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Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

Several pieces of textiles, pottery, and other artwork arranged in an altar.

At the Smithsonian’s Almaty Artisan Retreat, Kazakhstani and Native American Artists Connect through Stories, Copper, and Clay

For five days in April, artists from opposite sides of the globe met to reflect on their creative practices, learn from each other, and imagine the future of their craft.

Thousands of people assemble on the green grass of the National Mall to form a sunburst shape, the Smithsonian logo. The red-brick Smithsonian Castle rises in the background.

The Smithsonian Has 6,724 Staff Members With a Mission to Increase and Diffuse Knowledge. Hear How They Work ‘For the Common Good’

With astrophysicists and wildlife ecologists, art conservators and security officers, this discussion series invites visitors to go behind the scenes with experts across the institution.

Two men in blue shirts, blue jeans, leather belts, and white cowboy hats pose in front of a brown horse.

In Eastern Idaho, the Blackfoot Ranch Rodeo Celebrates Cowboys, Craftsmanship, and Community

Unlike regular rodeos, ranch rodeos are generally more family-friendly and focus on showcasing ranch-related events and hand skills, teamwork, and horsemanship.

A man wearing glasses, white headwrap, and apron holds a metal object to a flame in a forge, sparks flying toward the stone walls.

The Reappearing Art of Metalworking in Mukhrani, Georgia

In Georgian mythology, the blacksmith is often portrayed as a magical figure endowed with superhuman strength—sometimes even as a semi-divine being.

Backshot of two men work together to pin blueprints of a building design to a corkboard wall.

In Charleston, American College of the Building Arts Educates the Next Generation of Craftspeople

Synthesizing liberal arts education with hands-on experience in architectural trades, ACBA strives to encourage the preservation, enrichment, and understanding of global architectural heritage.

millville-rose-pink.jpg

The Millville Rose: Artifacts of Whimsy and Art in Industry

The “Millville Rose” represents the refined skills of factory glassblowers who toiled in an industry in which they had little say in what they made.

(Photo courtesy of Masatsu “Masa” Kawamoto collection, Division of Work and Industry, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History)

Cowboys in the Tropics: A History of the Hawaiian Paniolo

In 1793, while Hawai‘i was still an independent republic, British Captain George Vancouver gifted King Kamehameha I a small amount of cattle that quickly multiplied. In the early nineteenth century, several Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) were sent to the islands to teach Hawaiians how to ride horses and maintain the cattle. Roping cattle and riding horses seem fitting in the prairie grasslands of Oklahoma, but the Hawaiian style of cowboy traditions is unique to the landscape.

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