Tanya Crane

Tanya Crane is a Southern California native who, after years of geographic exploration, has found a home and community in Providence, Rhode Island where she currently practices her research and creative disciplines. In addition to her rigorous studio practice, Crane is a Professor of the Practice in Metals at the School Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts where her interdisciplinary focus in jewelry, craft, sculpture, and performance is utilized to influence the next generation of artists, craftspeople, and thinkers. Crane’s jewelry and sculpture are framed within a dual existence of prejudice and privilege, having adapted to life amongst family in both the white suburbs of rural Los Angeles and the predominantly black suburbs of South Central, Los Angeles. Craft has manifested as a conduit between these two worlds that have provided her with the cultural infrastructure that is centering her current work. Crane’s jewelry amplifies and elucidates the strata of human existence; these include history, race, class, and culture. Coming from the perspective of an African-American woman, Crane uses community and inclusiveness as a magnetic beacon to diversify and expand ideas, understandings, and codifications.