Young Americans and ACC's Support for Emerging Artists

The American Craft Council has supported craft artists’ livelihoods since 1943, and emerging artists specifically since 1950. In the Spring 1950 issue of Craft Horizons (now American Craft), the American Craftsmen’s Educational Council (now ACC) announced “A New Opportunity for Young Craftsmen!” in the form of a competitive exhibition called Young Americans. Artists between the ages of 18 and 30 were invited to submit their work for adjudication by Dorothy Liebes and Ruth Reeves in textiles, Adda Husted-Andersen and L.C. Eichner in metals, James J. Jackson in wood, and Albert Jacobson in ceramics, along with merchandise consultant Anne Roberts and Parsons School of Design director Van Day Truex.

Of the 200 submissions, 175 were exhibited in the gallery at America House, the Council’s Manhattan retail space. Three cash prizes were awarded in each category. The competition continued annually until 1956, when Young Americans and Young Scandinavians was held as the second exhibition at the Council’s newly opened Museum of Contemporary Crafts (later called the American Craft Museum when it became an independent organization, and now called the Museum of Arts and Design).

Between 1950 and 1988, the Council held 15 Young Americans competitions and exhibitions. The earliest competitions required the artists to send their works to New York for review—slides of work were not accepted until 1969. By 1977, the competition had received over 11,000 slide submissions, necessitating three medium-specific exhibitions over a three-year period.

Over the 38 years that the Young Americans competitions were held, there was a distinctive shift in the focus of the program. Early jurors were tied to production and design work, and their critiques commented on quality of technique over self-expression or creativity. In the final years of the competition, jurors were more frequently artists and professors in academic departments, and the commentary on works employed the vocabulary of fine art, reflecting the Council’s shifting focus from building a marketplace for craft artisans to gaining recognition for craft within the art field.

America House closed in 1971 and the American Craft Museum became an independent organization in 1990. After that, the Council no longer had a venue in which to hold the Young Americans exhibitions and sunsetted the program. ACC has since supported early career artists through a variety of programs. Between 2001 and 2003, the Council announced the Emerging Artist Grant Program, which provided funds for research, professional development, or to create a new body of work. The Emerging Voices Award, a biennial program active between 2015 and 2019, expanded the recognition of nascent craft practitioners to include an award for scholarship, curatorship, and criticism. On the 75th anniversary of the first Young Americans exhibition, ACC’s work supporting emerging artists continues—returning to our roots by focusing on makers’ livelihoods. Craft Lab, School to Market, and the Early Career Artist Support Program connect newer craft artists with audiences and teach business skills. Annual events such as American Craft Made in Baltimore and American Craft Fest in Saint Paul, Minnesota, dedicate booth space to emerging artists.

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. To schedule research appointments with the archives, contact Beth Goodrich at [email protected].