A tradition established at the start of the American Craft Shows, the Awards of Excellence recognize and celebrate show artists in the categories of overall work quality, booth design, and an emerging artist.

From a pool of more than 250 incredibly talented makers, only five were chosen to be honored with awards at our 2017 American Craft Show in Atlanta.

For quality of work, awards were given to ceramist Bill Gossman (booth 501), who creates woodsy structured vessels that capture the essence of the great North; glass artist Virginia Spalter (booth 1102) and her stunning glass work using pâte de verre; and jeweler Tara Locklear (booth 1309), who creates hip jewelry from from recycled skateboards.

Taking home the award for booth design, which honors both quality work and booth presentation, was jeweler Deb Karash (booth 320), whose pigeon-hole display and beautiful ceramic models highlight her work wonderfully.

Jeweler and new ACC show artist Eliana Arenas (booth 810-4) won the Award of Excellence for an emerging artist as part of our Hip Pop program. Her work combines newspaper and metal in a timely and topical merge of media.

Congratulations to all of our award winners!