RoycroftCampusCorporation

Roycroft Blog / Modeled Leather

Another art form practiced at the original Roycroft was leatherwork. In an article titled “Roycroft Ripples” in a February 1907 issue of the East Aurora Advertiser, it was noted that “Fred Kranz is finishing up a $800 leather frieze for a rich Cleveland banker. It is a beauty. Visitors who know say Kranz turns out the finest modeled leather goods in the country.” A modeled leather frieze also decorated Alice Hubbard's Roycroft office. 

Picture frames, jewel boxes, bookends, table mats, handbags, wastebaskets, upholstery on chairs and of course book covers, are some of the many objects enhanced with decorative modeled designs by the artisans of the Roycroft leather department. 

Samples of leather work by leather department head George ScheideMantel are on display at the Elbert Hubbard Museum in East Aurora. This bungalow museum was the ScheideMantel home, built by Roycrofters. For more information go to the website for the Aurora Historical Society.  

- Sue 

The Annual Arts & Crafts Pilgrimage to Asheville

Soon thousands of Arts & Crafts devotees will be making their way to Asheville, North Carolina for the February Arts & Crafts Conference (Feb. 20-23) at the Grove Park Inn, where the Roycrofters work can still be seen. 

    In 1912 the Roycrofters of East Aurora received a large commission for over 700 lighting and 700 furniture pieces for the Grove Park Inn. Fred Seely, one of the developers for the project, was a Roycroft fan, who personally owned Roycroft furniture and lobbied for purchasing all Roycroft furnishings for the Inn. The East Aurora shops could not handle such a large order, so they elected to do the public space furniture only. 

    Today, massive Roycroft grandfather clocks continue to stand guard in the main lobby and enormous Roycroft chandeliers hang overhead.

    The Roycroft Campus Corporation always sends representatives to this annual event. Look for the RCC booth at the conference.

- Sue

 

Learn More Ruskin

Doctor James L. Spates, Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Urban Studies Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York was the keynote speaker lecturing on Ruskin at the October 2013 Roycroft Conference. Roycrofters may be interested to know he has begun a Ruskin blog, at www.whyruskin.wordpress.com. Go there to learn more Ruskin!

- Sue

 

The Perfect Gifts are at the Copper Shop

        I love the Christmas holidays - and birthdays too - because I really enjoy giving gifts. I like to think about the person, their interests or some shared memory we have and then do my best to come up with a unique gift that shows I have thought about them.

        The Roycroft Copper Shop in East Aurora has a wide selection of gifts to please anyone on your gift list: from one-of-a-kind hand crafted artisan pieces to books, stationery and Roycroft coffee mugs and wine glasses. I can say from personal experience any of these items are treasured by those who receive them.

        For those who prefer sharing time or are “active learners”, I recommend giving a weekend RCC artisan class. Class sizes are small so the instructor can give personal attention to students and the two days spent immersed in the craft brings the added fun of close camaraderie - congratulating one another in the class on developing a particular skill or a finely finished project. It is a truly memorable weekend where you learn and come away with your own creation. 

         See the RCC Web site for the latest schedule of classes.

- Sue 

RALA Winter Festival

‘Tis the Roycroft Season 

        The Roycrofters At Large Winter Festival is this Saturday and Sunday, December 7 & 8 at the East Aurora Middle School, 430 Main Street. Artisans juried by the Roycrofters At Large Association (RALA) will be in attendance selling a variety of fine decorative arts. The festival is open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. each day and admission is $1 per person. This is also the time to see the “Goodie Box” and buy a chance to win it (the drawing is in June at the summer festival). 

        Continue your holiday shopping across Main Street on the Roycroft Campus at the Roycroft Copper Shop Gallery. The Gallery features one-of-a-kind pieces by RALA artisans as well as books, stationery and the ever popular Roycroft coffee mugs and wine glasses. There are also two special events on Campus December 7th: tea tastings in the Copper Shop from noon to 5 p.m. and an Arts & Crafts "Return to Nature" lecture and campus tour ($25 fee and requiring reservations) from 1-3:30 p.m.

Happy Roycroft hunting!

 

- Sue

Roycroft Summer Festival

        The Roycroft Summer Festival makes its annual appearance in East Aurora this June 29 & 30, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., both days. RALA Artisans will be at Parkdale Slementary School (141 Girard Avenue).

        On the Roycroft Campus, the Copper Shop is ready for festival visitors with everything "Roycroftie" and the Power House will be open to the public so that visitors may go inside this newly reconstructed building. Artisan classes are held here throughout the year and the building is available to rent for business functions, receptions, and weddings. For details on what's happening on Campus go to www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com. 

        Tours of this National Historic Landmark Campus are $10 per person and are given at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays. You can buy a discounted combination tour ticket for both the Roycroft Campus and the Hubbard Museum at the Copper Shop.

        I recommend ending your day with a Peristyle porch dinner at the Roycroft Inn. The same porch where Elbert Hubbard had lively conversations with famous visitors that became the material for his periodicals. And, the same porch where you can soak up the "calm of the country," as Elbert put it, and of which he was so fond.

Enjoy your time in this beautiful village!

- Sue