Vivian Dai, who sparked the arts and crafts movement in Durham in the late 1940s, urged Allied Arts (now Durham Arts Council) to set new, higher standards of quality, craftsmanship, and excellence.
Potter Sid Oakley (above) and his wife Pat founded Strawberry Fields Gallery (now Cedar Creek Gallery) in 1969 as a place for showcasing crafts and for artists to work, teach, and share ideas. (courtesy Lisa Oakley)
Dai’s vision was realized with the first Triangle Festival of Crafts in 1967. By the second festival in 1969, craftsmen now regarded as artists were coming out of the woodwork. This festival became an annual event, evolving into today’s Centerfest, the longest running juried outdoors arts festival in North Carolina.
Copper teapot by Andrew Preiss, 2005. Preiss, a Durham native, is a sculptor and furniture designer who works in metal out of his ARP Design Studio. (courtesy Andrew Preiss)
