Craft Around the Country

Craft-itarianism Focuses on Craft That Sustains

The Center for Craft’s new exhibition emphasizes social practice in craft.

By Robert Alan Grand
March 18, 2026

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Exhibitions

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Photo by Emmanuel Figaro, courtesy of Center for Craft

People's Pottery Project uses a signature blue glaze called Abolition Blue at its Los Angeles studio.

The signature glaze of Los Angeles’ People’s Pottery Project is the color of a clear summer sky. It’s named “Abolition Blue,” reflecting the studio’s ethos of employing and empowering formerly incarcerated women, trans, and non-binary individuals to build new careers in craft.

Understated azure-glazed tableware from People’s Pottery Project greets visitors to Craft-itarianism: Community Action Through Craft, a new exhibition at Center for Craft in Asheville, North Carolina, that brings together six nonprofits and artist-led initiatives to demonstrate how craft can foster transformative and unparalleled experiences, support humanitarian advocacy, and inspire coalition building.

The show, which runs through September 27, also includes traditional fiber arts created by neurodivergent and disabled artists at Philadelphia’s Center for Creative Works, a beadwork hospital gown that Minneapolis artist Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) made in collaboration with individuals affected by substance abuse, and over 900 encyclopedia entries on the history of Black craft collected by the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive.

Photo by Emmanuel Figaro, courtesy of Center for Craft

Minneapolis-based artist Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) collaborated with individuals affected by substance abuse to make Hospital Gown, 2025, glass and plastic beads, synthetic sinew, 45 x 73 x 2 in.

“‘Craft-itarianism’ is a term I came up with in my appreciation of craft practices whose intention is not only to build but to sustain,” says 2026 Center for Craft curatorial fellow Alyssa Velazquez, noting how these endeavors “support or empower not just artists and existing craft practitioners but someone processing embodied trauma, recovering from the loss of a loved one, or living with a disability.” The exhibition, she adds, “is a showcase of craft practices, yes, but it’s also showing one of the many possible outcomes when we center care and connection.”

The binational art collaborative AMBOS: Art Made Between Opposite Sides is represented by an impactful installation of queer milagros—small, handmade symbolic charms, often left behind at sacred sites—made by students in trauma-informed ceramics workshops at three LGBTQ+ migrant shelters along the U.S./Mexico border. The figures are set against a wall-sized image of La Casita de Unión Trans, Tijuana’s sole trans-only refuge. With charms like a flying dollar bill, an airplane, a pair of eyes, and a pair of high heels, these milagros reflect a modern approach to the spiritual tradition that serve as, Velazquez explains, “a wish, prayer, or thanks”—to cure illness, express gratitude, or protect travelers. For Velazquez, the emblems on display can speak to the artist’s personal experience and to more universal concerns. “Through our hopes and desires, we are reminded of our collective humanity,” she says.

Another piece, a small emerald vase titled If You’re Green, You’re Growing (2025), exemplifies the communal spirit of Craft-itarianism. Created by Laura Donfer in collaboration nine students from Firebird Community Arts in Chicago—a studio that helps youth affected by gun violence connect and heal through glass and clay workshops—Green feels like a metaphorical summation of the show’s themes: that change can happen when many hands work together, and that something beautiful can emerge from difficult experiences with guidance and support from others who understand.

Photo by Emmanuel Figaro, courtesy of Center for Craft

Each stoneware milagro in the AMBOS Project's Queer Milagros: Petitions from the Border installation measures approximately 5 x 5 in.

Robert Alan Grand is a writer and photographer based in Asheville, North Carolina. He received the 2025 Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant to cover contemporary art in southern and central Appalachia.

Learn more about Craft-itarianism and listen to a playlist by curator Alyssa Velazquez that reflects the exhibition's themes.

Website Playlist

This article was made possible with support from the Windgate Foundation.

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