Baltimore is a longtime hub for craft. Supported by the Baltimore Museum of Art and dozens of other museums, nonprofits, and studios, the city is home to makers of exceptional jewelry, pottery, glass, and much more. One axis point upon which the city’s art scene turns is ACC’s flagship event, American Craft Made Baltimore. The largest juried craft fair on the East Coast, this beloved, 48-year tradition brings together the nation’s top craft artists and appreciators for one joyful weekend every year. Rebecca Myers, a Baltimore-based fine jeweler, gallery owner, and former ACC trustee, has been showing her work at American Craft Made Baltimore since 1997. Like so many other artists, she credits it as instrumental in shaping her career. “Through this fair, I’ve built lifelong friendships, championed my favorite artists, and bought work for my gallery,” Myers shared. American Craft Made Baltimore, she noted, keeps the craft community vibrant and fresh while creating opportunities for independent artists to contribute to the broader design world, connect to new customers, and push their fields forward. “It’s a venue where visitors can witness the determination and tenacity of craft artists to continue pushing the boulder uphill until they succeed,” she said.
The impact of American Craft Made Baltimore extends to the cultural landscape of the city itself. Brittany Luberda, the Anne Stone Associate Curator of Decorative Arts at the Baltimore Museum of Art, sees the fair as a vital link between the museum’s historical collections and the work of contemporary makers. “Many of the Museum’s star objects acquired in the last 50 years are by artists who have received ACC’s Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship and began with shows like ACC’s Baltimore fair.” That tradition is alive and well — every year, Luberda seeks out new works for the BMA there. “When I went to the fair for the first time, I was bowled over by the vivacity of the community and the nature of handmade objects . . . the feeling that it’s a living museum,” she recalled.
American Craft Made Baltimore is also a place to form collaborations, such as the very meaningful one between Myers and Luberda. After seeing Myers’ booth at the event, Luberda approached her to design her engagement ring. “It’s so rewarding to get to make significant pieces for someone’s life, marriage—birth, other life events,” Myers remarked. For Luberda, the experience was deeply personal, as Myers’s craftsmanship and the process of commissioning the ring helped her feel at home in a new city, making a lasting memory in a place where she and her future husband had each relocated without family. “Working with an ACC artist made me feel so at home,” Luberda said. “[The ring] is beautiful to wear because it is also connected to the community.” Myers pointed out how ACC’s fairs have impacted the broader design world, far beyond the local level. “Many artists and designers began their career with ACC’s support and are at the pinnacles of their career now, with international brands.” And, she noted, it’s not unusual for them to return to see what’s happening within the fairs today. “They come back to get the pulse.” To keep that pulse strong, Luberda and Myers encourage artists and enthusiasts to become ACC members and to support the artists in their own lives, whether by purchasing handcrafted items or starting conversations about the creative process. And of course, they encourage those in the Baltimore area to come and attend American Craft Made Baltimore. There is something for everyone: “It’s multimedia, multi-material, multigenerational. It’s the front line of the new,” said Luberda.
