‘Handwork’ weaves America’s material history

Beverly Press/Park La Brea News
9/10/26

A new book edited by the director and curator of Craft in America Center examines more than 250 years of American history through handmade objects and the people who created them.

“Handwork: Handcrafted Objects that Made America,” edited by Emily Zaiden with a foreword by Craft in America creator Carol Sauvion, was published July 29 by Monacelli. The 320-page book accompanies Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, a yearlong nationwide initiative organized by Craft in America.

Zaiden, director and curator of the Craft in America Center, has organized more than 80 multidisciplinary contemporary art, craft and design exhibitions at the Los Angeles center and partner museum venues. Her research focuses on craft processes, materiality, functional design and cultural art from a historical perspective.

The book examines handmade objects from different periods and cultures, exploring their roles in American life. Objects are organized into four sections – “Dwell,” “Feed,” “Furnish” and “Adorn” – and include a 19th-century Kiowa cradleboard, an antique Hawaiian papa he‘enalu, or surfboard, and a prototype for a sneaker. Nearly 30 experts contributed texts about the objects and their makers.

Zaiden described her editorial approach as “placing on equal footing the everyday and ordinary, the overlooked and disregarded, and the exceptional and acclaimed.” Contemporary makers are also included to illustrate how craft traditions continue today.

The book features 200 color and black-and-white illustrations. Among the objects pictured in the release are beaded gauntlets dating to approximately 1950 and attributed to Mary Gibson, a Yakama or Umatilla maker active in the mid-20th century. The gauntlets are held by the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington.

“Handwork” is part of a broader Craft in America initiative commemorating 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. Handwork 2026 brings together more than 300 cultural organizations for exhibitions and events and also includes educational programming, digital content and a four-part PBS documentary series.

Craft in America is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organization founded in 2004. Its programs include the Peabody Award-winning “Craft in America” PBS documentary series and the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles, which presents exhibitions, artist and scholar talks, workshops and K-12 school tours.

Craft in America is located at 8415 W. Third St.

For information, visit craftinamerica.org.

Original article here.