In collaboration with the historic Ruskin Art Club, Berkeley-based frame-maker Timothy Holton presents this special lecture and discussion on the contemporary relevance of art and social critics John Ruskin and William Morris, seminal figures in the advancement of hand crafts and the inspiration behind the early 20th century Arts and Crafts movement.

TIMTHY HOLTON was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where, in 1975, he began making frames at the highly regarded shop Storey Framing. His frame designs arise from a lifelong fascination with architecture, first in Italy and Greece, and cultivated at home by the Bay Area’s great twentieth century architects and designers (figures like Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan) and by the vernacular brown shingle and craftsman homes of Berkeley and rural northern California. In 1988, after studying history at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Holton turned his attention back to picture framing, undertaking to develop his skills in joinery and carving that distinguish his work. In 1993, his furniture and mirrors were displayed at the Oakland Museum’s special gallery of contemporary artisans. Holton lives in Berkeley where he designs picture and mirror frames at Holton Studio Frame Makers. He is a Companion of the Guild of St. George, Ruskin’s charity founded in 1871. (Website: www.holtonframes.com.)

Award-winning journalist and poet GABRIEL MEYER is the executive director of the historic Ruskin Art Club, now celebrating its 130th anniversary year, and a Companion of the Guild of St. George.