Small Bites

Looking for some quick craft videos to chew on? Look no further than ACC’s Library Salon Series videos on our YouTube channel, where you’ll find mini interviews with artists and craftspeople from various disciplines discussing their work, their inspirations, and why they make what they make.

The ACC library salons first launched in 2007 when the organization was located in New York City. Initially, the program was titled “Summer in the City Salon Series”—with in-person events scheduled in May, July, and September—and featured speakers including designer and furniture maker David Trubridge, gallerists Any Shaw and Rena Tom, and members of craft communities such as the NYC Church of Craft and Goods of Conscience. The program went on hiatus after 2009 and was reborn in 2012 as the “ACC Library Salon Series.” These salons were held eight times a year and showcased “a series of public conversations about craft, making, and art” with local and national guest speakers from craft and craft-adjacent fields.

Before the series ended in 2018, ACC conducted a series of interviews with Salon guest speakers and that can still be found on the ACC YouTube channel. The short videos include conversations with representatives from Fulton Brewing and Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts exploring the relationship between craft beer brewing and glassmaking; a design historian and a vintage furniture store owner discussing the appeal of modern Scandinavian design; and  Sioux Chef Sean Sherman sharing his approach to food traditions with chef and author Amy Thielen. These interviews, and many more—including artists Wence and Sandra Martinez elaborating on their partnership in life and in art—are available for you to satisfy your curiosity, one nourishing, digestible bite at a time.  

Beth Goodrich is the archivist for the American Craft Council. The ACC Archives hold historical documentation of ACC dating back to 1939, as well as the early history of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts/American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design) from 1956 to 1990. Many materials from the archives are available online at digital.craftcouncil.org. Questions about the archives? Contact Beth Goodrich at [email protected].