A glass work by Charles Savoie. Courtesy Smithsonian Craft Show

Masuo Ojima, a 49-year-old potter from Los Angeles, has been trying to get into the Smithsonian Craft Show for 10 years. He exhibits at other juried shows around the country. And his ceramic platters are in the permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery, the nation's craft museum across from the White House. But his annual application to the Smithsonian show was rejected each time – until this year.

In a sign of changing times for American craft as well as for Ojima, he made the cut. When the Smithsonian's 17th annual show opens April 15th at the National Building Museum, an expected 17,000 visitors over four days will find Ojima's singular ceramics amid finely crafted holloware, bronze, patchwork, paper art, basketry and more. "This is a very prestigious show," said the artist in an interview. "I wanted to get in just once."

Even with prices ranging from $400 to $2,000 for a platter, Ojima is assured of like company. The field consists of 120 top artisans working in a dozen categories. They include furniture, jewelry and wearable art. But more and more, works depart from the original notion of craft as something functional. That's because many of today's prominent artisans are producing work that is totally nonfunctional. It is intended for display.

"Art for art's sake has been a trend in the whole field," said Sherley Koteen, a prominent Washington crafts collector. "The quilt makers who made quilts for beds now make them fancier and you put them on the wall. And it's the same with baskets. Weavers use the materials to make sculpture."

At the show, visitors won't find funky painted shoes and weird leather masks. Gone too will be the trompe l'oeil wooden pants that looked like fabric hanging out to dry. In contrast, the jury chose works that are quiet, elegant and sculptural. The reason: A growing number of the top artists are edging into fine art, with works that are abstract and concerned with form rather than use or even humor.

"Craft," said one Smithsonian juror, who asked to be anonymous, "has become so much a part of contemporary sculpture and painting."

What's been happening at the Smithsonian Craft Show, considered the country's most competitive, is echoed in the even more rarefied world of gallery craft. Some work by top craft artists has been included in auctions of decorative arts by Sotheby's and Christie's.

Sotheby's offered glass objects by Dan Dailey, Dale Chihuly and William Morris as well as furniture by the late George Nakashima and ceramics from the most sought-after craft artists at a sale last month.

"This is not craft. These are works of art," said Barbara E. Deisroth, a senior international expert at Sotheby's. Prices for ceramic and glass objects were 30 percent higher than expected, she noted.

Prices at the Smithsonian show have been rising as well, though artisans have yet to achieve the acclaim of a Chihuly. Last year, exhibiting artists sold more than $2 million worth of crafts, according to the Smithsonian Women's Committee, which organizes the show. Artists pocket the money; the Smithsonian museums benefits from ticket sales and related events.

"The sky's the limit with almost everything here," said Margaret Collins, show chairwoman, speaking of the high prices expected at the show. "You have jewelry up to $10,000 and glassware to $5,000."

Collins believes it will be possible to find objects in the lesser realm of $50. But the number of applications is creating a rising tide of art. "When you narrow the field down from 1,550 to 120, you really get the creme de la creme," she said.

Many of the objects at this year's Smithsonian Show are akin to sculpture. Artists like Ojima as well as Susan Papa of Richmond and Robert Toensing of Minneapolis are typical. Papa, a 38-year-old ceramicist, makes vessels from slabs of clay that are rolled flat. She paints them with an underglaze and then carves into the surface using a technique called sgraffito. Her vessels range in price from $80 to $475.

"The shape of the pieces," the artist explained, "relates to figures, with little arms. They are not functional. I can't imagine people putting anything into my bottles because you'd never get it out again."

Toensing, 56, a glass artist, echoed that philosophy. He makes vessels using a technique developed by Lewis Comfort Tiffany. But Toensing's decoration is spare, abstract and monochromatic. His vessels sell for $1,200 to $1,800. "My vessels are really large sculptural forms that happen to take the shape of a vessel," said the artist. "They're not utilitarian. They're not for soup. The vessel has been for centuries a means of artistic expression."

As always, collectors from all over the country will swoop down on the Smithsonian show, many at the opening night benefit, to seize on the one new artist they see as a future great.

Several years ago, collectors deluged the booth of first-time exhibitor Sergei Izupov, a Russian ceramic artist living in Louisville and making teapots that are barely recognizable as such. Izupov, whose work sold out on the second day of the show, is way beyond craft shows now. He shows only at high-end galleries, and his prices have tripled. His work is in a number of collectors' homes in Washington.

"We go every year," said collector Koteen. "I don't think about what spaces I have to fill. If something makes my adrenaline flow, then I know it's something I want to have."

For those not into serious collecting, there will be some smaller items. Toensing, for example, will bring small, functional perfume bottles that start at $60 and complement his more serious work.

The real bargain may be a $5 raffle ticket. The prize: a $10,000 "Sea Form" donated by glass master Chihuly himself.

Smithsonian Craft Show at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW, runs through Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. $10. 202/357-4000 or www.si.edu/craftshow.

OTHER EVENTS:
During the weekend of the Smithsonian Craft Show, museums, galleries and other groups capitalize on the attention and crowds by scheduling their own craft-related activities. Several venues focus on the art of glass. Here's a snapshot of events around the region:

IN WASHINGTON:
* On view at Zenith Gallery, 413 Seventh St. NW, is the 21st Anniversary Exhibition, "Infusion," including works by 21 fine and craft artists. Through April 18. 202/783-2963.
* On April 17, the Renwick Gallery holds a symposium on Shaker furniture, moderated by Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
* On April 27, Maurine Littleton Gallery, 1667 Wisconsin Ave. NW, opens an exhibition of 20 new works by glass artist Therman Statom, who uses plate glass "in a painterly way," says Littleton. An opening reception will be held April 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. Through May 22. 202/333-9307.

IN VIRGINIA:
* On April 18, the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach opens "Dale Chihuly: Installations," a retrospective of the 30-year career of the master glass artist, including two of his massive chandeliers. Through June 27. Fee: $6; $5 for seniors, military and children up to college age with student IDs. 757/425-0000. It's part of a larger festival in the area, "Art of Glass," which has a Web site with details: www.artofglass.org.
* On April 18, the glass artistry of Therman Statom, William Morris and Stephen Antonakos goes on view at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk. Through Aug. 29. 757/664-6200 or www.chrysler.org. Fee: same as above or $10 for joint admission to the Norfolk and Virginia Beach shows.

Jane Friedman writes frequently about crafts for Home.

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