CraftNEWYORK, a Show and Sale to Benefit CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund + Artists’ Emergency Resources), will take place March 30, 31 and April 1, 2012 in New York City at 7W New York, on 34th Street at Fifth Avenue. It will feature 120 outstanding American artists including international craft luminaries Randall Darwall, Cliff Lee, Thomas Mann, and Hideaki Miyamura and the 2011 Best of Show Award winner, Jay Rogers. The second annual exhibit and sale of contemporary decorative arts and design draws an international audience of enthusiasts from across the globe. The inaugural event was visited by top collectors, curators and designers including Barbara Tober, Paul J. Smith and Judith Ripka. Chief curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, David Revere McFadden, awarded the prestigious Best of Show award to woodworker Jay Rogers. This year, Ulysses Dietz, senior curator at the Newark Museum, will choose the recipient. 120 of America’s most skilled designer craftspeople are selected by a prestigious jury of acclaimed craft artists, educators and experts who select work that exemplifies the highest quality, technical merit, and originality in American craft today. The show includes one-of-a-kind and limited edition work in ceramics, fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, paper, wearable art or wood. Celebrated and recognized internationally, many of the artists you will find at the show have been collected by major museums including the Smithsonian, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum, and the Museum of Arts and Design, to name only a few. Jeff Sobel, past president of Artrider Productions notes, “these particular artists show us why America is at the pinnacle of the craft movement. In turn they continue the tradition, they set the standard, and they push the envelope.” Ticket sales go directly to CERF+ whose mission is to safeguard and sustain the careers of craft artists and to provide emergency resources and services that benefit all artists. The only non-profit of its kind, it provides emergency relief support, business and career-strengthening programs, and advocacy and research for professional craft artists across the nation. CERF+ also advocates, engages in research, and backs policy that supports artists’ careers. Since its inception 25 years ago, CERF+ has helped hundreds of artists with over $1 million in financial assistance, along with approximately $250,000 in donated services.