On the evening of December 2, 2009, the Brookline Arts Center will inaugurate its 35th annual Crafts Showcase with an extraordinary evening of three trunk shows by five nationally acclaimed craft artists. Steven Ford and David Forlano of Ford+Forlano Jewelry, jeweler Erica Demarco, and Randall Darwall and Brian Murphy, who make luxurious hand woven silk, will present an expanded collection of their work, including new and one of a kind pieces.

The Preview Reception will take place from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and provide a first look at the artworks that are available for purchase at the Brookline Arts Center’s 35th Annual Crafts Showcase. The evening’s celebration is given in honor of Westwood’s Colleen Messing, a long-time collector of fine crafts and former Board President of the Brookline Arts Center.

According to Crafts Showcase chair Isabella Frost, “Colleen Messing has been an importa nt patron of the Crafts Showcase. Her support has allowed our volunteers to experiment with design innovations in the Crafts Showcase exhibition, which is one of the Brookline Arts Center’s most valuable fundraising events.”

Erica DeMarco, handmade necklace, from Dec 2 Preview Trunk Show at Brookline Arts Center

Based in Philadelphia, Steven Ford and David Forlano began their collaboration in Rome in 1987. David brings an interest in rich color and intensely hued patterns; Steven concentrates on the three-dimensional structures that shape the Ford+Furlano broaches and necklaces. Using the malleable forms and painterly colors of polymer clay (sometimes mounted on a sterling silver frame), the two artists evoke the imagery and colors of nature.

Ford+Furlano jewelry is now included in the collections of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Helsinki DesignMuseo in Finland, and New York’s Museum of Art and Design.

A graduate of George Washington University and the School of the Museum of Fine arts, Erica Demarco creates jewelry that feature found elements and rubber, as well as crystals, semi-precious stones and pearls. Her work has been described as “offbeat elegant.” DeMarco is active in the Massachusetts contemporary crafts world, as the owner of a Newton boutique, as well as a board member at the Society of Arts and Crafts.

Randall Darwall and Brian Murphy are textile and clothing designers based in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Their workshops on hand weaving are also well-known and highly-regarded, and their work has been featured in the Fuller Crafts Museum’s Craft in America: Expanding Traditions exhibition, as well as Crafts Boston and the American Craft Council’s 2009 show in Baltimore.

The Preview Reception will take place from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday December 2nd at the Brookline Arts Center, located at 86 Monmouth Street, one block from Beacon Street. The evening’s guests will also be the first to shop for artworks and gifts at the Crafts Showcase, which is the Brookline Arts Center’s annual winter fundraiser. The ticket price is $25 ($20 in advance), and will raise money to support art classes and scholarships at the Brookline Arts Center. For more information, please visit www.brooklineartscenter.com or call the Brookline Arts Center at 617-566-5715.