The headquarters of the Villa Albertine in New York presents an example of French know-how with the Fallen Tree oak bench (2011) by designers Benjamin Graindorge and Valérie Maltaverne (YMER&MALTA). © Beowulf Sheehan.
Supported by the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation, the Villa Albertine allows craftsmen from all disciplines to benefit from an exceptional creative and economic network in the United States.
Inaugurated in 2021, the Villa Albertine renews the model of residence abroad: thanks to an establishment in ten major cities in the United States, it offers artists the possibility of benefiting from a wide variety of places of reception. The Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation, which has been supporting crafts for more than twenty years, helped to found the Crafts and Design residences of the Villa Albertinewhich she will accompany until 2026. At the microphone of Raphaëlle Le Baud, Steven Leprizé, cabinetmaker whose residency in New York ended in November 2022, Gaëtan Bruel, director of the Villa Albertine and Hedwige Gronier, head of sponsorship from the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation tell how, since 2021, the residency program offered by the Villa Albertine has opened up the practices of craftsmen to new horizons.
A new place of international influence
The Villa Albertine was created two years ago. It is France’s fourth largest villa abroad, after the Villa Medici, the Villa Kujoyama and the Casa Velazquez. With a peculiarity of its own: the United States is a huge, diverse country, a prescriber “, explains Gaëtan Bruel. Also, the Villa Albertine has bet on maximum flexibility: it takes its 150 residents where they want to go, adapting to their needs. ” They are welcomed everywhere in the United States, in particular among American collectors and patrons, which facilitates their good integration. ».
Aerial of the Villa Albertine in San Francisco.
© Leslie Williamson.
Opening to the American market
At the heart of the support from which the residents benefit, there is the human community and the territory in which their project takes place. Gaëtan Bruel insists: “ we want that beyond a parenthesis in a course, there are also opportunities to come back and develop a long-term relationship with the United States “. Hedwige Gronier emphasizes the expertise of the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation in this area: “as with the Villa Kujoyama, once the craftsmen are selected, they are accompanied before, during and after”. The key is real development potential: fine crafts are highly prized by American collectors.
The library of the New York headquarters of the Villa Albertine. © John Bartelstone.
Place for craftsmen
« Desires are even greater than in the visual arts sector, explains Gaëtan Bruel. The Americans have significant resources, they are attentive to what the landscape of French crafts can bring them. It is thanks to the recommendations of the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation that residency programs have been opened up to craftspeople. ” The Foundation has made a 5-year commitment to fund these residencies and bring artisans into the American market. », says Hedwige Gronier. Everyone agrees: craftsmanship is a strong mark of French exceptionalism concludes Gaëtan Bruel.
Designer and glassblower Eve George, in residence at the Villa Albertine in New York from February to April 2023. © Francois Golfier.
Transform your career
In October 2022 Steven Leprizé, cabinetmaker and inventor, flew to New York. ” The vision of arts and crafts in France is highly respected but also biased: I’m put in a box, I can’t sell my works in a gallery. In the United States, I hope to be recognized as a creator and inventor “, he testifies. Biomimicry, movement: these are the new creative horizons he hopes to explore with scientists in the United States. The opportunity also to take on the language challenge, to commercially develop its ARCA workshop on the other side of the Atlantic.
