The Greater Denton Arts Council proudly presents the 38th annual Materials: Hard + Soft International Contemporary Craft & Digital Competition and Exhibition. Recognized as one of the premier craft exhibitions in the country, Materials: Hard + Soft began in 1987 as the original vision of artist Georgia Leach Gough. The exhibition celebrates the evolving field of contemporary craft and the remarkable creativity and innovation of artists who push the boundaries of their chosen media. We’re excited to reimagined the show for 2025 with the inclusion of conceptual and digital art to incorporate new and emerging media that challenge conceptions of materiality.

Since 2017, the exhibition has expanded to include works by international artists. Past jurors have been selected from all across the U.S. from places like San Francisco, CA, Houston, TX, Pittsburg, PA, Brockton, MA, Los Angeles, CA, Athens, Georgia, Champaign, Chicago, and Dallas. This year, our jurors, renowned artists and art educators Christine Miller and Alicia Eggert, selected works from the nearly 500 submissions and chose the winners.

Congratulations to all of 2025’s accepted MHS artists and those named best in their media categories and the best in show:

Best in Clay - Jack Hein - Smelly Memory

Best in Conceptual - Brian Drake - Working Hard Or Hardly Working?

Best in Digital - Faith Belflower - Asphyxiation, Enervate, Solace

Best in Fiber - Claire Renaut - Topography

Best in Glass - Marcy Chevali - Untitled

Best in Metal - Brittney Hampton - Captivate

Best in Mixed-Media - Xinchen Li - The Sewing Machine

Best in Paper - Danise Holguin - Miss Ethel Gladys Antoinette Dubois Debuts in paper couture

Best in Wood - Archit Karkare - Amorphous

Best in Overall Exhibition - Isabel Zeng - Watchers

MHS will be on display in the Meadows Gallery from February 27th to May 2nd, 2025. See highlights from opening night here.