Out of Bounds: The Art of Croquet

Out of Bounds: The Art of Croquet is a “striking” exhibition of artist-made mallets and balls. Curated by Jennifer-Navva Milliken, Artistic Director at the Center for Art in Wood, and Northampton, Massachusetts-based furniture maker Silas Kopf—both amateur devotees of the sport—the exhibition features works by twenty-one artists who were invited to take part based on their demonstrated commitment to sculpture and design in the material of wood. Responding to the game, its history and impact on pop culture, and formal aspects of the croqueterie, these works explore a wide range of topics—from personal artistic concerns to contemporary social issues—with clarity, wit, and sportsmanship.

Out of Bounds was organized by the Messler Gallery at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine. The Center is a nonprofit, year-round school that offers courses in furniture making and related arts such as carving and woodturning.

Artists: Ted Blachly (Warner, NH), Mark del Guidice (Concord, MA), Annie Evelyn (Bakersville, NC), Amy Forsyth (Bechtelsville, PA), Scott Grove (Canandaigua, NY), Michael Hosaluk (Saskatoon, SK), Thomas Hucker (Jersey City, NJ), Katie Hudnall (Madison, WI), Beth Ireland (St. Petersburg, FL), Yuri Kobayashi (Camden, ME), Silas Kopf (Northampton, MA), James Macdonald (Burnham, ME), Adam John Manley (San Diego, CA), Craig Nutt (Kingston Springs, TN), Graeme Priddle (Asheville, NC), Ellie Richards (Bridgeton, NJ), Sylvie Rosenthal (Madison, WI), Mark Sfirri (New Hope, PA), Alf Sharp (Woodbury, TN), Elizabeth Spotswood Spencer (New Bern, NC), Kimberly Winkle (Cookeville, TN).

The exhibition program at the Center is generously supported by members of the Cambium Giving Society of the Center for Art in Wood, the Bresler Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, William Penn Foundation, and Windgate Foundation. Corporate support is provided by Boomerang, Inc. and Sun-Lite Corporation.