Craft Roundup: March 29, 2020

Our Sunday roundup brings you a curated batch of opportunities and happenings from the craft world. This week, craft communities responded to COVID-19 by moving exhibitions, workshops, commerce, and discussions to online platforms. We hope this list helps you stay inspired and stay connected to all things making while we hunker down at home. Enjoy!

Craft commerce online

Craft pop-up of the week

With craft shows around the country being canceled or postponed, organizations are rising to the occasion to help support artists' livelihoods via online marketplaces. In one collaboration, Northern Clay Center is hosting an online pop-up shop for guest artists of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Take a moment to shop their amazing work.

Give it a listen

Impactful audio to help us through social distancing

Recordings of the presentations from our national conference late last year are now available to you online. Faced with the call to isolate, what better time to return to our conversation on the ways craft connects us. Listen now.

Wellness for Makers podcast

Now is an important time to take care of ourselves. Jeweler and podcast host Missy Graff Ballone shares skills to support a lifetime of making in her podcast Wellness for Makers. Missy is no stranger to the ACC. We got to learn more from her in “Zen and the Art of Maker Maintenance” from the December/January 2019 issue of American Craft.

Virtual exhibition experiences

Exhibition discussion of the week

Zipporah Camille Thompson is an Atlanta-based artist who uses weaving to tether discord and chaos to a medium that is normally associated with order and creation. Currently, her exhibition Looming Chaos at the Zuckerman Museum of Art is closed to the public. Fortunately, Rebecca Brantley from ARTS ATL wrote this incredible review of her work and the fabulous curation done by TK Smith. American Craft Council's 2019 Emerging Voices Artist, Diedrick Brackens, also has some incredible things to say about her on his Instagram page.

Explore art museums and exhibitions from the comfort of your couch

While we're practicing social distancing, Google Arts & Culture has teamed up with museums and galleries from around the world to provide us with virtual tours and online exhibitions of some of the best.

For the readers out there

Craft book of the week

Long before COVID-19 disrupted the comforts of our modern marketplace habits, writers and makers like Rebecca Burgess have been keen on pointing out the major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. This thoughtful book from Chelsea Green Publishing was added to the ACC Library' collection this month (along with a more than 25 additional books). Our Library is temporarily closed, but the book is available as an e-book worth browsing as we're all encouraged to stay home.

Tips to stay inspired

Kits and online classes to help you discover new craft at home

As the COVID-19 outbreak leads to in-person classes being canceled, artists like Teresa Audet (host of our recent Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon) are taking to Instagram to offer instructional, hands-on making workshops. Help flatten the curve by keeping yourself occupied learning how to do coiled basketry, all the while supporting an artist whose livelihood is dependent in part on teaching and workshops.

Practical inspiration of the week

We enjoy seeing the renewed sense of hope and connection online. After taking a hiatus from the Instagram's calculated algorithms, Ayumi Horie, creator of Pots In Action, is back in action, making people smile again.

Are craft resources like these important to you?

Become an American Craft Council member and support nonprofit craft publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about making and help grow the number of lives craft has touched.

Become a member