Fifty Years of RALA – Art Exhibit

Fifty Years of RALA (Roycrofters At large Association) will consist of works created by RALA artisans over the past fifty years. During this period, hundreds of artists have been ordained through a selection process to join the organization, which exemplifies the original spirit of Roycroft by promoting the use of “Head, Heart, & Hand.” Objects are identified through artist signatures and the back-to-back “R” monogram, which is the contemporary version of the original Roycroft orb and cross. The exhibition will include a cross-section of artisans from all mediums and includes approximately 28 objects by 23 artisans. Featured in the exhibition will ber Rixford Jenning, a fixture on the Roycroft campus through his entire life. The son of Walter U. Jennings, as a young boy Rix delivered mail for the Roycroft. An advertisement once featured images of him and an (already deceased) Elbert Hubbard, founder of the Roycroft artist community. The slogan of the advertisement read: “From one long-haired businessman to another…” In 1976, Rix became a founding member of RALA and designed the now-famous R monogram. He was a skilled watercolorist, who. more recently designed cover art for Buffalo Spree magazine. 

Artists in this exhibition include Tom Pafk, Laura Wilder, Al Sleeper, Tom Little, Howard Lehning, Ron VanOstrand, Dorothy Markert, Ann Perry Smith, Tom Bojanowski, Gordy Galloway, Frank Glapa, Julie Leidel, Janicee McDuffy, Tom Ciminelli, James Miller, Christi Shorf Miller, Leslie GReen Guilbault, kathleen West, Thomas Kegler, Greg Adams, Yvonne Stoklosa, and Rixford Jennings.