Beadwork

Somewhere between an Olympics medal ceremony and “Candid Camera” falls the annual Awards Walking Tour at the American Craft Council's Baltimore Show. Each year, we invite two specialists in the craft field to jury the show, selecting six Award of Excellence recipients and two winners in the Booth Design category. This year's jurors were Jane Milosch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Josephine Shea, curator of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, a historic home near Detroit.

For a first-time visitor, the American Craft Council’s Baltimore Show can be somewhat overwhelming - in the best possible way. I experienced that today when I entered the Baltimore Convention Center for a sneak peek at the exhibitors in our 34th annual show. I was immediately struck not only by the sheer number of artists, but also by the eclectic variety of the work on display. It’s an incredible sensory experience to encounter exquisitely handcrafted goods in such a range of colors, shapes, textures and materials.

"Wow, it's just one thing after another-it's just amazing," a passerby enthused at the American Craft Council Baltimore Show and as the event draws to a close I can think of no better way to sum up the experience. Except to say what a total pleasure it was to meet the artists, see their work up close and in many cases put a face to the names I often heard and somehow felt I already knew.

Today marked the first day of the American Craft Council's Baltimore Show -three public days dedicated to craft-based art. For the past 33 years, this enormous show has been humming along at the city's convention center, engaging an enthusiastic crowd with a cornucopia of talent from across the country. I arrived prior to show time and despite dire pronouncements about the economy, an eager crowd had already gathered to see their favorites, lift their spirits and get first dibs on the goods.

If you happen to find yourself in lower Manhattan these days and seeking distraction from the relentless Wall Street woes, you might want to duck into the National Museum of the American Indian…