Through July 30, Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri, showcases its first exhibition devoted to the art and craft of enamelware. Featuring the work of 10 prominent local, national and international artists, Holding Space: Contemporary Enamel Vessels reveals the techniques and highly individual approaches used to create enamelware.

© Courtesy of Springfield Art Museum

 “The title, ‘Holding Space,’ is purposefully evocative as it is meant to represent the primary themes of the exhibition: the museum is holding space in our galleries for these artists and our guests, and each vessel is capable of holding space within it,” said Sarah Buhr, curator of art, Springfield Art Museum.

Historically, enameling was used to create jewelry and decorative arts, and can be found among early decorative vessels. Enameling uses a process in which powdered glass is fused to a surface during the firing phase, and can be done on metal, glass, ceramics, stone or other materials capable of enduring intense temperatures required for firing.

© Courtesy of Sarah Perkins

Anchoring the exhibition is a selection of work by Springfield’s own Sarah Perkins, regarded as a prominent figure in the realm of contemporary enameling. In addition to Perkins, featured artists are Beate Gegenwart and Helen Carnac, both from the United Kingdom; Tanya Crane of Rhode Island; Harlan Butt from Texas; Jessica Calderwood from Indiana; Kat Cole of Georgia; Yi Chen from Taiwan; Barbara Minor of Louisiana; and the late June Schwarcz from California.

Organized by Sarah Buhr in collaboration with artist Sarah Perkins, this exhibition includes loans from public and private collections, including Metal Museum, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and the Enamel Arts Foundation. A Slow Viewing session with Shauna LeAnn Smith will be held May 24 at 5 p.m., and a full color catalog (available in English or Spanish) is available. The museum is located at 1111 W. Brookside Drive. Admission is free.