Independent writer and curator Sarah Archer joined us for our September salon. As a scholar very familiar with the American Craft Council Library and Archives, it was only appropriate that she would be here to talk about the history of craft and graphic design using the ACC’s publication Craft Horizons (now American Craft) as a case study. Her talk, which was filled with amazing imagery and advertisements from midcentury America, highlighted the various threads weaving between trends in graphic design in the 1950s and '60s and the simultaneously changing forms and aesthetic in the field of craft. Her admiration for Craft Horizons’ former editor in chief Rose Slivka was evident, and she talked extensively about Slivka’s role in changing the magazine’s look and content to reflect the modern moment. We caught up with Sarah to ask her about her talk and why this subject has so captivated her. 
 

Presented by the American Craft Council, the Library Salon Series is a series of free public presentations exploring craft, making, and art.