ART / SNEAK PEEK : FOCUSING ON THE OTHER WILLIAM MORRIS.

To a fragmented epoch like ours, William Morris appears to be a classic Type-A personality.

Artist, novelist, craftsman, poet, printer, essayist, utopian socialist - any one of these careers would be enough to keep most of us chained to the fax and the IBM day and night.

Morris, of course, didn't see it that way. Politics, art and the working life were, in his view, fully compatible - even inseparable - pursuits. When he wasn't painting, Morris was manufacturing wallpaper and stained glass. When he wasn't opening a printing press, he was railing against the soul-destroying effects of the Industrial Revolution.

Throwing the weight of his genius behind the budding arts and crafts movement, Morris helped free Victorian England from its love of gloomy interiors and color schemes better suited to a cemetery than a house.

Several facets of the multidimensional artist emerge from ``Celebrating William Morris: Selections From the Sanford and Helen Berger Collection,'' a new exhibition continuing through Jan. 5 at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, in San Marino.

Considered one of the world's finest, the Berger collection is made up of printed manuscripts, illustrated books, woodcuts and decorative objects produced by the artisans of Morris and Co.

When you're done absorbing Morris' neo-medieval typefaces and pastoral wallpaper patterns, wander into the Huntington's newly reopened Dorothy Collins Brown exhibition hall. There you'll find decorative arts by Charles and Henry Greene, well-known, turn-of-the-century Pasadena architects who were Southern California's answer to the arts and crafts movement.

The Huntington is open noon to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for students, free for members and children under 12. For information, call [phone].

Developing identity: Even if you don't recognize his name, you may recognize the singular style of acclaimed L.A.-based photographer Bill Aron.

For years, Aron has been conducting a personal odyssey in search of his own Jewish identity, training his camera on New York's Lower East Side, the American South, Jerusalem, Russia, Cuba and Los Angeles.

He has come away with many startling depictions of the Jewish diaspora. His subject is both the continuity of faith, and the contradictions that surface between an ancient religion and a changing world.

Aron is one of 30 artists taking part in this weekend's 16th annual Festival of Jewish Artisans at Temple Isaiah, 10345 W. Pico Blvd. in West Los Angeles. The Valley will be represented by Tarzana jewelry maker Shula Baron, Northridge papercut/calligraphy artist Eva-Lynn Ratoff, and textile artists Shoshana Enosh of Northridge and Linda Witkow of Encino.

As if ceramics, photography, papercutting, wood inlay and textile arts weren't enough, the two-day event will lead off Saturday night with a jazz tribute to Jewish Broadway, featuring singer Annette Sanders with a five-piece jazz combo. Sunday follows with an exhibit and sale of Judaica from noon to 5 p.m., with art workshops for children and adults.

For information, call [phone].

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Photo: ``Celebrating William Morris'' reveals several facets of the multidimensional artist.