Arts and Crafts

Over the past 13 years, The Great Salt Lick Contest in Oregon has raised more than $150,000 for charity.

Who Says Horses and Cows Can't Be Artists?

The sculptures on display at the Great Salt Lick Contest in Oregon are the work of cattle, horses, sheep and deer

Ancient Fingerprints Show Men and Women Both Made Pottery in the American Southwest

Long thought to be primarily women's work, new analysis of ceramic fragments shows both sexes created pottery at Chaco Canyon

Lead curator Tom Joyce traveled to Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, the Republic of Bénin and Togo (above: blacksmiths Kao Kossi and Ide Essozimna) to conduct research, film a half-dozen videos and help amass the 225 objects in the show.

How Blacksmiths Forged a Powerful Status Across the Continent of Africa

Iron tools, weapons, musical instruments and sculptures tell a tale of centuries of the craft’s influence

A carpet making master class run by the Getik Bed and Breakfast in eastern Armenia.

Artisan Master Classes Hope to Draw Travelers Into the Armenian Countryside

A local NGO is working with farmers and craft makers to develop new cultural tourism offerings in Armenia's scenic Gegharkunik region

Math in yarn

What Knitting Can Teach You About Math

In this professor's class, there are no calculators. Instead, students learn advanced math by drawing pictures, playing with beach balls—and knitting

Over the course of the 2018 Folklife Festival, experienced artisans worked hand in hand with crochet novices to decorate a humble tree of life.

Armenia’s “Tree of Life” Tradition Took Root Thousands of Years Ago, and Has Only Grown Since

The tree adorned in this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will continue to blossom overseas

The Armenian countryside on the road from Yerevan to Vanadzor.

Unfurling the Rich Tapestry of Armenian Culture

This year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will offer a window on Armenian visions of home

The Clown Egg Registry contains dozens of eggs and is a way to ensure that the likeness of no two clowns are identical.

How Do You Copyright a Clown Face? Paint It On an Egg

Since the 1940s, eggs have been the canvas of choice for registering performers' unique makeup designs

This silk velvet ikat robe was made specifically for a woman, as evidenced by the pinched waist. Velvet ikats were considered top-of-the-line, the Freer|Sackler's Massumeh Farhad explains, because two rows of weft were needed instead of the usual one.

How the Technicolor Ikat Designs of Central Asia Thread Into Textile History

A new Smithsonian exhibition sheds light on the rich backstory of an oft-imitated tradition

Undated photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows fake Native American styled-jewelry seized by federal officials during a 2015 investigation in New Mexico.

Investigators Crack Down on Fraudulent Native American Jewelry

In April, Albuquerque jewelry dealer Nael Ali is set to be sentenced under the 1935 Indian Arts and Crafts Act

At Sisian Ceramics, Vahagn Hambardzumyan throws clay on a wheel to make traditional Armenian shapes onto which Zara Gasparyan etches decorative patterns. The terracotta jugs on the left are made to hold water.

The Art of Armenian Pottery Will Be on Display at This Summer's Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The artists behind Sisian Ceramics create works evocative of the Armenian landscape

Three-Room Dwelling (detail) by Frances Glessner Lee, about 1944-46

Home Is Where the Corpse Is—at Least in These Dollhouse Crime Scenes

Frances Glessner Lee's "Nutshell Studies" exemplify the intersection of forensic science and craft

An unknown woman spinning, circa 1900.

‘Spinster’ and ‘Bachelor’ Were, Until 2005, Official Terms for Single People

Being single is hard enough without these pejoratives.

Soldier’s Patchwork with Incredible Border, artist unidentified, India, 1855 (pre-1881)

The Centuries-Old Tradition of Military Quilting Is Getting Its First Exhibition in the U.S.

The display celebrates the art and craft of soldiers at war and offers insight into life in the military

Moby Dick (1956), Antonio Fernández Reboiro
, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), 1968


The Cuban Government Brought New Life to Hollywood Movies With These Vivid Posters

The U.S. embargo didn’t keep Cubans from watching movies they loved

Photograph of YInMn Blue as synthesized in the laboratory.

Crayola to Debut Crayon Inspired by New Shade of Blue

The YInMn pigment was accidentally discovered by a chemist in 2009

Soon, Lucy Sparrow will open a full NYC bodega filled with only felt food.

These Groceries Are Made of Felt

And artist Lucy Sparrow is opening an entire bodega full of them

Vessel (#2309) by June Schwarcz, 2006, electroplated copper foil and enamel, gold plated

Artist June Schwarcz Electroplated and Sandblasted Her Way Into Art Museums and Galleries

The Renwick hosts a 60-year career retrospective for the innovative California enamelist

Lime Marinade, Cohiba Cigar Cases and Other Unique Gifts You Can Buy in Cuba

How the Thinnest Burmese Gold Leaf Is Made

In Burma, goldworking skills have been passed down over generations

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