Hobart and William Smith Colleges

6 October 2014 Spates Offers Lecture at Roycroft

Professor Emeritus of Sociology Jim Spates delivered a lecture on the 19th century British art and social critic, John Ruskin, at the annual Roycroft Arts & Crafts Conferencein East Aurora, N.Y., on Saturday, Oct. 4.

His illustratedlecture used many pictures from a just completed trip to Venice, including a famous phrase of Ruskins, was called: This Paradise of Cities: John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, and the Birth of the Arts & Crafts Movement. The talk focused onRuskins arguments in The Stones of Venice (1851-3)that, particularly during its Gothic era, the floating city on the Adriatic created not only the most beautiful city the world had yet seen but left us a model of how we might create such lovely places in the future.

Ruskin argued that the worlds greatest architecture was always characterized bycopioushand-work, work done by individual workers whowere allowed to pourthe entirety of their skill and creativity into the parts of buildings for which they had been given responsibility.It was (and continues to be) this personal element which makes buildingslive.Atits peak,Veniceexhibited, almost everywhere, this artistic creativity of its workers.

He also showed that, later, when, during the Renaissance, suchcreativity was stifled, Venicedied, quickly becoming a shadow of its formerbeautifulself, sacrificing not merely its status as the greatest single architectural achievement of history, but its cultural, political, and economic dominance as well.Sucharguments became the basis forRuskinsscathing critiques in later writings of the mechanized building practices of his ownrapidly industrializingsociety.Thiscontention, that hand-work, whether in stone, wood, fabric, glass, or any other natural material, was the only work worth doing if a society was to become both great and humane, became the foundation of what we now call the Arts & Crafts Movement after it was picked up, championed, and expanded by, particularly, William Morris in the U.K., and later by Elbert Hubbard,founder of the Roycroft Communityin the U.S. in 1895.

Located in East Aurora, the Roycroft Campus Corporation seeks to inspire visitors to experience the creativityand personal empowerment which results when one works with ones hands in the creation of anything. It offers regular artisan classes, lectures, interactive events and social gatherings to further promote and preserve the historic Roycroft Campus and the ideals of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Spates who at last years Roycroft Conference delivered the Keynote Address on Ruskins TheSeven Lamps of Architecture,emphasizing in that talkthe continuing relevanceof these principlesto building greatly in the 21st century helpedto organizethis years lecture conference with the Roycroft staff.

Wedecided to make a major effort in this years gathering to inform those who attend about the history of the Arts and Crafts Movement inEurope, the UK, andAmerica, said Spates. As a result,all the other presenters (with the exceptionmyself and Dr.Joe Weber, who isparticularly devoted to printing using the techniques pioneered by Morris in England and Hubbard at Roycroft), are important Ruskin folk from England whom I invited to speak.

More information onotherconference presenters, can be found here.

Spatesjoined the HWS faculty in 1971 after earning his Ph.D. in sociology from Boston University and his B.A. in anthropology and sociology from Colby College.In addition to his 43 years of teaching at Hobart and William Smith (he retired at the end of the last academic year)has beenfour-time visiting professor of sociology at the Institute for Shipboard Education at the University of Pittsburgh.On campus, he twiceserved as chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, the Urban Studies Program and various committees. His scholarship has focused on the quality of social life and city life, the 1960s counterculture, the sociologies of cities, values and human nature and, more recently, on the life and work of Ruskin. Regarding this latter interest, Spates is the authorof a number of books about Ruskin,including Availing Toward Life: A Summary of the Social Thought of John Ruskin (presently in draft)and The Imperfect Round: Helen Gill Viljoens Life of Ruskin' (Long View, 2005). He has authored numerous journal articles on Ruskinandhas presented this work locally, nationally, and internationally. His most recentbook, Why Ruskin?is about tobe published by Pallas Athene in London. Recently, he has given lectures at The Hillside Club in Berkeley, California on the basic ideas contained in Ruskins masterpiece of social criticism, Unto this Last. Asanother aspectof his effort to communicate his belief in the abiding importance of Ruskins thought for our modern era, he has recently started a Ruskin website,www.whyruskin.wordpress.com.