arts and Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. The winner need not be present.
The "Seasons Tabouret" is the centerpiece of this year's Goodie Box, produced through collaboration with Master Thomas Pafk and Master Shawn Krueger. The combined total of the Goodie Box is for 2023 is $6,000.
The 48th Roycroft Summer Festival will be held on June 29 and 30, 2024 at the Classic Rink on Riley Street in East Aurora. NEW this year: we are offering the option of pre-purchasing tickets to the Winter Festival online, making it easier for families or large groups looking to bypass the admission line. Pre-purchase on our home page at ralaweb.com, or through our online ticketing link here.
Visit our Facebook event here for more information, and hope you are moved to share it with friends and family. We hope you join us and share our excitement! See you next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, December 2-3rd.
Information on the Roycrofters-at-Large and membership options can be found online in our "Membership" section. Follow the Roycrofters-At Large Association’s social media pages at Facebook and instagram, @roycroftartisans, for updates and information on future shows and workshop events in 2024 and to experience the Roycroft Artisans’ exceptional work.