Rare private collection comes to Fresno Art Museum for sweeping handcraft exhibition

July 29, 2026

by Doug Hoagland

As part of America’s 250th anniversary, the Fresno Art Museum will celebrate the nation’s rich tradition of handcraft with a sweeping exhibit showcasing scores of works from a renowned private collection.

Opening to the public on Saturday, Aug. 1, the exhibit will feature 150 works in clay, wood, fiber, glass, metal and mixed media from the collection of Forrest L. Merrill of Berkeley. Inspired by a high school art teacher, Merrill began collecting handcraft works as a teenager more than 70 years ago, and today his treasures fill two warehouses.

Handcraft encompasses utilitarian and decorative objects made completely by hand or using simple tools, and some examples include pottery, weaving and wood carving. Merrill has one of the most preeminent, privately-held collections in the country, said Michele Ellis Pracy, executive director and chief curator at the Fresno Art Museum.

She has designed the exhibit – spread across three galleries at the museum – to allow for a maximum viewing experience.

“I installed very few items under plexiglass,” Ellis Pracy said. “Nothing is to be touched, but I want people to be as close as possible to these works and appreciate how they are made because each object is astonishing. I want viewers to have an appreciation for the artists and their work, and for Forrest’s eye in his choices.”

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Ellis Pracy and Merrill—friends for more than a decade and co-curators of the exhibit—spent two years deciding which works to display. “Heralding: Sixty-five Artists from the Collection of Forrest L. Merrill” is the name of the exhibit. Many of the 65 are not well known, and the exhibit will introduce them to the public, Ellis Pracy said.

The scope of exhibited works—both in the variety of sizes and forms—is noteworthy. A see-through gate made from forged steel and copper is one of the exhibit’s biggest works, measuring 8 feet by 10 feet. Another large work is a garden scene made from steel wire that depicts hummingbirds hovering and darting among flowers. It is 2 feet by 9 feet.

Among the smallest works—and one that’s decidedly whimsical—is a porcelain race car that’s 7 inches by 6 inches by 12 ½ inches. The car has a tea kettle for a radiator cap and cartoonish characters in the front seat. More serious is a woman’s face in porcelain—measuring 11 inches by 11⅛ inches—that was inspired by the funeral portraits of ancient Rome and Egypt.

Further illustrating the eclectic nature of the works are these three pieces: A music stand made from wood and metal studs, an intricately woven rug of cotton muslin and wool, and an open-weave floor basket made from reed and Tahitian bark cloth.

The exhibit includes a variety of what Merrill calls “vessels.” Another word for them is containers, and the exhibit has, among others, a bowl and vase in porcelain and a decanter and cups in stoneware. Merrill says in a video conversation with Ellis Pracy that he is fascinated with vessel form because it can resemble human form. “While I’ve collected many things that are not vessels, I keep coming back to this form as something that really resonates with me.”

That video was produced by Craft In America, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organization, and filmed at the Fresno Art Museum several years ago. Posted to YouTube, the video today helps promote the HANDCRAFT initiative, a year-long series of exhibits and other events to mark the nation’s anniversary. The Fresno Art Museum is a part of that initiative.

Merrill will not attend the opening in Fresno, but he explains in the YouTube video how he views the works that he has accumulated. “I’m interested in sharing these objects, and one of the best ways to do that is to get them into museums where they can be seen.” He adds: “I’m not particularly interested in just showing pretty things. I want the work to have a story. I want the artists through their work to tell a story.”

To convey the stories represented in the exhibit, Ellis Pracy has compiled a comprehensive catalog that provides information on each artist and their approach to their art. The catalog is available for $45 to museum members and $55 to non-members.

In the world of handcraft, Merrill occupies a legendary place, according to Kevin Wallace, the founding director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai. Writing in the catalog, Wallace says Merrill has shown an “uncanny ability to find great material. He knows the artists’ histories, having known them since early in their careers. In this way, his is both a personal collection and a shared journey.”

Now that journey has led to the Fresno Art Museum. Ellis Pracy said “Heralding” will offer a singular opportunity for the public to experience a piece of American cultural history in “magical ways.”

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The exhibit runs until Jan. 10, 2027. The Art Museum is at 2233 N. First St. (near the intersection of First and Clinton Avenue). It is open Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Images in top banner (left to right, top to bottom): Merry Renk, Untitled table top sculpture, 1977. Torch cut bronze sheets, 10 1/8″ x 20″ | Raul Coronel, Three Queens, Glazed stoneware and wood, 14 3/4″ x 1 3/8″ x 30 1/4″ | Mark Goudy, 2025. The Wave Form Series, Porcelain. 9″ x 7 1/2″ | Susan Jamart, Woven Ribbon Basket, Grosgrain ribbon, 6″ x 10 3/8″ x 9″ | Arthur Espenet Carpenter, Music Stand, 1986/1992, Wood, 40 3/4″ x 22 3/8″ x 21 1/8″ | Betty Davenport Ford, Turtle, Ceramic, 16″ x 15 3/8″ x 14 1/2″ | C. Carl Jennings, 1971, Gates, Metal, 96″ x 10′.

From the Collection of Forrest L. Merrill, Photo by M. Lee Fatherree