August 22, 2026 – January 3, 2027
The human body is essential to craft. This genre of art is rooted in physical labor, tactile knowledge, and material intimacy, and the resulting pieces are often intended to protect our bodies or to assist in nourishing them.
Building on that foundation, this exhibition presents works made of wood, ceramics, glass, textiles, and sweetgrass, and foregrounds their bodily resonance in terms of method of making as well as subject matter. The artists, both historical and contemporary, reveal their deep engagement with the body through figural representations and objects that address life cycles and support bodily functions. Likewise, they leave the marks of their own bodies through the labor of creation — the gestures (or lack thereof), repetitions, and physical engagement that shape each piece.
Body Matters celebrates the importance of the hand in handwork and encourages viewers to consider their own relationships with objects both in and outside the galleries. This exhibition is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America's nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.
The Body At Work
Making is a conversation between body and material. Every object begins with a body. Hands learn the weight of a tool. Muscles strengthen through repeated gestures. Over time, movements become more certain, knowing when to push, pull back, edit, and adapt. Each material asks something different from us, and over time we learn how to respond. It is through this labor and care that knowledge settles into the body itself, and the traces of that knowledge remain visible in every mark, surface, and form.
Bringing together artists and makers from across Columbia, this film reflects on the physical and sensory experience of artmaking, extending ideas from Body Matters through the perspectives of those grounded in these material practices.
Produced by Drew Baron, executive producer and content strategist.
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In the final gallery of this exhibition, you are invited to explore ideas from Body Matters through a hands-on, sensory environment. Rather than encountering objects from a distance, you are encouraged to engage through touch, sound, and smell, to hear artists reflect on their processes and practices, and to consider your own responses to the exhibition.
Together, these experiences offer another way to think about the relationship between craft, materials, and the body, bringing you closer to the processes of making and the work required to bring these objects to life.
This installation was made possible through a collaboration with Larry Reaves of Reaves Woodworks. His craftsmanship and thoughtful fabrication transformed our ideas into these interactive experiences. We would also like to thank the Columbia Design League, an affinity group of the Columbia Museum of Art, for its generous support of this project.
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Thank You to Our Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
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Dr. Suzanne R. Thorpe and Dr. John W. Baynes
Bronze Sponsors
Abacus Planning Group; Suzanne and Robert Clawson; Maynard Nexsen PC; Beth and Matthew Richardson; Brenda and Rick Wheeler
Patron Sponsors
Joseph Bruce
Grantors
Image at top: Bob Trotman, American, born 1947
Person of Interest (detail), 2008
Wood, tempera, wax; 24 x 24 x 16 in. Gift of Bob Trotman and the Kohler Foundation, Inc. CMA 2023.7