I know this has been touched on before, but I don't remember it being truly discussed. (Maybe my brain is fried, I dunno) Anyway, I know some of us have been trying to work on getting edible art and cake design established or at least accepted into the world of "fine art." Just wondering who, how you're going about it, and if it's working. What, if any, obstacles are you running into? Cake design seems, at least right now, to be in the same realm with airbrush art - it takes an artist to do it, but if you work in these mediums you're not classified as a "true" artist.

Tiptop, I believe you said before you were making a cake for a sculpture exhibit. How did that work out?

Who else is doing this?

Also, I've been talking with each of my instructors about edible art (The Art Institute) and some are taking an active interest. My cakes and sugar art are not up to par for demonstrating the true art that can be created with sugar. Is there anyone willing to share photos of what can be done with sugar? (Would want limited copyright use for demonstration purposes, NOT EVER to claim as my own!) I'd like to put together a comprehensive essay, mainly for school purposes, with examples and *possibly* some of the techniques and how they are similar to traditional fine art techniques. The report may be used in the future on artist forums and also would be presented to the Artist Guilds in my area once I get my butt moving to join.

This may be reaching high, but my goal is to work in conjunction with others to get sugar art and cake design to be seen as more than "just cake" and to help educate the public about the skill and talent needed to produce these works of art. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I know this is not something one person can do, but it seems to be a problem we all have. Walmart may sell "just cake" but there is more out there. What do you say, can we spread the word beyond our CC family?

Hi Zmama,
Interesting thread.
Here is a newspaper article I came across on a similar theme.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/when-crafts-not-art-really-take-the-cake/2006/04/20/1145344214088.html
Might be of interest!

Thanks for the link! Exactly what I'm trying to get out there into the "art" community - that cake and sugar are as much art as paint and clay. Thank you!

I contacted my local 'Guild of Craftsmen' to find out if I could join but they said sugarcraft wasn't a medium they could include, they didn;t explain why - maybe people associate it with frumpy old ladies and frilly cakes, maybe it's because the work isn't permanent? In the UK there are a small group of sugar artists working as a group, although last time I spoke to them it seemed like it was petering out due to lack of funding
Have a look at this:
http://www.creativesugarart.co.uk/home.htm
I'd be interested to read your thoughts.