Namita Gupta Wiggers is a noted expert in the field of contemporary craft, a curator, educator and a writer based in Portland, Oregon. Her prior experiences as a studio jeweler, video ethnographer/design researcher, and museum educator shape her multidisciplinary thinking and consideration of craft in material, conceptual, and theoretical ways.

Early life and education

She was born to Indian immigrants in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and received a BA in art history and English from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

in Houston, Texas in 1989. In 1994, she earned her MA in art history at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Career

Namita began working as a Portland-based studio jeweler who sold some of her work to the

Museum of Contemporary Craft The Museum of Contemporary Craft (1937-2016) in Portland, Oregon was the oldest continuously-running craft institution on the west coast of the United States until its closure in 2016. The museum's mission was "to enliven and expand the understan ...

(MCC) in Portland. In 2004, she joined the MCC as the head curator, and in 2012 she was promoted to head curator and director. In 2014, Namita stepped down from her position at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. She has lectured at The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and teaches an MFA of Applied Craft and Design at Oregon College of Art + Craft. Warren Wilson College appointed her director of MA in Critical and Craft Studies In 2008, Namita Gupta Wiggers cofounded Critical Craft Forum with Elisabeth Agro out of a desire for a place create a dialogue that spans the craft community. Namita is on the Board of Trustees to the American Craft Council and the Curatorial Board of AccessCeramics.

Publications

Wiggers contributes to multiple online and print articles and books. She serves as the exhibition reviews editor for ''The Journal of Modern Craft'' and on the editorial board for

Garland Publishing Garland Science was a publishing group that specialized in developing textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet t ...

. Her publications include ''Unpacking the Collection'' (2008), ''Ken Shores: Clay Has the Last Word'' (2010), and ''Generations:

Betty Feves Betty Feves (1918 – 1985) was an Oregon artist who helped shape the development of clay as an expressive medium in the years following World War II. Biography Feves was academically trained in the late 1930s and early 1940s, first earning a de ...

'' (2012).

References

External links

Contributor page at Art Practical
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggers, Namita Gupta 1967 births Living people Rice University alumni University of Chicago alumni Writers from Cincinnati Writers from Portland, Oregon Oregon College of Art and Craft people American women curators American curators Museum educators American women writers of Indian descent