Margery Anneberg

Margery Anneberg
Born
Margery Channing Anneberg

(1921-11-29)November 29, 1921.
Carroll, Iowa, United States
DiedMay 19, 2003(2003-05-19) (aged 81)
San Francisco, California, United States
Other namesMargery Anneburg, Margery Annenberg
EducationUniversity of Washington
Occupation(s)Goldsmith, jeweler, gallerist, curator, museum founder, museum director, art collector
Known forCuration of jewelry, craft, American folk art, and international folk art
AwardsHonorary Fellow of American Craft Council (1979)

Margery Channing Anneberg (1921–2003) was an American museum founder and museum director, curator, gallerist, goldsmith, and jeweler. She founded the Anneberg Gallery (1966–1981) in San Francisco, considered the first professional contemporary craft gallery; and she co-founded the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum (1983–2012).[1] She was named an honorary fellow by the American Craft Council (ACC) in 1979.[2][3]

Early life and education

Margery Anneberg was born in 1921 in Carroll, Iowa;[4] and she was raised in Longview, Washington.[1] She studied in the Far Eastern and Russian Institute (now the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies) at the University of Washington. In 1957, she moved to California.[1]

Career

Anneberg won a crafts prize for her gold and silver necklace during the San Francisco Arts Commission's "Arts Festival in Civic Center Plaza" in 1966; and the top prize was awarded to Ruth Asawa for a metal tree sculpture.[5] Anneberg was a member of the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco.[6]

Anneberg founded a gallery selling crafts and displaying local artists in 1966, initially named The Jewelry Shop and Gallery on Hyde Street; a year later it was renamed as the Anneberg Gallery.[7] Her gallery also sold international contemporary folk art (such as textiles, masks, baskets, metalwork, and sculptures), with a few pieces of historical folk art.[7][8] It was the first professional gallery for contemporary crafts.[9] The gallery closed in 1981.[9]

Center for Folk Art and Contemporary Crafts

In 1972, Anneberg co-founded the Center for Folk Art and Contemporary Crafts, a nonprofit focused on crafts and folk, which never had a building.[2][9]

Museum of Craft and Folk Art

In October 1983, Anneberg and Gertrud V. Parker co-founded the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum on Balboa Street at 6th Avenue in the inner Richmond District; it occupied a 2,400 square feet (220 m2) building that once housed a psychiatric hospital.[2][10] The museum collection was decommissioned in 1991, with three quarters of the work placed into educational institutions.[10] San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum was later known as the Museum of Craft and Folk Art (MOCFA), and was relocated to Fort Mason Center.[1][11][12] The museum held more than 200 exhibitions, and closed in 2012.[10]

Late life and death

In her later life she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which progressed and forced an early retirement in 1986.[1] She died on May 19, 2003 in a hospital, from complications of multiple sclerosis.[1]

Her work can be found in the collection at the San Francisco Arts Commission.[13]

Publications

  • A General Handbook of China. Vol. 1. Margery Anneberg, et al. Seattle, Washington: Far Eastern and Russian Institute, University of Washington. 1956.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Anneberg, Margery (1984). Native Arts of Luzon Collected By William S. Galvin. San Francisco Crafts and Folk Art Museum.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Anneberg, Margery". SFGate. June 11, 2003. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  2. ^ a b c "New museum to open". The San Francisco Examiner. 1982-10-19. p. 49. Retrieved 2024-03-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  4. ^ "Margery Channing Anneberg; Iowa, Birth and Stillbirth Records, 1921–1947". FamilySearch.org. State of Iowa. November 29, 1921.
  5. ^ "Ruth Asawa wins top prize at arts festival". The San Francisco Examiner. 1966-09-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-03-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Art Festival at Civic Center". The San Francisco Examiner. 1961-09-22. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-03-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "A Finding Aid to the Anneberg Gallery Records, 1945-1992, bulk 1966-1981, in the Archives of American Art" (PDF). Archives of American Art. Smithsonian. September 14, 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2023.
  8. ^ Mayer, Barbara (1988). Contemporary American Craft Art: A Collector's Guide. Peregrine Smith Books. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-87905-284-3.
  9. ^ a b c Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (2010-07-31). Makers: A History of American Studio Craft. University of North Carolina Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-8078-9583-2.
  10. ^ a b c Wertkin, Gerard C. (2004-08-02). Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Routledge. p. 381. ISBN 978-1-135-95615-8.
  11. ^ "The San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art". SFGate. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  12. ^ "Pieces of New Guinea". The San Francisco Examiner. 2000-04-02. p. 321. ISSN 2574-593X. Retrieved 2024-03-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Margery Anneberg". San Francisco Arts Commission. Retrieved 2024-03-08.