The Craftsman in Society
Richard Sennett

Richard Sennett’s theme in his keynote address is that the virtues of traditional craftsmanship, the emphasis on doing good quality work for its own sake, should steer our thinking about the “skills society” now in the making. He will speak about the basics of skill development and try to show why our educational and work institutions are not fostering depth of skills. He’ll conclude by suggesting ways we can strengthen the craft ethos in the workplace.

Lifestyle and Livelihood in Craft Culture
Elissa Auther

This presentation considers the rise and evolution of the tension between craft as a lifestyle and craft as a livelihood since the 1960s. Considering this tension from a historical perspective, Elissa Auther will address how questions of identity, community and authenticity in craft culture are answered through and against the marketplace.

Craft in the 21st Century: Identity, Choice, Meaning Sandra Alfoldy, moderator, with panelists Thomas Patti, Michael Sherrill and Claudia Crisan

Although the craft community is close-knit, genuine, honest conversations about the reality of surviving as a craftsperson are not common. This panel will combine artists from various media and a range of professional stages—an established maker (Patti), a mid-level career maker (Sherrill) and an emerging voice (Crisan) and unite them through questions from a craft historian (Alfoldy).  The panel’s intention is to get to the heart of the issues that face craft artists in the 21st century. What motivates someone to pursue a career in the crafts? How do friends and family react to this choice, and what are the educational options available to makers? What are the pitfalls ahead in terms of establishing a studio, choosing between teaching and full-time making, and developing a profile? What are the successes that buoy makers? By exploring honest reactions to these and other questions, this group hopes to connect with fellow artists, inspire critics and historians to consider the broader social contexts that inform how objects get made, and, ultimately, give thoughtful consideration to the impulses that continue to inspire people to dedicate their lives to the crafts.

Mixed Taste: Tag Team Lectures on Two Unrelated Crafts
Adam Lerner, The Lab at Belmar

In this unique and interactive program, two craft experts are paired at random - one traditionally associated with the museological study of craft,  the other not. This session’s theme is “Butchery and Prairie School Architecture,” with
Kristin Tombers, owner, Clancey’s Meats and Fish, and Jennifer Komar Olivarez, Associate Curator, Architecture, Design, Decorative Arts, Craft, and Sculpture, Minneapolis Institute of Art. Each speaker will talk for twenty minutes on their seemingly unrelated areas of expertise, followed by an audience question and answer session, addressing both topics at the same time. During the two talks by the experts, the speakers are not allowed to make connections between the two topics, but during the question and answer period… anything can happen!

Marketplace and the Personal
A Story of Thread - Natalie Chanin

When Natalie Chanin returned home in 2000, she was planning a project that would include artisans from her hometown, Florence, Alabama. She didn’t realize  that those first few stitches were to lead her on a journey where thread, market, home, hope, determination and craftsmanship would merge. Hers is a story of going home, and by going home, finding a connection to the world. It is a story about a connection that bridges her small community and a handful of stitches on cotton jersey with the global economy, the marketplace at large and lessons about sustaining our community, our craft and, most important, the future of our planet. This is a visual story, with highlights of southern gardens, farmers, ladies and gentlemen—who are the foundation of the company she has created—stores, stories, colors and, yes, thread.

A Handmade Nation
Faythe Levine

Faythe Levine, director of the documentary Handmade Nation and co-author of its companion book, will present a visual journey through clips from her film showing her researching and documenting the Do It Yourself (D.I.Y.) art, craft and design community around the United States. She traveled 19,000 miles to capture what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture and the D.I.Y. ethos. Levine interviewed crafters, artists and designers who work in different media and have different methodologies to provide a microcosm of this expanding creative community. Participants in this phenomenon share ideas and encouragement through websites, blogs, boutiques, galleries and craft fairs. Together they have forged a new economy and lifestyle based on creativity, determination and networking. Addressing the different elements of the movement, Levine aims to give individuals inspiration and resources to bring back to their studios, businesses and communities.

Handmade 2.0
Rob Walker

In the 21st century “craft” means many things to many people. There is no “craft culture”—but there are craft cultures. Different definitions are being affected by generational approaches, by varied motivations, by technology and, of course, by the marketplace. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. And the good news is that the various players who inhabit the world(s) of “craft” by and large seem to have a common interest in, at the very least, understanding each other. Because his focus is on consumer behavior and consumer culture more broadly—areas that are also in flux in this economic moment—Rob Walker will focus on the contemporary handmade world from a marketplace perspective. What does it mean to consumers and what could it mean? How are deeper changes in contemporary America affecting the craft idea(s) directly and indirectly? What are the various audiences drawn to and various forms of craft drawn to? How do the answers to that question fit into the wider scope of this new chapter in American consumerism? In other words, why now? And what next?

Riding the “Long Tail”: Marketing Craft on the Internet Namita Gupta Wiggers, moderator, with panelists Lisa Bayne, Amy Shaw and Maria Thomas

How does the internet serve the marketplace compared to a brick-and-mortar store? Marketing on the internet engages social networks, virtual communities and viral marketing. Perhaps more important for craft, however, is what Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More defines as the future of business. Anderson argues that the future does not lie in hits at the high end of the traditional demand curve but in what was once regarded as misses—the lengthy long tail of that same curve. How, then, does craft, which focuses on smaller quantities of unique objects fare on the internet? This conversation with Lisa Bayne of guild.com, Maria Thomas of etsy.com and Greenjeans blogger Amy Shaw, will examine how each of these craft-focused sites drives this shift, what makes them effective and how they connect to and communicate with niche lifestyle markets.

Men in White
Julie Lasky

Many designers have made their way in the marketplace by adopting the social organizations, language and even dress of industrialists, management consultants and scientists. Discussed in this presentation is the history of submerged creative identities in the design world and how it has shaped the definition of design today.

The Story of Heath Ceramics
Robin Petravic

Heath Ceramics is one of the few remaining mid-century American potteries and has been making tableware and tile for over 60 years in its Sausalito, California, factory. A crew of 40 skilled craftspeople still make every product on the premises, often utilizing the methods and techniques developed by the company founder, Edith Heath, throughout her life. In 2003, the husband-and-wife team of Robin Petravic and Catherine Bailey purchased Heath Ceramics with a mission to revitalize the company by placing a strong emphasis on design, while preserving Edith Heath’s handcrafted techniques and designer-maker legacy.
Heath now makes both classic and new designs with the highest level of craftsmanship to ensure an enduring quality and aesthetic. The company is guided by the idea that good craft and design, held as core values, make good business sense. Heath doesn’t just support craft and design, craft and design support Heath and make it what it is. In the spirit of the final object, craft can’t stand on its own without design and design can’t stand on its own without craft. This mutual influence starts with the raw materials and continues on a wholistic level through every choice in the making of an object. In the end, allowing a piece to tell the story of these intentions on its own is the most important aspect to how these objects are experienced.

The Case For Conservatism (renamed Palace and Cottage)
Garth Clark

For decades, craft institutions have been favoring the outer edges of craft, its hybrid manifestations, in which craft is channeled through design and fine art at the expense of the more traditional crafters who have slowly become invisible outside the craft show circuit. In the process, far from improving the medium’s place in the visual arts, its “brand” in the visual arts marketplace has been corrupted and diminished. As a follow-up to Garth Clark’s controversial lecture “How Envy Killed the Crafts,” he now examines a list of dos and don’ts for craft’s survival at a perilous time and navigates some of the barriers to a contemporary craft revival in the United States.

New Models of Marketplace
Lydia Matthews

Lydia Matthews will consider how, in the face of dire forms of economic and social crisis, new models of studio practice, creative research and entrepreneurship are emerging from the ground up around the world. Acutely aware of our dynamic and complex contemporary lifestyles, which are simultaneously local and the global, many artists have recognized the intrinsic value of craft as both a verb and a visual as well as material territory to explore, interrogate and revolutionize. Craft practices are proliferating in multiple arenas today, tapping into new media networks, microeconomic systems and diverse cultural contexts that extend beyond traditional gallery models. New forms of thinking within that are proliferating in the design world may help us account for how craft can be understood as a way to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment, and a way to design not only objects but also proposals for more sustainable systems and modes of living.

Craft as Subject, Verb, and Object
Sonya Clark

Craft is the subject of our conference. As its creators, collectors, critics, students, and historians, craft is also the object of our affection and attention. But, as we all know, craft is also an action. But craft is not only a series of finely honed skills; the field itself is a work in progress with deep roots and ever expanding branches. Craft is evolving, transforming and growing. Craft is a verb. A deep understanding of craft’s evolution necessarily involves everyone’s  input. Throughout the conference a team of artists and volunteers will gather participants’ insights on craft as a subject, verb and object. In this closing session Sonya Clark will compile and present this information. Together, our collective wisdom will shed light on the directions and definitions of craft.

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