A tribute to Simon Olding, the curator and writer who quietly shaped the craft world
The ceramic artist Alison Britton – a trustee of the Crafts Study Centre – remembers its remarkable director…
The pleasure of developing a connection with the Crafts Study Centre – a museum for modern crafts at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham – had much to do with its director Simon Olding: his quiet and serious intelligence, and his ambitions for a public and a scholarly recognition of craft.
When Simon retired from his job directing the CSC in October 2022, there was still time to celebrate his achievements over the past twenty years with staff and colleagues on campus. But it was not expected that his diagnosis of cancer would end his life so soon. His death on 19 November 2022 was a profound shock. He is greatly missed by many.
Image: A portrait of Simon Olding. Photo by David Westwood
