LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S MEMORY JUG WEEKEND WORKSHOP AUGUST 2-3, 2008

Laurie Zuckerman is teaching a two-day weekend workshop on Memory Jugs, Saturday and Sunday, August 2-3, 10 am-5 pm.
Please email Laurie at zucky@qwest.net for reservations and more details before July 30, 2008.

If you have ever wondered about memory jugs, now is your chance to delve into this mysterious Victorian American folk art tradition and make your own enigmatic jug. This small intimate workshop will be offered at a private location in Fort Collins. Bring your own jug, jar, or teapot and all the little memories you've been saving to create your own piece of American folk art, or purchase an antique jug from Laurie. All other supplies will be provided. An instruction book is included in the cost of the workshop. Cost will be $145. Advanced reservations required by July 15, 2008.

Laurie has been making memory jugs since 2004, using her eclectic found art assemblage style. Laurie is best known for her altar installations and memory jugs, which have been on display at the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, the Loveland Art Museum, and the Durango Art Center. Her memory jug artwork has been published most recently in Lynne Perrella's new book on assemblage artists around the country entitled: Artmaking, Collections, and Obsessions. Please browse this blog for examples, articles, and reviews of Laurie's assemblage art.

Laurie Zuckerman exhibits memory jugs from her November workshop at the Artists' Nook

• The Rocky Mountain Chronicle published a nice promo of the show.

"MEMORIES IN A BOTTLE," Rocky Mountain Chronicle Encore, January 18-24, 2007

Some people may hold onto old photographs of loved ones who've passed away; others might celebrate Grandpa's birthday even after he's gone. Local artist Laurie Zuckerman honors the dead by borrowing from a tradition that can be traced to Victorian-era and African-American funerals: memory jugs. Personal tokens belonging to the deceased are embedded into soft putty, which is then formed into jugs, boxes, teapots, or other shapes.

"Laurie is a master altar-maker," says Christine Webb of the Artists' Nook, where Zuckerman teaches workshops on the technique. "She collects all kinds of things and then uses them to add meaning to her art."

Five jugs created by students during Zuckerman's November workshop, plus three of her own works, are on display through the end of the month at The Artists' Nook, 402 N. College Ave., in Fort Collins. Zuckerman will hold another memory jug workshop in February.