Oakland-based artist Stephanie Syjuco talked about her work making face masks out of green-screen fabric, the shifts that have taken place in mask-making, and the disparity between offering free/donated goods and services and charging for them. She encouraged more conversation around rethinking the support cycles of “compensation, donation, and production.” @ssyjuco

You asked: Is there any advice you have regarding mask distribution? How were you making sure that your masks got to the right people? Start local in your own neighborhood, family, and community and scale up as needed or able. Check out national calls for masks. The need is still very real and there are many ways to help.

Karen Hampton, weaver, storyteller, and assistant professor of fibers at MassArt, discussed her work responding to the lives of her ancestors and the idea that work being produced now has the power – and responsibility – to act as a catalyst for change to build a better future: “The job of artists now is to start changing the narrative.” @k.d28

You asked: How is this pandemic going to change the landscape of the art community? How will it be different? And how do you hope that it will be different? With the closing and restructuring of so many art galleries, the focus will shift to public art and pieces that are more accessible and community-based. The need for this type of art will rise.

Holly Hanessian, designer, artist, educator, and president of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), talked about her work developing her multi-year project, Touch In Real Time, and the relationship between touch, healing, and self care: “Tactile experiences are an elemental part of being human.” @hahaworks

You asked: How has Touch in Real Time changed since COVID-19? What will happen with this project in the future? Thinking about all the people we have lost through this outbreak underscores the need to capture the touch of someone at the end of their life as a source of comfort and memory. This project may live on with a focus on the resulting object acting as a last moment of contact with loved ones.

Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic. Hrag is an art critic, curator, artist, and lecturer on contemporary art with an expertise on the intersection of art and politics.
@hragv @hyperallergic
Read more from Hrag in American Craft: "Why Craft Matters"

Jordan Carey, Loquat (Portland, Maine)

Kei & Molly Textiles, LLC (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

Avra Messé (Brooklyn, New York)

Shoots & Roots Bitters helps you stir up your own stay-at-home cocktail with a new recipe each week inspired by the topics at hand.
@shootsandrootsbitters
This week's recipe: Anti-allergy botanicals in a strawberry shrub (with variations)

Artist, researcher, and kite flyer Darrah Bowden talked about her research on the craft of kites, both as handmade objects and as a cultural activity. Bowden specifically focused on the Great Boston Kite Festival (now known as the Kite & Bike Festival), started in the 1960s, as an example of how kites and kite flying brought communities together in “collective joy.” @deebalm

You asked: To what ends did Harvard’s Graduate School of Design utilize kites and kite making and design? The kite festival as part of the curriculum was the brainchild of Benjamin Thompson, then the director of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and only took place for one day, for a handful of years.

Dr. Diana Baird N’Diaye (pron: EnJIYE), textile artist, cultural heritage specialist, and senior curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, shared her work around African American dress, apparel, and hair styling as an important form of storytelling, as well as a special project that she has been working on for the last few years, the “Mending Blind,” as a safe space that plays against the traditional “hunting blinds” used by hunters to conceal their presence in the environment. @dndiaye

Curator of public engagement at Craft Contemporary and artist Andres Payan Estrada discussed the present and future of craft and curation, particularly in light of the events of the past few weeks and months. In particular, Payan Estrada is looking at ways to redesign curation to be more equitable, citing a couple of artists (Gala Porras-Kim and Kahlil Robert Irving) from a group exhibition he curated at Arizona State University, “Total Collapse: Clay in the Contemporary Past.” @andres_payan

You asked: What are some challenges institutions face with how they choose to frame and promote events and exhibitions? How can institutions present material that is sensitive to the makers? It requires more collaboration and conversation with the maker to fully understand the breadth of what they are trying to convey through their work. Focus the presentation on their voice and their perspective, linking them and your institution directly with their community.

We were also joined by multi-media maker, scholar, and ACC trustee Sarah K. Khan, who provided a wonderfully eloquent synopsis of this session. She emphasized that the depth of conversation with the presenters “[gave] us permission to [also] be layered, to share our full selves, and to fly – to fly freer than the kites – to break soil, too sew, S-E-W, and to sow, S-O-W, and to be cognizant of blindness ... and to look into the future and shape a different kind of reality than the one that many of us are facing today.” @sarahkkhan

Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic. Hrag is an art critic, curator, artist, and lecturer on contemporary art with an expertise on the intersection of art and politics. @hragv @hyperallergic
Read more from Hrag in American Craft: "Why Craft Matters"

Zahit Mungan (Mardin, Turkey)

Women of Color Quilters Network

Aram Han Sifuentes (Chicago, Illinois)

Shoots & Roots Bitters helps you stir up your own stay-at-home cocktail with a new recipe each week inspired by the topics at hand. @shootsandrootsbitters
This week's recipe: Ica Shuffle with Damiana Leaf-Infused Pisco and Xocolatl Bitters

Katy Stanton, program and membership director at Urban Manufacturing Alliance, talked about the work that UMA does with collaborative partnerships and storytelling. She highlighted two different approaches to their work through local branding efforts (e.g. SFMade and Made in Baltimore) and how community lenders are centering inclusion and equity in their practices. @katy.stanton

You asked: Does UMA track successful business models that entrepreneurs have used in the past? While UMA does not track those specifically, local branding organizations such as Made in Baltimore, SFMade, and Made in NYC might be good places to start searching for that information.

Dominick Davis and Steven White are makers, designers, entrepreneurs, and co-owners of DifferentRegard in Baltimore, a sustainable clothing manufacturer that pivoted with the pandemic to making fashion-based PPE masks and gowns. @differentregard

You asked: Do you address the political nature of mask-wearing by the BIPOC community, specifically by Black men, who may encounter animosity for wearing a mask? It’s one of the reasons why they are passionate about creating designer masks, which provide a sense of individuality, avert judgement, and make the wearer more approachable. Dominick and Steven hope that these masks remove barriers for BIPOC individuals to be both safe and healthy.

Keith Recker discussed the many facets of his work in the craft field as an author, color forecaster, editor and founder of HAND/EYE Magazine, editor of TABLE MAGAZINE, and creative director of Sante Fe-based International Folk Art Market. Specifically through his work with TABLE, Recker encourages us to consider how to use our digital platforms to connect to makers, events, and market opportunities for artists. @thechromosapien

You asked: What are the opportunities and challenges for makers stepping into an online marketplace? Photography and marketing. Invest in professional photos of your work and learn how to put them to use, both in your shop and in your marketing campaign. Use the tools and resources of the time (social media and email are huge) and to take a few cues from retailer models.

Vallejo Gantner, artistic executive director of the Onassis Foundation and cofounder of Hireartists.org, talked about two aspects of his work right now: the Onassis Foundation has started considering what work will be like post-pandemic and created a program called “Enter” that supports both artists and audiences through “micro-commissions;” Hireartists.org focuses on the other skills that artists bring to the table besides making, acting as a connecting platform for individuals to get both creative and practical help. @hyperjetlag @hireartists

You asked: Are you surprised by what people are looking for and what types of services they will pay for through Hireartists.org? Originally, the thought was that people would hire someone for a need (e.g. help with accounting, language lessons, etc.), but it turns out more and more people are investing in activities and lessons based on creativity and whimsy – things they want to do (e.g. virtual DJ, magic lessons, etc.).

Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic. Hrag is an art critic, curator, artist, and lecturer on contemporary art with an expertise on the intersection of art and politics. @hragv @hyperallergic
Read more from Hrag in American Craft: "Why Craft Matters"

Open Works (Baltimore, Maryland)

Carolina Textile District

Makwa Studio (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Shoots & Roots Bitters helps you stir up your own stay-at-home cocktail with a new recipe each week inspired by the topics at hand. @shootsandrootsbitters
This week's recipe: Aloe Cooling Bitters Liqueur