Midway through July, I attended Conduit Gallery’s 40th anniversary exhibition and took note of the entwined art and design community there to celebrate. Bumping into a kindred spirit, I chatted with Anthony Sonnenberg, an artist known for his kitsch-layered ceramic sculptures that animate the drippings of candle wax. That evening he challenged the established designations between fine art, the decorative arts, and craft. Do they need to be defined as individual genres or should they all be mixed up in a blender and flourish in noncategorical wholeness? To that end, the Art & Design issue blends those persistent shared foundations.
