SFA art professor to participate in prestigious panel discussion

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Piero Fenci, professor of art at Stephen F. Austin State University, is among the artists selected to participate in a free, virtual panel discussion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

The panel brings together a group of locally and nationally distinguished artists and thinkers to reflect on how HCCC has grown over the past 20 years and what the future of craft as a field looks like.

The discussion takes place from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23. Virtual attendance is free, but registration is required. 

Professor of art at SFA since 1975, Fenci has earned an international reputation as a ceramist, exhibiting his work from coast to coast, as well as in Italy, Russia and Mexico. In 2012, he was named a “Texas Master” by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and was the fourth person (and the first ceramist) in the state to be honored with the award. His work is represented in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Scheiner-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, Alfred, New York; and in the Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler.

Founded in 2001, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to advancing education about the process, product and history of craft. The center’s major emphasis is on objects of art made primarily from craft materials: clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood or found/recycled materials.

HCCC serves as a resource in the Houston arts community and the region by showcasing emerging and acclaimed artists in exhibitions, introducing visitors of all ages to contemporary craft through hands-on and virtual programming, and supporting the development of working artists through its artist residency programs.