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

From a pool of more than 230 incredibly talented makers, only five were chosen to be honored with awards at our 2018 American Craft Show in Atlanta. Amy Putansu, fiber instructor and School-to-Market organizer for Haywood Community College stepped in as the Awards of Excellence juror.

For quality of work, awards were given to woodturner Mark Gardner (booth 910), who Amy described as an “accomplished craftsman” whose work is both simple and elegant, jeweler Carolyn Morris Bach (booth 105), whose stunning and usual work was highlighted for her masterful blend of medium and form, and mixed media artist Kimberly Willcox (booth 1000), who creates haunting figural sculptures that seem to belong in fairy tales.

Taking home the award for booth design, which honors both quality work and booth presentation is jeweler Anne-Marie Chagnon (booth 418), whose beautifully displayed worked glows from perfectly white tables.

Mixed media artist Jessica C. White (booth 915-5) won the Award of Excellence for an emerging artist as part of our Hip Pop program. Layering her skills in illustration, printmaking, papermaking, bookbinding, and woodworking, Jessica’s work stands out as a quintuple threat of craftsmanship.

On Saturday night, The Balvenie brand ambassador Lorne Cousin presented the new Rare Craft Awards of Excellence to honor two artists working in traditional mediums. Awards went to weaver, Chie Hitchner (booth 814), who makes stunning woven wall hangings and scarves evocative of her life in Alabama and her Japanese ancestry, and blacksmith Corry Blanc (booth 718), whose hand-forged steel cookware has been singled out by foodie, chef, and TV personality Andrew Zimmern as "the best stuff [he's] seen in a decade."

Congratulations to all of our recipients!

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