“My family has a huge problem with craft. My mother and father participated in just about every craft fad that I can remember. Wire art, macrame, and decoupage in the 70’s, and stained glass in the 80’s. My mother is an insane quilter, my Aunt Barbara a glass painter. One great-grandfather was a blacksmith, another collected and carved gemstones. I was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska, attended art school at the University of Nebraska, then got my MFA in ceramics at Alfred University. Craft has dogged me all my life. I love it, I hate it, I write about it because it seems totally alive to me. Craft hard!” – Garth Johnson

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska

Works in Eureka, California

Garth Johnson is Assistant Professor at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California. He writes about craft, blogs at ExtremeCraft.com, and he is the author of 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse. His DVD, ReVision: Recycled Crafts for Earth-Friendly Living, was released by Eyekiss Films in 2009.

EDUCATION

2000    MFA, Ceramics, Alfred University, Alfred

1997    BFA, Ceramics, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

SOLO EXHIBITION

2009    Garth Johnson: Plates, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016 RE: Reanimate, Repair, Mend, and Meld, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
At Your Service, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX

2014    Made in China: The New Export Ware, Ferrin Contemporary at Miami Project, Miami, FL

2012   Play/House, a collaboration by Claire Joyce and Garth Johnson, First Street Gallery,

Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA

2011   Glitter and Dirt: Garth Johnson and Claire Joyce, Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, NV

CURATORIAL WORK

2011    Era Messages: Selections by Garth Johnson, Museum of Contemporary Craft, The Lab, Portland, OR

2010    Renewal Notice, American Conservation Film Festival, Shepherdstown, WV

PUBLICATIONS

2009    1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, published by Quarry.

Johnson has contributed to publications such as CRAFT, Readymade, FiberArts and Hand/Eye.

He has also contributed to books such as Handmade Nation, Craftivity, Craft Corps and World of Geekcraft.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Garth Johnson is Assistant Professor at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.