Marblehead Artist Awarded Craft Innovation Jumpstarter Grant

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A Marblehead artist who uses salvaged wood collected after natural disasters to create wall sculptures inspired by traditional women's textiles and crafts earned one of two grants recently awarded by The Society of Arts + Crafts through its Craft Innovation Jumpstarter program.

Laura Petrovich-Cheney, a part-time Marblehead elementary school teacher and artist-in-residence at Boston Children's Hospital, was one of two artists awarded the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation grants aimed at helping artists looking to pursue new directions and ideas.

The Society received more than 100 applications for the grants, according to Trustee Katina Leodas, who served as one of four jurors alongside former Trustee and fiber artist Lois Russell, mixed-media artist Jessica Calderwood, and furniture maker Michael Puryear.

"Craft and play are essential in promoting creativity, problem-solving and self-expression, as well as providing a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment," Petrovich-Cheney said. "The core of play for me is experimentation, imagination, and freedom, which allow me to step outside my comfort zone and explore new possibilities without fear of failure or judgment. Adopting a playful mindset allows me to work with new motifs, such as houses and stars, and create innovative work full of energy and vitality."

Sarah Madeleine T. Guerin of Wakefield, who uses traditional boot-making techniques to create artistic and functional footwear and to bring awareness to the environmental and social impact of footwear manufacturing in New England, was the other grant recipient.

Leodas said jurors felt the winning artists were highly accomplished, demonstrating advanced levels of skill and creativity.

"Collectively, Sarah and Laura have a strong sense of belonging to a craft community, and their projects are designed to help and strengthen those communities," she said. "Both work with other organizations and make craft a part of more lives. They are both uniquely positioned at the crossroads of heritage skills and innovative fine craft and have focused plans that are working toward specific goals.

"We think they’ll make great use of the grants and we congratulate them as they move further on their projects."

Russell said the overwhelming application response demonstrates how important even modest grants are to craft artists in New England

"The applications showed many artists need support to move their work forward,” Russell said. “The proposals also painted a picture of how artists are looking to be supported. Through financial means of course, but also in the need to rejoin communities after the pandemic, and find ongoing training and mentorship."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)