Voices

In each issue, we ask members of the craft community to answer a question. This time we asked if current events shape their work.

Tonya Hedgeman, Dennis Stevens, Lin Nelson-Mayson, Michael Lamar, Stephanie Swindle, Antonia Bostrom, and Anthony Tammaro share the artists' work they're excited about now.

To celebrate the Renwick's 40th anniversary in 2012, we are mounting a major travelling exhibition, Craft Futures: 40 Under 40, which will showcase the work of 40 artists born since 1972. I plan to spend the next year running away from any and all preconceptions about what constitutes the best American craft, and searching out new methods, new materials, new attitudes and new people to illustrate emerging trends in the field. It's going to be an adventure!

Craftspeople and others in the arts hold forth on the values of mentorship.

Artists and arts professionals agree that for better or worse—more likely the former—the Internet has been a game-changer in their careers.