Question: How are you coping with the economic downturn?

We are finding that people place a high priority on education in time of recession. Our 12-week and 9-month courses are running at full capacity, and the shorter summer workshops are down only slightly against last year. We seem to be weathering the storm in relative safety.
­—Peter Korn, executive director, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine

We are continuing to show only the very best work, and we have not curtailed our rather ambitious exhibition schedule. We’ve been through economic downturns before and this one, though it has felt somewhat deeper, now seems to be turning around. San Francisco has not been hit as badly as some other places. We understand that most people have to be more careful with their money, and so we try to show that a well-chosen piece of craft can be a good decision. During our 18 years in the field, in good times and bad, we always try to widen our audience and look for new ways to reach people. This could be improving our website and developing new online connections. I think the main thing is not to panic. If you are doing a good job, people will support what you do.­
—Elizabeth Shypertt, co-owner, Velvet da Vinci jewelry gallery, San Francisco, California

We have been rather fortunate. We did see a drop around the holidays, but things have picked up and we are now doing quite well. If this were not the case I guess I would have to learn to rob banks.
­—Josh Urso, furniture and lighting designer, Jersey City, New Jersey

For the first time since I left Seattle Art Museum over 10 years ago, I’ve no waiting list of future projects. A retrospective exhibition of the work of a Seattle artist that I was to curate, and the accompanying catalog I was to write, have been cancelled. It was always an expensive proposition, with high shipping and publication costs. The small museums for which I often work are likely to be financially stressed even in better times. My last big project, co-editing the anthology Choosing Craft: The Artist’s Viewpoint (2009), was funded by grants. My current work, co-editing a volume of letters of the painter Morris Graves, is proceeding without adequate funding. The private donors we were counting on to support research and transcription have not materialized to the extent we expected. The economic downturn is the explanation we prefer to cite, since it gives us hope of a future windfall.­
—Vicki Halper, freelance curator, Seattle, Washington

I am a sustainable designer, so the economic downturn has not had a devastating affect on me. I believe that is directly related to my life and work style; I use all recycled materials in my designs, therefore my costs are low and my footprint light. I also believe that the economy is making people aware of the repercussions of their actions on a broader scope, which can only help to bring a positive change for future generations.
­—Erica White, apparel designer, MA candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Luckily the downturn has not greatly affected my business. I began doing mostly private commissions three years ago, and my clientele remains interested in one-of-a-kind sculptures and functional pieces. I think if I were still primarily selling functional and decorative glass pieces wholesale through fine craft stores, my business might have taken a steep decline. It seems that those in the higher income brackets are still doing projects, while the rest are closely watching what they spend on gifts and functional pieces.
­—Peter Zelle, glass artist, Minneapolis, Minnesota

There are now even more opportunities to ally ourselves with the vibrant sustainability movements that have been challenging bubble-growth capitalism for some time—slow food, buy local, fair trade, etc. We are known local makers of meaningful stuff people can use, very relevant as the economy moves people to think more about how they are living and what structures they are supporting. It’s a matter of making the case and being accessible, a mix of old-fashioned events (kiln openings and group studio tours) and new technologies (social networking, etc.). The downturn might in fact be our turn.
­—Mark Shapiro, studio potter, Worthington, Massachusetts

Penland is a retreat, and we want our students and instructors to be as far from financial worries as possible, so we’ve done everything we can to minimize visible effects. However, we have been affected by the economy. We have made cuts to balance our budget but have managed to avoid eliminating jobs. Our staff is not getting raises; we have been trimming services and postponing things that can wait. As of this writing, our enrollment is at 88 percent of capacity, down only a few percentage points from last year, which shows how vital our programs are. We all believe strongly in our mission and are stretching to ensure that those we serve come first. The energy on campus is powerful and that is what we want to focus on.
—Jean W. McLaughlin, director, Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina