Craft in America showcases cowboy art
Beverly Press/Park La Brea News
7/23/26
Craft in America Center is presenting “Cowboy Craft: Traditional Art of the West,” an exhibition featuring works by members of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association, through Sept. 12.
The exhibition includes more than 30 handcrafted pieces showcasing traditional Western craftsmanship, including finely tooled leather saddles, hand-forged spurs, intricately braided rawhide works and vintage miniatures. The works highlight techniques that continue to be practiced by contemporary artisans.
Featured artists include Wilson Capron, Beau Compton, Shawn Didyoung, Carol Gessell, Scott Hardy, Bill Heisman, Leland Hensley, Larry Lorang, Pablo Lozano, Ernie Marsh, Luis B. Ortega, Cary Schwarz, Jorge Tello and John Willemsma.
The exhibition is accompanied by a series of artist talks offering visitors an opportunity to learn about traditional cowboy arts directly from participating makers.
The first online discussion will be held July 23 from 11 a.m.-noon and will feature bit and spur makers Wilson Capron and Ernie Marsh, along with saddle makers Carol Gessell and John Willemsma.
A second online program is scheduled for Aug. 13 from 11 a.m.-noon with silversmiths Beau Compton and Scott Hardy and rawhide braider Leland Hensley.
The series concludes Aug. 22 from 3-4 p.m. with saddle maker and leather artist Cary Schwarz, who will present a program available both online and in person. Those wishing to attend in person are asked to RSVP by emailing rsvp@craftinamerica.org.
Craft in America Center is located at 8415 W. Third St.
For information, visit craftinamerica.org/center.
Craft in America explores threads of culture
7/9/26
An exhibition highlighting the work of Hawaiian artist and cultural practitioner Marques Hanalei Marzan recently opened at Craft in America with an artist talk and reception.
“Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine” examines the artist’s use of traditional Hawaiian fiber techniques alongside contemporary interpretations of body adornment and sculptural form. Inspired by childhood curiosity about the construction of his grandfather’s lauhala hat, Marzan pursued instruction in weaving and related fiber arts passed down through generations of Native Hawaiian practitioners.
The exhibition features works created with hand-cut pandanus leaves and incorporates techniques including weaving, knotting, twining, and looping. Marzan also works with materials such as coconut fiber, cotton and wire.
Born and raised in Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi, Marzan is recognized as a Hawaiian cultural practitioner, educator and contemporary visual artist. He trained with master weavers Julia Minerva Kaʻawa and Esther Kakalia Westmoreland and has become known for promoting sustainable gathering practices, perpetuating Hawaiian fiber techniques and mentoring students within his community.
Marzan currently serves as cultural advisor and the Wayne Pitluck and Judith Pyle Curator for Cultural Resilience at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. In that role, he works to integrate Indigenous perspectives and practices within museum settings while supporting cultural practitioners and community engagement with traditional knowledge and artistic expression.
The exhibition is also part of “Handwork 2026,” a nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration focused on the significance of handmade artistic practices and the diversity of American craft traditions.
Craft in America is located at 8415 W. Third St.
For information, visit craftinamerica.org.
Opening Reception—Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine
Discover Los Angeles
6/12/26
Opening Reception—Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine
Craft in America Center
Los Angeles 90048
“Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine” features work by the renowned Hawaiian culture bearer inspired by age-old indigenous fiber techniques such as weaving, twining and looping techniques resulting in exquisite, contemporary forms.
Marzan will give an artist talk before the reception 3:00-4:00pm. Please email rsvp@craftinamerica.org. Both events are free.
Original post here.
‘Handwork 2026’: Year-long initiative explores handmade American artforms
LA Downtown News
By Jessica Koslow
6/8/2026
Earlier this year, while speaking with teachers at the National Art Education Association conference, Ann Ruhr Pifer learned that today’s students seem hungry for craft activities in a new, different and more intense way.
“One teacher said she had a bunch of art activities in her room, and all the students go for the sewing activity, especially the ninth-grade boys,” shared Pifer. “She didn’t see that coming. We talked about how we feel it’s a reaction against—or perhaps a counterbalance to—the pervasiveness of digital experience in their lives.”
As of January 2026, Pifer, along with Robyn Hollingshead, is the co-executive director of Craft in America, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organization that promotes original handcrafted work through programs in all media. The group is responsible for 35 episodes of the Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated documentary series, “Craft in America,” on PBS, a YouTube channel and multi-disciplinary educator guides. The Craft in America Center in Los Angeles hosts exhibitions, talks by artists and scholars, workshops and K-12 school tours.
Coinciding with America’s 250th birthday and running all year long, “Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026” is Craft in America’s most ambitious initiative yet, featuring four new episodes of “Craft in America” titled East, West, North and South; a publication, Handwork: Handcrafted Objects that Made America; and events taking place across the country in partnership with nearly 300 organizations.
The seeds for “Handwork 2026” were planted by Craft in America founder Carol Sauvion about three years ago in a planning committee.
“The idea was to raise public awareness of craft in connection with the semiquincentennial of the country,” said Pifer. “Craft is woven through our history: Paul Revere, who was a silversmith, was renowned not only for his role in the Revolutionary War but also his remarkable silverwork. The semiquincentennial seemed like a good time to create a collaborative effort to celebrate craft.”
One of the main goals of “Handwork 2026” is to draw in the participation of museums and craft and art schools and galleries across the United States. The Craft in America team lightly curated the partnering organizations and their 2026 events, which are all featured on the Handwork2026 website. There is no cost to participate.
“It’s just all of us coming together making a big noise about craft,” Pifer said. “We had one person call a couple of weeks ago who said they were going to visit Pittsburgh for the first time on a craft tour, and they wanted to know about all the craft organizations and places to visit in that area, and I said, ‘Great, here’s the map.’”
Pifer, who started her career in commercial banking for 15 years, has always loved and appreciated craft — from America and around the globe. She joined the Craft in America board around 2010, and when Sauvion, the former executive director, was preparing to retire, she asked Pifer and Hollingshead to consider taking over as co-executive directors.
Pifer was based in Minnesota and Hollingshead in LA. The likeminded craft gallery owners connected in 2004 and had since then been thinking about how to foster an appreciation of craft, promote craft and support craft artists and galleries.
“It’s been wonderful to see all the partnering organizations come together and join this handwork effort,” said Pifer.
In May, Quilting for Community, which offers free and low-cost classes in Chatsworth, hosted the Gee’s Bend quilting experience. Mary Ann Pettway and China Pettway shared personal history, family stories and the context behind the quilts and traditions of Gee’s Bend on the Alabama River.
The Craft in America Center is presenting two upcoming exhibitions, “Cowboy Craft: Traditional Art of the West,” featuring nine artists including Cary Schwarz, the saddle maker spotlighted in its WEST episode that aired in December, and “Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine,” a Hawaiian artist who also appeared in the WEST episode. The opening reception for both exhibitions will take place on June 13 from 4 to 6 p.m., and Marzan will give an artist talk at 3 p.m.
Craft Contemporary’s (formerly the Craft and Folk Art Museum) newest exhibition, “tierra,” expands its focus beyond ceramic and clay as a singular medium to encompass broader practices grounded in land and earth.
“Craft and the arts more broadly are an important part of life for everybody in our society,” Pifer said. “They make life richer. Craft is frequently deeply connected to the cultural roots of people in a place. It’s a part of what makes us human, our historical family, cultural roots. In the present moment, artistic expression and craft, both the objects and the artists who make them, all of us who like making things with our hands, is more important in an age where so much is digital, in an age of AI, where we’re all questioning, what’s real? I think there’s a hunger among people broadly because of that for things that are tangible and beautiful and meaningful. I see a real groundswell of interest in both appreciation for craft and in getting one’s hands into craft and doing it.”
Original article here.
Elysian Valley skateboard brand lands in L.A. art exhibit
By Brenda Rees
May 1, 2026
Elysian Valley—When it first happened, Ryan Anderson wasn’t fazed. But when people kept grabbing his DIY skateboard at coffee shops and other spots, marveling at the dozens of circular holes on the deck and wanting to try it, Anderson realized he was on to something.
A decade later, Anderson and partner Russell Hill at Rad Furniture have a famous skateboarding brand on their resume—one that’s literally gallery worthy.
Anderson and Hill grew up in 1980s San Diego as part of the skateboarding and BMX scene, and they founded Rad in Austin, Texas. When they moved their furniture manufacturing business back to LA in 2015 and to Frogtown in 2017, they decided to reconnect with their California roots. So they fashioned a skateboard from a piece of scrap metal.
“It was just intended to be fun, but people really responded to it,” Anderson said. “The attention caught us by surprise.”
The challenge became turning that rough prototype into a product. To make the material more environmentally friendly, they moved from metal to repurposed nylon fishing line. It was injected into the grooves of an iconic skateboard shape, but with an airy, perforated, lightweight twist.
The boards, under the Rad spinoff Lander, are sold worldwide through skate shops and online. In addition to being purchased by fans for decks at $75 and complete sets at $145, they are included in a new exhibit at Craft in America in L.A.’s Beverly Grove neighborhood. The art gallery show “Vehicles of Expression: The Craft of the Skateboard” chronicles how skateboarding evolved from its Southern California DIY roots, which offer clever innovations and artistic interpretations. The show runs until the end of May.
Anderson calls the exhibit the “perfect venue” to tell the story of their skateboard. On display is that first board, welded in 2015, and later prototypes showing the growth of the line.
Anderson thinks even non-skaters will appreciate the exhibit.
“There’s a lot to respect about the craft and ability to skateboard,” he said. “You can be standing up one second and on your back the next. That coolness will never go away—and being on a skateboard is the easiest way to feel like a kid again.”
Original article here.
Today on AirTalk: SoCal History: Skateboarding
LAist/Airtalk with Larry Mantle
3/9/26
SoCal History: A look at the origins of skateboard design
Southern California is the birthplace of a plethora of American inventions and innovations, chief among them: the humble skateboard. Four wheels, a plank of wood, and some metal bits to tie it all together, and boom: you have a mode of transportation that’s relatively easy to learn but incredibly tough to master. Skateboarding and skateboard culture began in Southern California back in the 1950s, and took hold of the cultural zeitgeist later in the century. Now, a new exhibit at the Craft in America Center in Mid City is exploring the creative, innovative, and sometimes wonky designs that have blessed Southern California’s sidewalks for decades. Joining Larry this morning for more on this exhibit and the history of skateboard design are Todd Huber, skateboard historian and founder of the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame, and Emily Zaiden, Director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organization founded in 2004 focused on original handcrafted work.
The Vehicles of Expression: The Craft of the Skateboard exhibition is running from March 14 through May 30 at the Craft In America Center in Mid City. More information is available here.