‘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.

America 250. Craft in America Center: Cowboy Craft & Handwork

KTLA
By Gayle Anderson
8/7/26


The Craft in America Center in Los Angeles is hosting the “Cowboy Craft: Traditional Art of the West” exhibition and “Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine,” a solo mainland exhibition showcasing works by the renowned Honolulu-based Native Hawaiian fiber artist and cultural practitioner.

The two artists are featured in the AMERICA 250 Craft in America’s Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 celebration of artists across the country, whose goal is to get the next generation to spend less time on screens and more time learning and studying the crafts that have last more than 250 years.

The Craft in America Center in Los Angeles will host the free Cowboy Art Talk #2 online via Zoom on Thursday, August 13, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM PDT. This online event features silversmiths Beau Compton and Scott Hardy alongside rawhide braider Leland Hensley.

There will be a Q & A at the end of the presentation.

Registration is required at craftinamerica.org.

Original article and video here.

‘Handwork’ book celebrates 250 years of American craft and material culture

ArtDaily
7/30/26

NEW YORK, NY.- Handwork: Handcrafted Objects that Made America is a visually stunning, deeply inspiring celebration of America’s spirit through ordinary, surprising, and overlooked handcrafted objects spanning more than 250 years. The official book of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026—Craft in America’s yearlong, nationwide initiative marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence featuring hundreds of museum exhibitions and events, a four-part PBS docuseries, and specially designed educational components—Handwork is essential reading for anyone curious about American history, design, material culture, or craft.

Edited by Emily Zaiden, director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center, with a foreword by Carol Sauvion, the visionary behind the Peabody Award–winning PBS series Craft in America, Handwork takes readers on a journey through time and across the multiplicity of cultures that have made America, uncovering the powerful stories behind objects that shaped American life. The book groups handmade objects into four curated sections—DWELL, FEED, FURNISH, ADORN—and highlights objects that reflect innovation, resistance, artistry, and community, from a nineteenth-century Kiowa cradleboard to an antique Hawaiian papa he’enalu (surfboard) and a prototype for an iconic sneaker.

Handwork includes illuminating texts from nearly 30 experts nationwide that accompany each object, emphasizing overlooked narratives and the underrepresented artists who helped define American life through their craft. Contemporary makers featured throughout show how craft traditions live on, a testament to the human ingenuity that continues to shape American culture. An introduction by Zaiden also speaks to her editorial approach, “placing on equal footing the everyday and ordinary, the overlooked and disregarded, and the exceptional and acclaimed.”

With vibrant full-color photography, an engaging layout, and a thorough, inclusive approach, Handwork is as captivating and eye-opening as the objects and artists it celebrates.

Emily Zaiden is director and curator of the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles where she has organized over eighty multidisciplinary contemporary art, craft, and design exhibitions for the center and partner museum venues. Zaiden oversees public programs, a K-12 education initiative, and digital projects, including the creation of the online Craft Video Dictionary. Her research focuses on craft processes, materiality, functional design, and cultural art, particularly from a historical lens. Zaiden has an M.A. from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture.

Carol Sauvion is an American crafts scholar and creator of the Peabody Award–winning PBS series Craft in America. Sauvion was the founding director of Craft in America and for over forty-five years was the director of Freehand, her Los Angeles gallery specializing in functional craft.

Original article here.

COMING JULY 29 | Handwork: Handcrafted Objects that Made America