HISTORY OF THE ARTS & CRAFTS COOPERATIVE, INC.
The following is a speech at the Berkeley Public Library given by the ACCI president of the board, Kirk McCarthy, at the time of our 50th anniversary in 2007.
Beginnings
Call us A-C-C-I, Aahki, the Arts and Crafts Cooperative, Inc. or the Berkeley Art Co-op on Shattuck. I generally refer to it as The Gallery. Founded 50 years ago, in 1957, in North Berkeley by a group of artists and craftspeople who wanted to find a venue to display their own artwork, a group that was somehow able to transcend the traditional controversy over the definition of art versus the definition craft, and a group that eventually figured out how to afford to buy a beautiful building that would suit their purposes. Our building was originally a French laundry and designed by the same architect who designed the original building that is now the French Hotel, which was built around 1933. Both the French Hotel and our gallery housed a French laundry.
Issues
In the post WWII period when ACCI was founded, issues of inequities in gender, race and class were prominent, especially in Berkeley, a community often ahead of its time. Industrialization devalued handmade items. Few venues for handmade works of talented local painters and craftspeople existed — apart from museums. At UC Berkeley, female students were still being directed to majors such as home economics and teaching. One professor was ostracized and eventually fired from teaching at UC for actually selling jewelry that she had designed. The design department was meant to be just that, design; you could not sell what you made. These inequities were amplified for minority artists and craftspeople. The Ashby flea market did not exist.
By the 1950s, goods in stores were mostly being created from machines, especially post WWII when greater efficiencies were brought into the manufacturing process. From 1951 or so, Berkeley artists and craft makers started to sell their work in the parking lots of the food cooperatives. They found eager buyers. In the 1950s, craft galleries did not exist.
The mid-1950s were a time of growing consumer empowerment. The Berkeley food co-op helped to jump-start the Arts and Craft Cooperative, as well as other Berkeley co-ops. Values of the food co-op spilled bountifully into ACCI’s beginnings. The University Ave Co-op’s employee dining room is where the first meetings of the newly forming ACCI were held, and also where ACCI’s first gallery space for sales was located - upstairs. ACCI’s bylaws were modeled after those of a Midwest milk cooperative. As an example of responding to mass production of the times, it’s worth sharing with you ACCI’s proclamation, which came about two years after ACCI’s founding:
[”Whereas: in the year 1844 on a dark and grimy street called Toad Lane in the milltown of Rochdale, England a certain group of weavers known as the Equitable Society of Pioneers, did establish and put into practice Principles of Co-operation to better their living conditions and Whereas Time and the experiences of many persons throughout the world have proved these same Principles of Co-operation to be of sound value in bringing more of the better things in life to more and more people, and]
“Whereas in the year 1959 in Berkeley, California, city of learning by the Golden Gate, a certain group of Artists and Craftsmen who are desirous of using these same principles of Co-operation in the business of selling their own works of art and craft objects, have joined together to form a new organization herein after to be known as the Arts and Crafts Cooperative Inc. and Whereas this Arts & Crafts Cooperative Inc. will include in its membership not only those who produce fine wares and works of art but also those who would buy the same, Therefore be it hereby Proclaimed that those who have organized the Arts & Crafts Cooperative Inc., invite all those who pass this way to observe and learn of the potentialities and aims of the group, and if they are found worthy, to join in support of this new venture to the end that even in the Age of Automation Artists and Craftsmen may find the economic security which will permit them to be Artists and Craftsmen and also to the end that the homes by the Golden Gate may be pleasantly filled with the beautiful things they will make.”
Differences
All of this sounds great but even when only a few people gather there are bound to be differences – and good for that! Berkeley values discussion and perspective. Founding a unique organization like ACCI necessitated a back and forth-ness. Many issues came to the fore. For example, some members advocated such high quality at the gallery that they were accused of trying to set museum standards. The accusers were labeled “potholder makers.” Questions surfaced such as, What is art? Where does craft fit in? How do they come together? Recall that the gallery’s formation was about finding venues for both art and craft. Some times issues were resolved, other times not. One of the first shows at the newly formed ACCI was called "The Paintings and Pot Holders Show.” As a local media pundit said on his morning show, “I would not have believed professional artists and craftsmen could rub shoulders with amateurs and hobbyists in a successful affair.”
Another difference of opinion among members was the inclusion of imported art and crafts. In the 1950s, gallery president Sam Erlich advocated for crafts from cooperatives all around the world (Barpoli cottons from India, Navajo rugs, Guatemalan blankets, Bolivian sweaters, Eskimo soapstone sculptures, pottery from the Architecture and Craft Group in Kyoto Japan, etc.). Sam’s notion was contentious because members felt that the gallery ought to focus solely on the work of its members. Sam threatened to quit and market the imports at the food coop. The gallery in fact carried imported items for a number of years. These were crafts created by cooperatives often consisting of entire villages. In some cases the sales from the gallery constituted most of a village’s income. Occasionally, even museums would enter the gallery to purchase imported items for display. I don't know why the import program was discontinued but I suspect it was because stores like Cost Plus started bringing in crafts from around the world. Handmade foreign crafts that used to be considered by the buying public as superior to American handcrafts gradually came to be made more cheaply when being exported.
Other differences such as the use of gallery space arose in the 1960s and 1970s. It was controversial to hold classes at the gallery and to use the space for teaching instead of displaying. Questions arose about the appropriateness of teaching art in a space meant for sales. For a time, the gallery did both with the use of movable walls. Some members felt strongly about the issue of community education and even felt that our role as a community gallery was to provide a venue for those less familiar with craft and art. Some members went further and nurtured the promising craftspeople. Occasionally, such mentoring led to involvement in craft education and politics. A key member in the founding of ACCI, Catherine Webb, went to Mississippi in the early 1960s to teach woodworking in what was called The Poor Peoples Corporation.
Gallery sales gradually started to decline around 1990 until approximately 2000. During that time, tensions again arose between artists and craftspeople. It was said that artists contributed insufficient sales income for the amount of space taken up by their paintings. Crafts were generally separated from the paintings. At the same time that sales started to decline, which I believe was due to the opening up of 4th Street and that more and more craftspeople were holding open studios. The gallery’s declining sales came to a head right about the time an even large set of troubles surfaced.
The Retrofit
The gallery was in debt. The year was 2001. The gallery had been aware of seismic issues since 1989 when the building had been placed on a list by the city called the Hazardous Buildings list. For over 10 years, various ACCI staff and board members worked on the issue. The most controversial idea involved selling the building and moving to an upscale 4th Street location. This proposal became moot when the developer who owned all of the 4th Street businesses responded to our inquiry for space “no way I will rent to a bunch of hippies and macramé makers.” About that time, the gallery’s director left and things just looked bleaker and bleaker. Another proposal was to sell air space and construct housing above the gallery, similar to the French Hotel but that went over like a lead balloon, or should I say like proposing a skyscraper in Berkeley.
When the city notified ACCI to take action showing good faith progress within 30 days or they would close the gallery, we responded by contacting city personnel. Fortunately, we were granted a “hardship” extension. Additionally we obtained a fee waiver from the City Council. Council members Donna Spring and Linda Maio managed to reduce high city fees that ACCI was in no position to afford and also provided helpful guidance through the permit process. Assistance like that emboldened the board to approve hiring a new ACCI manager and to create a committee to embark on a plan of action.
Our applications for a bank loan were refused many times over due to debt but one bank appreciated our building and its rental spaces on the 2nd floor and approved our loan request. The retrofit construction began. During the actual retrofit construction and with the help of volunteers and staff we moved our base of operations for a few months to a small storefront in an old wine shop next to Chez Panisse and customers would say “I didn’t know there was a craft gallery in Berkeley.” In March 2003, the retrofit was complete. We moved back and held a grand re-opening party attended by local dignitaries such as Assemblywoman Hancock and Mayor Tom Bates. The mayor read a proclamation in our honor. Also in attendance were several early gallery members including members #1 Dick and Erda Lebuhn.
Post retrofit, we analyzed sales patterns and began mixing up art and crafts throughout the gallery. Such re-distribution defused tensions between craftspeople and artists — and — sales increased! Additionally, and to gain more attention, we embarked on a guest artist plan. We have had international and national competitions and are scheduled to have even more. Currently scheduled for this July and August is a national juried exhibition of Fine Craft. Bringing in guest artists consumes member selling space and is controversial but guest artists bring in a broader market because some guest artists are famous. And some are infamous: last month guest artist Dan Meeker, with the use of forced air, showed an expanding condom lamp, which is actually still there. Also, in one of the front windows, there is presently a giant metal squid with moving tentacles that was created by an artist named Nemo.
Collective Memories
Our current exhibit is called Collective Memories and consists of craft and art from past members. This exhibit is coordinated with our 50th anniversary celebration this Saturday, May 19th, to which you all are invited. We are soliciting information about our history over the next year to be included in a publication about ACCI and have already gathered a great deal but if you have gallery stories to share, please contact the gallery, or me.
More than 3,000 members, as well as customers, neighbors, Berkeley residents, and many others have taken part in the gallery in its 50 years. We make a point of including in our membership appreciators of the gallery’s fine craft and art, and local citizens who participate in the running of the gallery. More than one former member has gone on to become an art professor. Among our former members are restaurateur Narsai David; former chair of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission and local historian Susan Cerny; co-author of the neighborhood preservation ordinance Martha Nickoloff; and former school board president Anna deLeon, now owner of Anna’s Jazz Café to name but a few.
Times have changed. We are one of many outlets for craft and art in the East Bay, and there are other locations of community classes for teaching craft and art. At ACCI, ironically, the classes we hold are not at the level of the 1970s when life drawing or ceramics for kids were offered, although we have recently held art talks and workshops. Also, when our members teach a class elsewhere, we advertise it. We often have art gallery management classes that visit ACCI to see how a gallery is run. Even though competition with overseas goods is keen, there remains an ardent desire to buy beautiful locally made goods. While our building is seismically stable (acknowledging that stable is as stable does during an actual temblor), the mitigation of controversy is not stable. We always ask ourselves what the gallery is doing that is special. We remain connected with the community of craftspeople and artists, as well as the community of Berkeley.
Let me close with a quote by Studs Terkel about a famous scientist: “Einstein once observed that Westerners have a feeling the individual loses his freedom if he joins, say, a union or any group. Precisely the opposite’s the case. The individual discovers his strength as an individual because he has, along the way, discovered, others share his feelings -- he is not alone, and thus a community is formed. You might call it the prescient community or the prophetic community. It’s always been there.
Beginnings
Call us A-C-C-I, Aahki, the Arts and Crafts Cooperative, Inc. or the Berkeley Art Co-op on Shattuck. I generally refer to it as The Gallery. Founded 50 years ago, in 1957, in North Berkeley by a group of artists and craftspeople who wanted to find a venue to display their own artwork, a group that was somehow able to transcend the traditional controversy over the definition of art versus the definition craft, and a group that eventually figured out how to afford to buy a beautiful building that would suit their purposes. Our building was originally a French laundry and designed by the same architect who designed the original building that is now the French Hotel, which was built around 1933. Both the French Hotel and our gallery housed a French laundry.
Issues
In the post WWII period when ACCI was founded, issues of inequities in gender, race and class were prominent, especially in Berkeley, a community often ahead of its time. Industrialization devalued handmade items. Few venues for handmade works of talented local painters and craftspeople existed — apart from museums. At UC Berkeley, female students were still being directed to majors such as home economics and teaching. One professor was ostracized and eventually fired from teaching at UC for actually selling jewelry that she had designed. The design department was meant to be just that, design; you could not sell what you made. These inequities were amplified for minority artists and craftspeople. The Ashby flea market did not exist.
By the 1950s, goods in stores were mostly being created from machines, especially post WWII when greater efficiencies were brought into the manufacturing process. From 1951 or so, Berkeley artists and craft makers started to sell their work in the parking lots of the food cooperatives. They found eager buyers. In the 1950s, craft galleries did not exist.
The mid-1950s were a time of growing consumer empowerment. The Berkeley food co-op helped to jump-start the Arts and Craft Cooperative, as well as other Berkeley co-ops. Values of the food co-op spilled bountifully into ACCI’s beginnings. The University Ave Co-op’s employee dining room is where the first meetings of the newly forming ACCI were held, and also where ACCI’s first gallery space for sales was located - upstairs. ACCI’s bylaws were modeled after those of a Midwest milk cooperative. As an example of responding to mass production of the times, it’s worth sharing with you ACCI’s proclamation, which came about two years after ACCI’s founding:
[”Whereas: in the year 1844 on a dark and grimy street called Toad Lane in the milltown of Rochdale, England a certain group of weavers known as the Equitable Society of Pioneers, did establish and put into practice Principles of Co-operation to better their living conditions and Whereas Time and the experiences of many persons throughout the world have proved these same Principles of Co-operation to be of sound value in bringing more of the better things in life to more and more people, and]
“Whereas in the year 1959 in Berkeley, California, city of learning by the Golden Gate, a certain group of Artists and Craftsmen who are desirous of using these same principles of Co-operation in the business of selling their own works of art and craft objects, have joined together to form a new organization herein after to be known as the Arts and Crafts Cooperative Inc. and Whereas this Arts & Crafts Cooperative Inc. will include in its membership not only those who produce fine wares and works of art but also those who would buy the same, Therefore be it hereby Proclaimed that those who have organized the Arts & Crafts Cooperative Inc., invite all those who pass this way to observe and learn of the potentialities and aims of the group, and if they are found worthy, to join in support of this new venture to the end that even in the Age of Automation Artists and Craftsmen may find the economic security which will permit them to be Artists and Craftsmen and also to the end that the homes by the Golden Gate may be pleasantly filled with the beautiful things they will make.”
Differences
All of this sounds great but even when only a few people gather there are bound to be differences – and good for that! Berkeley values discussion and perspective. Founding a unique organization like ACCI necessitated a back and forth-ness. Many issues came to the fore. For example, some members advocated such high quality at the gallery that they were accused of trying to set museum standards. The accusers were labeled “potholder makers.” Questions surfaced such as, What is art? Where does craft fit in? How do they come together? Recall that the gallery’s formation was about finding venues for both art and craft. Some times issues were resolved, other times not. One of the first shows at the newly formed ACCI was called "The Paintings and Pot Holders Show.” As a local media pundit said on his morning show, “I would not have believed professional artists and craftsmen could rub shoulders with amateurs and hobbyists in a successful affair.”
Another difference of opinion among members was the inclusion of imported art and crafts. In the 1950s, gallery president Sam Erlich advocated for crafts from cooperatives all around the world (Barpoli cottons from India, Navajo rugs, Guatemalan blankets, Bolivian sweaters, Eskimo soapstone sculptures, pottery from the Architecture and Craft Group in Kyoto Japan, etc.). Sam’s notion was contentious because members felt that the gallery ought to focus solely on the work of its members. Sam threatened to quit and market the imports at the food coop. The gallery in fact carried imported items for a number of years. These were crafts created by cooperatives often consisting of entire villages. In some cases the sales from the gallery constituted most of a village’s income. Occasionally, even museums would enter the gallery to purchase imported items for display. I don't know why the import program was discontinued but I suspect it was because stores like Cost Plus started bringing in crafts from around the world. Handmade foreign crafts that used to be considered by the buying public as superior to American handcrafts gradually came to be made more cheaply when being exported.
Other differences such as the use of gallery space arose in the 1960s and 1970s. It was controversial to hold classes at the gallery and to use the space for teaching instead of displaying. Questions arose about the appropriateness of teaching art in a space meant for sales. For a time, the gallery did both with the use of movable walls. Some members felt strongly about the issue of community education and even felt that our role as a community gallery was to provide a venue for those less familiar with craft and art. Some members went further and nurtured the promising craftspeople. Occasionally, such mentoring led to involvement in craft education and politics. A key member in the founding of ACCI, Catherine Webb, went to Mississippi in the early 1960s to teach woodworking in what was called The Poor Peoples Corporation.
Gallery sales gradually started to decline around 1990 until approximately 2000. During that time, tensions again arose between artists and craftspeople. It was said that artists contributed insufficient sales income for the amount of space taken up by their paintings. Crafts were generally separated from the paintings. At the same time that sales started to decline, which I believe was due to the opening up of 4th Street and that more and more craftspeople were holding open studios. The gallery’s declining sales came to a head right about the time an even large set of troubles surfaced.
The Retrofit
The gallery was in debt. The year was 2001. The gallery had been aware of seismic issues since 1989 when the building had been placed on a list by the city called the Hazardous Buildings list. For over 10 years, various ACCI staff and board members worked on the issue. The most controversial idea involved selling the building and moving to an upscale 4th Street location. This proposal became moot when the developer who owned all of the 4th Street businesses responded to our inquiry for space “no way I will rent to a bunch of hippies and macramé makers.” About that time, the gallery’s director left and things just looked bleaker and bleaker. Another proposal was to sell air space and construct housing above the gallery, similar to the French Hotel but that went over like a lead balloon, or should I say like proposing a skyscraper in Berkeley.
When the city notified ACCI to take action showing good faith progress within 30 days or they would close the gallery, we responded by contacting city personnel. Fortunately, we were granted a “hardship” extension. Additionally we obtained a fee waiver from the City Council. Council members Donna Spring and Linda Maio managed to reduce high city fees that ACCI was in no position to afford and also provided helpful guidance through the permit process. Assistance like that emboldened the board to approve hiring a new ACCI manager and to create a committee to embark on a plan of action.
Our applications for a bank loan were refused many times over due to debt but one bank appreciated our building and its rental spaces on the 2nd floor and approved our loan request. The retrofit construction began. During the actual retrofit construction and with the help of volunteers and staff we moved our base of operations for a few months to a small storefront in an old wine shop next to Chez Panisse and customers would say “I didn’t know there was a craft gallery in Berkeley.” In March 2003, the retrofit was complete. We moved back and held a grand re-opening party attended by local dignitaries such as Assemblywoman Hancock and Mayor Tom Bates. The mayor read a proclamation in our honor. Also in attendance were several early gallery members including members #1 Dick and Erda Lebuhn.
Post retrofit, we analyzed sales patterns and began mixing up art and crafts throughout the gallery. Such re-distribution defused tensions between craftspeople and artists — and — sales increased! Additionally, and to gain more attention, we embarked on a guest artist plan. We have had international and national competitions and are scheduled to have even more. Currently scheduled for this July and August is a national juried exhibition of Fine Craft. Bringing in guest artists consumes member selling space and is controversial but guest artists bring in a broader market because some guest artists are famous. And some are infamous: last month guest artist Dan Meeker, with the use of forced air, showed an expanding condom lamp, which is actually still there. Also, in one of the front windows, there is presently a giant metal squid with moving tentacles that was created by an artist named Nemo.
Collective Memories
Our current exhibit is called Collective Memories and consists of craft and art from past members. This exhibit is coordinated with our 50th anniversary celebration this Saturday, May 19th, to which you all are invited. We are soliciting information about our history over the next year to be included in a publication about ACCI and have already gathered a great deal but if you have gallery stories to share, please contact the gallery, or me.
More than 3,000 members, as well as customers, neighbors, Berkeley residents, and many others have taken part in the gallery in its 50 years. We make a point of including in our membership appreciators of the gallery’s fine craft and art, and local citizens who participate in the running of the gallery. More than one former member has gone on to become an art professor. Among our former members are restaurateur Narsai David; former chair of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission and local historian Susan Cerny; co-author of the neighborhood preservation ordinance Martha Nickoloff; and former school board president Anna deLeon, now owner of Anna’s Jazz Café to name but a few.
Times have changed. We are one of many outlets for craft and art in the East Bay, and there are other locations of community classes for teaching craft and art. At ACCI, ironically, the classes we hold are not at the level of the 1970s when life drawing or ceramics for kids were offered, although we have recently held art talks and workshops. Also, when our members teach a class elsewhere, we advertise it. We often have art gallery management classes that visit ACCI to see how a gallery is run. Even though competition with overseas goods is keen, there remains an ardent desire to buy beautiful locally made goods. While our building is seismically stable (acknowledging that stable is as stable does during an actual temblor), the mitigation of controversy is not stable. We always ask ourselves what the gallery is doing that is special. We remain connected with the community of craftspeople and artists, as well as the community of Berkeley.
Let me close with a quote by Studs Terkel about a famous scientist: “Einstein once observed that Westerners have a feeling the individual loses his freedom if he joins, say, a union or any group. Precisely the opposite’s the case. The individual discovers his strength as an individual because he has, along the way, discovered, others share his feelings -- he is not alone, and thus a community is formed. You might call it the prescient community or the prophetic community. It’s always been there.