Mary Lee Hu



Mary Lee Hu (born 1943 in Lakewood, Ohio) is an American artist, goldsmith, and college level educator known for using textile techniques to create intricate woven wire jewelry.

Career
Hu first became fascinated with metalwork during high school introductory courses. She later explored more work with metals during a summer camp. She went on to attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for two years and then went to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan to complete her undergraduate degree. During her undergraduate education Hu developed her skills and continued to work with small scale metalwork and jewelry. In 1966 while earning her graduate degree in Metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, Hu studied under renowned metalsmith L. Brent Kington. It was during this time that Hu started to work with fiber inspired techniques after taking a fiber arts course. This led to the development of her signature style of wire wrapped jewelry. 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.

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.

Hu is a member and past president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths. In 1996 Hu was inducted into the American Craft Council College of Fellows. 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.

Education

 * 1965: B.F.A. Metalsmithing, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
 * 1967: M.F.A. Metalsmithing, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

Teaching

 * 1968-1969: Southern Illinois University
 * 1976: University of Iowa
 * 1976:Kansas State University
 * 1976-1977: University of Wisconsin–Madison
 * 1977-1980: Michigan State University
 * 1980-2006: University of Washington

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
 * 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
 * 2001-02: 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, AR
 * The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
 * Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
 * Illinois State University
 * Museum of Arts & Design (formerly American Crafts Museum), New York City
 * Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Washington DC
 * The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
 * The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
 * The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
 * The Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
 * The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
 * University of Indiana Art Gallery, Bloomington, IN
 * Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

Exhibitions

 * 1967
 * Crafts Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO


 * 1969
 * "Young Americans '69", Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY


 * 1970–72
 * "Goldsmith ‘70", Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN


 * 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
 * "Goldsmith/74", by the Renwick Gallery and the Minnesota Museum of Art.


 * 1975
 * "Contemporary Crafts of the Americas: 1975", Competitive exhibition, Colorado State University national tour
 * "Beaux Arts designer/Craftsmen ‘75", Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH.


 * 1975–76
 * "Forms in Metal-275 Years of Metalsmithing in America", Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY


 * 1976
 * University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI
 * "6 Contemporary American Jewellers", Electrum Gallery, London


 * 1977
 * Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
 * Illinois State University, Normal, IL
 * "Creative Jewelry", Design Center, Manila, Philippines


 * 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
 * Eastern Kentucky University Gallery, Richmond, KY
 * "Fourth International Jewellery Art Exhibition", Jewellery Designers Association, Mikimoto, Tokyo


 * 1979–81


 * 1980
 * Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
 * "International Jewellery 1900-1980", Kunslerhaus, Vienna


 * 1981
 * University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
 * "Tenth anniversary Exhibition", Electrum Gallery, London, England
 * "The Golden Thread-Textures in Gold", Touring International Competition


 * 1981–85
 * "Good as Gold: Alternative Materials in American Jewelry", Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, DC, national tour


 * 1982
 * Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN


 * 1983
 * University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA
 * Invitational of American Jewelry, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Traditional Industry, Kyoto


 * 1984
 * The Hand and the Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ


 * 1984–85
 * "Jewelry USA", organized by the Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, national tour


 * 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
 * "American Jewelry NOW", Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, Asia tour


 * 1986–88
 * "Craft Today, Poetry of the Physical", Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, national tour


 * 1987–90
 * "The Eloquent Object", organized by The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, US and Japan tour


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


 * 1989
 * "Mary Lee Hu: Goldsmith", The Merrin Gallery, New York, NY


 * 1989–93
 * "Craft Today USA", Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY and European Tour


 * 1991
 * "The 20th Anniversary Show", Electrum Gallery, London, England


 * 1992
 * "Design Visions, The Second Australian International Crafts Triennial". Art Gallery of Western Australia
 * "Helen Williams Drutt Collection", Helsinki, Finland


 * 1993
 * "Documents Northwest: 6 Northwest Jewelers" Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA


 * 1993–96
 * "Sculptural Concerns: Contemporary American Metalworking",Fort Wayne Museum of Art, national tour


 * 1994
 * "Mary Lee Hu: Master Metalsmith", National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis, TN


 * 1997
 * "Celebrating American Craft", Kunstindustrie Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark


 * 2000
 * "Curves Revisited", Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA


 * 2001
 * "Flet/Braid", Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark


 * 2002
 * Summer Arts Festival Mirabela Arts Exhibit, Odegaard Undergraduate Library, University of Washington
 * "Exuberance", Facere Jewelry Art Gallery, Seattle (with Kevin Glenn Crane)


 * 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.