NANCY SHAW CRAMER HAS RETURNED TO HER STUDIO TO DEVELOP A CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION, WORKING WITH NEW MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES, TO CREATE MIXED MEDIA SURFACE DESIGNS
SHE WAS THE OWNER•DIRECTOR OF THE SHAW CRAMER GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY FINE CRAFTS + PAINTINGS ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD FOR TWENTY YEARS, PRECEDED BY A CAREER OF NATIONALLY EXHIBITED TAPESTRIES
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MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES, JULY 2, 2018 • Press Release
SHAW CRAMER EXHIBIT AT WEST TISBURY LIBRARY
On Saturday, July 7, from 3:30 to 5 pm, all are invited to an art reception at the West Tisbury Library to honor the work of Island artist Nancy Shaw Cramer. Nancy’s exhibit, titled “Paths”, includes handwoven tapestries and beads on paper.
Shaw Cramer is a tapestry weaver and creates with hand-sewn beads on papers. She has exhibited nationally in galleries and museums, and was a gallery owner.
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MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES, JUNE 24, 2015 • By Brooks Robard
NANCY SHAW CRAMER SHOWCASE - A NEW VENTURE
Fabric artist Nancy Shaw Cramer may have closed her Vineyard Haven gallery, but she has hardly disappeared from the Island’s art scene. She will hold the first of a series of Summer Showcases on Tuesday, June 30, from 11 am to 4 pm. The Showcases will give her the opportunity to present her latest work in a low-key, casual setting.
“I thought I would be weaving rugs all winter,” Ms. Shaw Cramer said during an interview with The Times last weekend. “I got hooked on sewing, and I just didn’t stop.” On display will be 17 of her signature pillows and a series of 50 wrap coats, jackets and tunics, as well as several of her rugs, including the one she completed this winter. Nancy’s inspiration comes from architecture, fragments, shadows, fractures, contrasts, forms and embellishment.
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MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES, JUNE 3, 2015 • By Gwyn McAllister
LIFE AFTER SHAW CRAMER
When Nancy Shaw Cramer closed her gallery Main Street, Vineyard Haven, last November, after 20 years of representing artists from the Island and beyond, she wasn’t about to just close her doors and leave her stable of artists adrift to land where they would. “Nancy is such a good person,” says tapestry artist Julia Mitchell, who was with the Shaw Cramer almost from the very beginning. “When she decided that she wanted to retire, she was concerned about her artists. She didn’t want to just walk away.”
Retire is a relative term. Although she has quit the gallery business, Ms. Shaw Cramer has returned to focusing on her own work as a fiber artist and designer. At one time Ms. Shaw Cramer was one of the top 10 tapestry rug artists in the country. She showed her work all over, including at the American Craft Museum in New York City.
Painter, Ms. Leslie Baker, really appreciated the aesthetics of the Shaw Cramer Gallery: “It was a good fit for me. I like the way she (Ms.Shaw Cramer) curated the space. How she would create vignettes - some beautiful pottery or sculpture next to a painting. Nancy showed so many beautiful fine arts and crafts in interesting ways.”
Many of the former Shaw Cramer artists are part of an art group founded by the former gallery owner years ago. They appreciate the fact that they will be able to maintain close ties with their fellow artists. “Nancy has become a very good friend”, said abstract painter Marie-Louise Rouff. It was a big chunk of her life she dedicated to it. People still say, “that was a wonderful gallery. Her reputation is just ringing around the island”.
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VINEYARD GAZETTE, OCTOBER 2, 2014 • By Nicole Grace Mercier
PILLOW TALK
Nancy Shaw Cramer has always had a creative mindset. From earning a degree in interior design, to being a nationally recognized tapestry rug weaver, to fulfilling her childhood dream of owning a gallery, art is in her blood.
But after twenty years of focusing full-time on the Shaw Cramer Gallery on Main Street in Vineyard Haven, she is ready to take a step back. With the gallery officially closing at the end of November, Shaw Cramer is looking forward to devoting her newfound time and energy to her fiber products.
Some people call it retiring, but to Nancy Shaw Cramer, this is just moving on to the next phase of her life. It’s doing something she has always enjoyed, and seeing where her many ideas take her.
“I like to keep the window of ideas open and see what passes through”.
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MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 • By Brooks Robard
SHAW CRAMER: ISLAND CONTEMPORARY ART MAINSTAY WINDS DOWN
Shaw Cramer, the Island’s go-to gallery for contemporary art and crafts, has posted its closing sign after 20 years. Although Ms. Cramer invited the Island artists she represents to take over the gallery, turning it into a collaborative venture, they opted not to take that route. The result will be a major gap in the Island art scene.
Ms. Shaw Cramer, who grew up in Michigan and earned a degree in interior design - specifically space design - from Michigan State, began her career in art as a tapestry rug weaver. She became one of the top ten in the country before opening her gallery.
“I love the puzzle,” Ms. Shaw Cramer says. “I’m a designer at heart, so figuring out the business, the display, working with all the personalities and being part of the art community have been extremely satisfying.”
Initially, the Shaw Cramer Gallery filled a gap in the Island art community by concentrating on fine crafts, but eventually paintings were added to the repertoire. Each year Ms. Shaw Cramer tried to raise the bar and do better. The gallery’s success reflects that commitment to excellence.
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MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES, JULY 17, 2013 • By Brooks Robard
SHAW CRAMER BUILDS DISTINCTIVE IDENTITY
With her Main Street, Vineyard Haven gallery Shaw Cramer now in business for 19 years, proprietor Nancy Shaw Cramer has built a reputation for sophisticated, high-caliber art.
A fiber artist herself whose one-of-a-kind silk pillows are sold in the gallery, Ms. Cramer is not afraid to ignore convention and go her own way. Instead of regular openings that spotlight individuals she prefers once-a-month receptions that celebrate all of the gallery’s artists. These events not only offer the public a chance to meet and talk with the creators behind the work; they also give the busy artists an opportunity to get together. Ms. Cramer also developed a not-to-be-missed series of talks by Shaw Cramer artists on subjects bound to interest the serious collector and art lover alike.
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