Back to the Beginning of ACC Baltimore

In honor of the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore this week, we’ve added several images taken at the first manifestation of this event (back in February 1977) to our ACC Library Digital Collections. Known at the time as the Baltimore Winter Market, it was one of the first shows to feature a miscellany of craftspeople living east of the Mississippi. Approximately 300 artists were selected from a field of 1,000 by a six-member jury, including metalworker Ronald Pearson, ceramist Ron Propst, woodworker Douglas Sigler, Southern Highland Handicraft Guild director Robert Gray, author Florence Pettit, and Appalachian Spring Gallery owner David Brooks. Check out the inaugural show directory, also available through the digital collections, for a complete list of these early exhibitors.    

So, what was the motivation for launching the Winter Market? According to a statement made before the market by then show director Carol Sedestrom (Ross), “The enormous proliferation of craft fairs may be having an adverse effect on the professional stature of the American craft movement; hence, we are sponsoring a market that, by its very name, establishes a more serious approach… We tried to attract those craftspeople who were seeking a professional marketplace… The market was scheduled at a time of the year when we know most retail concerns begin their yearly buying plans.” This careful consideration paid off – the show was a huge success, with thousands of attendees coming from across the United States, including places as far away as Hawaii, Arizona, and Colorado. The event was also covered in many prominent publications including The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and Better Homes and Gardens, just to name a few. 

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit of history from this event was the political interest it attracted. Joan Mondale, a potter and wife of Vice President Walter Mondale, attended the opening of the market and expressed her intention to include American crafts in the decorative scheme of the vice-presidential mansion (which she later did). President Carter sent a representative to select official state gifts at the show, and the first three purchases at the market were made by Baltimore’s Mayor William Donald Schaefer, who gave them to Mondale - chairman of the ACC board, Barbara Rockefeller, and ACC founder Aileen Osborn Webb. 

If you find yourself at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore this week, stop by the Council booth to learn more about the history of the ACC and its annual craft shows!