American Craft (magazine)

Last updated
American Craft
EditorKaren Olson [1]
CategoriesArts and crafts
Publisher American Craft Council
Founder Aileen Osborn Webb
Founded1941 (as Craft Horizons )
First issueMay 1979 (as American Craft)
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Website www.craftcouncil.org/magazine

American Craft is a periodical magazine that documents crafts, craft artists, and both practical and creative aspects of the field of American craft. [2] [3] Originally founded by Aileen Osborn Webb in 1941 as Craft Horizons , the magazine has been published by the nonprofit American Craft Council under the title American Craft since November 1979. [2]

As of 1979, the magazine's monthly circulation averaged 40,000 copies, making it the main craft publication in the United States. [2] As American Craft, the magazine developed "a more visual orientation as a coffee-table magazine". [4] :378 After the National Endowment for the Arts began to award grants to individual craftspeople in 1973, American Craft profiled major NEA craft recipients. [4] :377 However, its reviews were often limited to "one or two in-depth commentaries" accompanied by a "visual summary of shows". [5]

Like its predecessor, which both "documented and shaped" the changing history of the American craft movement, [6] American Craft has reflected the development of craft. [7] Writers such as Ed Rossbach have examined the history of craft in its pages. In the 1980s Rossbach wrote a series of articles describing tensions between textile artists Mary Meigs Atwater, Anni Albers, Dorothy Liebes and Marianne Strengell in the 1940s. [4] :206–207 In 1993, the magazine marked its 50th anniversary and the national "Year of American Craft" with a commemorative issue profiling the previous fifty years. [8] :6 [9] American Craft was described in 1994 as a "major scholarly periodical" of interest to both researchers and serious craftspeople. [8] :12

American Craft's current editor is Karen Olson (2020-). [1] Previous editors-in-chief include Deborah Pines, Pat Dandignac, [10] Lois Moran (1980 to 2006), [11] Andrew Wagner (2007-2009), Janet Koplos (guest editor, 2009-2010), Shannon Sharpe (deputy editor), [10] Monica Moses (June 2010 to January 2018) [12] and Megan Guerber (2018-2020). [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Karen Olson". American Craft Council. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Zaiden, Emily (2011). "An unyielding commitment to craft: Aileen Osborn Webb and the American Craft Council". Archives of American Art Journal. 50 (3–4): 10–15. doi:10.1086/aaa.50.3_4.23355884. S2CID   191929927 . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  3. Loughran, Maire (14 July 2009). How to Start a Home-Based Jewelry Making Business. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-0-7627-5596-7 . Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (31 July 2010). Makers: A History of American Studio Craft. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   978-0-8078-9583-2 . Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  5. Fariello, M. Anna; Owen, Paula (2005). Objects and Meaning: New Perspectives on Art and Craft. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-0-8108-5701-8 . Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  6. "Selected articles from Craft Horizons magazine". Minnesota Museum of American Art. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  7. Mayer, Barbara (1988). Contemporary American Craft Art: A Collector's Guide. Peregrine Smith Books. p. 47. ISBN   978-0-87905-284-3 . Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  8. 1 2 Hujsak, Mary Dodge (11 November 1994). "Craft Information Sources". In Reynolds, Judy (ed.). Reference Services in the Humanities. CRC Press. pp. 5–22. ISBN   978-1-56024-692-3.
  9. Moses, Monica (September 17, 2018). "Remembering an Unusual Exhibition at the White House". American Craft Council. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 "Series 15 Craft Horizons/American Craft Historical Note". American Craft Council Archives. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  11. Lovelace, Joyce (January 26, 2021). "Remembering: Lois Moran". American Craft Council. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  12. "Monica Moses". American Craft Council. Retrieved 1 June 2022.

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