The Dubuque Museum of Art, Iowa’s oldest cultural institution and home to over 2,700 works, was founded as an art association in 1874 by Dubuque citizens eager to share their collections with the public.
It’s amusing to imagine Gilded Age art patrons walking through a contemporary exhibition, such as DuMA’s upcoming Craft Invitational. Common materials like wood, leather, pottery, glass and metal become gravity-defying sculptures, impossibly detailed embellishments, luxurious versions of utilitarian tools, even a bedazzled likeness of Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit. It’s enough to drop the jaws of a modern-day museum-goer.
“All of the artists push boundaries to some degree,” DuMA Curatorial Director Stacy Peterson said of the 21 Midwest craftspeople with works featured in the showcase. “Derek Brabender of Stoughton, Wisconsin demonstrates an advanced technique that yields multiple, nested bowls from a single wood piece. This technique is practiced by few woodturners worldwide. Clayton Salley, a recent MFA grad from the University of Iowa and a current U.S. Fulbright Scholar, uses advanced, experimental 3D printing technology to bridge ancient and modern metalsmithing.”
The star of the Craft Invitational is Yohance Joseph Lacour, a fine leather and bespoke sneaker artist making a significant impact in the realm of leatherwork. A lifelong sneakerhead, Lacour draws from his personal experiences, particularly his youth in Chicago in the ’80s and ’90s. (In addition to art, Lacour is a Pulitzer and Peabody award-winning podcaster for his work on You Didn’t See Nothin, a seven-part investigation into the 1997 hate-crime murder of Lenard Clark on Chicago’s South Side, which also serves as a partial memoir of Lacour.)
Lacour spent time in prison in the late 2000s, where he first discovered leatherwork. Upon his release, his curiosity and desire to learn led him to take classes on shoe-making, applying meticulous handwork and attention to detail. Produced and crafted by hand in Portugal, Lacour’s collections are now sold online and in boutiques throughout the country.
The polyglot describes his handcrafted bespoke leather sneakers as the “intersection of luxury, fine art and fortitude.” Three of the sneakers — two prototypes and a production model — are on view at DuMA for the showcase.
Like Lacour, the other artists involved in DuMA’s fourth biennial Craft Invitational don’t normally see themselves in a traditional museum environment. This curated group was chosen and invited by the previous invitational’s artists.
The theme for this exhibit was “Crossing Barriers”: artists embracing craft and traditional techniques, along with a focus on process, sustainability and concept, with an emphasis on how these elements carry forward into the future. Though the show closes Oct. 13, the Dubuque Museum of Art will debut a new exhibition on Oct. 26 celebrating their 150th anniversary, called Dubuque by Design.
“[We’re] looking back at designs that have shaped our community and forward to the new museum building design that will shape our future,” Peterson said.
For more information on the planned 38,000 square-foot building project, its $89 million capital campaign, and current and upcoming DuMA exhibitions, visit dbqart.org.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s September 2024 issue.
