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Special Report

Artisan America

Today’s craft renaissance is more than just an antidote to our over-automated world. It renews a way of life that made us who we are

At the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Alaska, Nathan Jackson wears ceremonial blankets and a headdress made from ermine pelts, cedar, abalone shell, copper and flicker feathers.

Arts & Culture

How Native Artisans in Alaska Bring Innovation and Humor to Their Craft

In Indigenous communities along the coast, a lively artistic movement plays with tradition

Frederick Hurten Rhead, panel for overmantel, 1910

Smart News

First Museum Dedicated to American Arts and Crafts Movement Opens in Florida

Proponents of the artistic philosophy pushed back against industrial production and embraced handcraftsmanship

The liberal arts college is home to the country’s longest continuously operating broomcraft workshop.

Arts & Culture

This Kentucky College Has Been Making Brooms for 100 Years

Berea College's broomcraft program carries on an American craft tradition that’s rarely practiced today

Recent Coverage

Original hand-carved hubs for the Purple Heart and Silver Star rest in the jeweler’s toolbox of legendary Providence-based hub carver Elio “Duke” Lossini.

Arts & Culture

This Massive Collection of More Than a Million Tools Tells the Striking History of Jewelry Making in America

Before computers and A.I., beautiful trinkets were formed with a combination of hubs, dies, finesse and force. Kevin Potter has perhaps the world’s largest assemblage of them

Valborg “Mama” Gravander baking her signature cookies with neighbor children

At the Smithsonian

For This Prize-Winning Swedish Weaver in California, Craft Was Intertwined With Culture—and Cookies

Valborg “Mama” Gravander helped build a community based on her heritage and skill. A piece of her legacy is now on display at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery

A jar made by H. Wilson & Company in Capote, Texas. Right, the muddy banks of Salt Creek, a tributary of the Guadalupe River about 50 miles northeast of San Antonio, where Wilson’s pottery company sourced its fine red clay. 

Arts & Culture

Three Formerly Enslaved Artists Created Beautiful Pottery 150 Years Ago, and Now Their Wares Are Coveted Around the World

The stunning vessels from the H. Wilson & Company were forgotten for generations, only to gain new appreciation for the craftsmanship that went into them

In the weave room, a worker uses a classic Crompton & Knowles loom to make suitable fabric for some 18th-century furniture.

Arts & Culture

When Hollywood Needs a Historically Accurate Outfit That Looks Just Right, It Turns to Rabbit Goody

How do filmmakers get period clothing to look the part? Inside the textile workshop where the past comes to life

Cosanti

Sponsored

Artists Have Been Flocking to Scottsdale for Decades—Here’s Why You Should, Too

Discover a city that is both a canvas and a muse for creators of all kinds

Braille signage will be added to rows and individual seats, as well as lavatories.

Smart News

United Will Be the First U.S. Airline to Add Braille to Its Plane Interiors

The carrier announced that it will update its entire mainline fleet over the next three years

The spiraled crafted work On the Air by Jeong Ju Lee is made to flow with the contour of the model's shoulder.

At the Smithsonian

These Asian American Artists Merge Traditional Aesthetics With Contemporary Practices

Jewelers Reiko Ishiyama and Jeong Ju Lee redefine the “American Spirit” at the Smithsonian’s upcoming Craft Show

Artist Arianne King Comer works with indigo ink and rice paper at a farm on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina.

Arts & Culture

The Blue That Enchanted the World

Indigo is growing again in South Carolina, revived by artisans and farmers with a modern take on a forgotten history

This year's Craft2Wear Show features over 60 premier jewelry, leather and wearables artisans from across the country.

At the Smithsonian

The Art of Wearing Works of Art

From Japanese kimono silks to Navajo jewelry, Smithsonian’s 2022 Craft2Wear brings shoppers into a world of wearable craft and design

"This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World," featuring Alicia Eggert's stunning 2019-2020 neon sculpture, is on view at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

At the Smithsonian

The Craft World Is Undergoing a Democratization

In a new show at the Renwick Gallery, maker’s art is having a renaissance moment, with works that reveal powerful persistence and resilience