The 2025 Creative Crafts Council (CCC) 35th Biennial Exhibition presents 169 outstanding artworks by craftspeople from the Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia region. See top crafts in ceramics, enamel, fiber, glass, metal, mixed media, wood, book arts, and jewelry and wearable art. On March 14, 2025 36 artworks received awards for their makers’ outstanding efforts.
Jurors for the 2025 CCC 35th Biennial wave to the audience at Strathmore Mansion. L-R: Michael Janis, Mary Higgins, Robert Devers.
Washington Glass School was well represented, with works by Kate Barfield, Erwin Timmers and April Shelford included in the exhibition.
1st and 2nd place winners of the CCC Best Glass category: Janet Wittenberg and WGS’ Erwin TimmersApril Shelford’s work Fossil won Honorable Mention
Saturday March 29, and April 26, 2025: Meet the Makers – come meet crafts people from the CCC Guilds and learn more about their crafts at the Strathmore Mansion 11am-1 pm
35th Biennial Creative Crafts Exhibition of Fine Crafts Saturday March 15 – Saturday May 24, 2025
The Strathmore Mansion 10701 Rockville Pike North Bethesda, MD 20852
Thursday, March 20, 2025: Opening reception and awards ceremony open to the public at the Strathmore Mansion 7-9 pm
The Creative Crafts Council (CCC) celebrates its 35th biennial exhibition supporting the finest crafts from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The first biennial had bold beginnings as the Exhibition of Creative Arts at the National Collection of Fine Arts, now known as the National Museum of American Art, and today continues a long tradition of exhibiting at Strathmore.
The 2025 Creative the Crafts Council 35th Exhibition will showcase some of the finest artworks from the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia region, featuring ceramics, enamel, fiber, glass, metal, mixed media, wood, book arts, jewelry, and wearable art. The exhibition runs from Saturday, March 15, 2025, to Saturday, May 24, 2025, at the Mansion at Strathmore, located at 10701 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.
The Creative Crafts Council (CCC) is an umbrella organization of fine craft guilds that sponsors a juried biennial exhibition of artworks from regional fine craft artists at the Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, and supports and promotes craft-making across Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The CCC’s exhibitions of regional craft have been held since 1954.
Meet the Jurors for the 35th CCC Exhibition
Michael Janis, Co-Director of the Washington Glass School & Studio, blends his architectural expertise with a disciplined approach to glass art, managing site-specific and public art commissions since 2005. His narrative artwork, inspired by his multicultural background as the child of Asian/Latino descent, is featured in major museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Tacoma Museum of Glass. Janis is the Lowe Art Museum’s 2024 Distinguished Artist, currently working on a public art memorial for the Enslaved People Who Built the US Capitol. Robert Devers is an artist with a multi-faceted practice that includes ceramics, sculpture, painting, and photography. Ceramics remains his essential focus and provides the lens through which the other mediums are engaged and ultimately brought back into play in ceramic practice. Robert Devers received his MFA degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is currently the Coordinator for the Center for Craft Studies at VisArts in Rockville, MD. He has taught at universities in Washington, DC and Maryland and has works in public collections including Smithsonian Renwick Gallery and the Manuel Cargaliero Foundation, Ravello, Italy. Mary Higgins is an independent curator and consults with working artists on the development of their marketing and digital media presence through her consultancy, Distinct Studios. Throughout her career, she had maintained her artistic practice of drawing and exhibiting throughout the Washington DC region and internationally. She served for five years as a gallery director and curator for the Schlesinger Center at Northern Virginia Community College where she produced or curated more than 80 exhibitions including three site-specific public installations.
The Strathmore Mansion; 10701 Rockville Pike North Bethesda, MD 20852
The Creative Crafts Council (CCC) 34th Biennial Exhibition will present some of the Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia region’s top work in ceramics, enamel, fiber, glass, metal, mixed media, wood, book arts, and more at The Mansion at Strathmore. Look for works by WGS artists April Shelford and Patricia De Poel Wilberg!
April Shelford, “Gravity’s Loom” 2023, fused glass
The Creative Crafts Council is an umbrella organization of fine craft guilds that sponsors a juried biennial exhibition of regional fine craft artists at the Strathmore Mansion in North Bethesda, Maryland and supports and promotes craft-making across Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The CCC’s exhibitions of regional craft have been held since 1954.
The 2023 CCC Exhibition May 9-July 22,2023 At the Mansion at Strathmore Thursday, May 11, 2023: Opening Reception and awards -open to the public at the Strathmore Mansion from 7-9 pm.
The Mansion is located at 10701 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, close to the Grosvenor Metro Station. Visit the exhibition now through July 29, 2023.
“Corallite 117” by Nikki O’Neill and “Cool Comfort” by Andrew Lang
The Creative Crafts Council (CCC) celebrates its 31st biennial exhibition supporting the finest crafts from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The first biennial had bold beginnings as the Exhibition of Creative Arts at the National Collection of Fine Arts, now known as the National Museum of American Art, and today continues a long tradition of exhibiting at Strathmore Mansion.
The CCC is made up of the Potters Guild of Frederick, Washington Ceramic Guild, Washington Guild of Goldsmiths, Fiber Art Study Group, Capital Area Woodturners, Potomac Fiber Arts Guild, Montgomery County Woodturners, National Capital Art Glass Guild, The Kiln Club, Montgomery Potters, and National Enamelist Guild. In this 31st annual juried exhibition, you will see traditional media from these guilds and beyond, representing excellence in fiber, enamel, wood, glass, ceramics, metals, and mixed media.
2017 Jurors
Maurine Littleton: Maurine, daughter of Harvey K. Littleton, is the owner and director of Maurine Littleton Gallery in Washington DC. The gallery exhibits and represents leading contemporary artists in glass, metal, and ceramics.
Rebecca Stevens: Rebecca has been the Consulting Curator of Contemporary Textiles at The Textile Museum in Washington D.C. since 1980. She has lectured on five continents, served as curator and as a juror for major fiber exhibitions both nationally and internationally.
Matthew Hyleck: Matthew is an artist, teacher and the Education Coordinator at Baltimore Clayworks. His work is represented by six galleries across the country and has taught a number of workshops in the northeast, United States.
