Roycroft Campus Corporation announces grants and major property acquisition at Open House at the Copper Shop on Thursday

The Roycroft Campus Corporation invites you to an Open House on Thursday October 27 from 4pm to 7pm at the Copper Shop Gallery located at 31 South Grove Street on the Historic Landmark Roycroft Campus.

The purpose of this event is to update the public and supporters of the Roycroft Campus Corporation on the efforts to restore the Copper Shop, the first of many buildings to be restored on the Roycroft Campus. The group will also thank the many people and organizations that have come forward to jumpstart the first part of the many restoration phases.

Programming and announcements will be from 5- 5:30pm. At this time there will be a major announcement about the acquisition of another significant Roycroft structure.

Special thanks will be given to the John R. Oishei Foundation for a grant of $220,000 that will be used to develop a strategic business plan, develop and promote educational programming and fund other start up operational expenses. The John R. Oishei Foundation’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for Buffalo area residents by supporting education, healthcare, scientific research and the cultural, social, civic and other charitable needs of the community.

This event will also recognize the Preservation League of New York State for a $5000 grant issued to prepare a historic structure report for the Copper Shop. This grant is funded by Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council of the Arts.

Light refreshments will be served while guests stroll through the new Copper Shop Gallery that features work by Roycroft Renaissance Artisans and other local artists. The public is welcome to attend.

For more information call Christine Peters at 716-655-0261

Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex in Buffalo , New York is currently under restoration, but still open for guided tours. For opening times and details www.darwinmartinhouse.org

News from London:

The National Trust has just acquired William Morris's famous Red House in
Bexley, built in 1859 to the designs of architect Philip Webb. The
property has been in private hands for over 50 years and will open to the
public sometime this summer. Until now, the house has been visited only
by small groups of Morris enthusiasts, but it is known throughout the
world as Morris's personal statement in his campaign to raise the crafts
to the level of fine art by creating, with Webb, wall hangings, furniture,
and stained blase, with wall paintings by Edward Burne-Jones and Dante
Gabriel Rossetit. The London Times quoted Tim Knox, the trust's head
curator, as saying that the house still has a substantial amount of
built-in furniture as well as a wealth of painted decoration, which has
been carefully conserved with advice from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
He also said that the key to the house's success will be to make the
four-acre garden into the pre-eminent Pre-Raphaelite garden, filled with
the plants Morris used for his textile design.

The Victoria and Albert Museums show "Art Deco" opens soon in Boston.

Two big Arts and Crafts exhibitions are in the works. One, from the Los
Angeles County Museum, curated by Wendy Kaplan, will open on December 19, 2004, and the other from the Victoria and Albert Museum, curated by Karen Livingstone, will open in March of 2005. Both will travel but venues are not published yet. Watch this site for news as they develop.