Stacey Lee Webber is a Philadelphia-based artist who finds unique ways to recontextualize objects from blue collar neighborhoods. Her recent work is to be featured in two exhibitions – the Smithsonian’s 40 Under 40:Craft Futures opening in July 2012 and the Cehongju International Craft Biennale opening next week. For the Smithsonian, Webber crafted “Penny Shovels” and her “Silver Keyhole Saw” will feature in Korea.

A full look at both objects after the jump.

The artists-in-residence at the Houston Center of Contemporary Craft are celebrated in the aptly titled “In Residence 2009,” which opens on May 29, 2010. Exhibiting works that were inspired by and created during, the artists on view run the gamut from traditional ceramics to sculpture achieved through the manipulation of packing materials.

The exhibition runs through July 25, 2010.

Read about the artists included after the jump.

A perennial favorite for me is Charles Wilson Antiques and Folk Art of Westchester, PA. Over the years I’ve been enamored with the selection of unusual cast iron pieces. From boot scrapes to shooting targets, and the odd erotic frog, they always seem to have something that elicits a smile and introduces me to a new type of Americana. Having started in 1981, Charles Wilson regularly exhibits at the best and most selective antique shows on the East Coast. Aside from the cast iron, his selection of furniture, maritime art, and weather vanes are also top notch.

In the current inventory the above metal frog with thermoter belly is a winner. A few more things that caught my attention after the jump.

On view at Indianapolis Museum of Art until June 21, 2009, European Design Since 1985 is the first major critical survey of contemporary Western European decorative and industrial design. The exhibition redefines two movements – modernism and post modernism – through a 250 seminal works. Represented are designers of furniture, metals, ceramics and glass. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has launched a major initiative in the area of 20th and 21st-century design. European Design Since 1985 is accompanied by both a scholarly catalog and a web component.

A few examples of design since ‘85 after the jump.