2023 United States Artists Fellows
Congratulations to the 2023 United States Artists Fellows, especially ceramic artist Syd Carpenter who was featured in the HOME episode and Navajo weaver Barbara Teller Ornelas featured in the TEACHERS episode.
Craft in America Premieres New Season with episodes: Inspiration & Home
November 1, 2022 (Digital Release) December 16, 2022, 9pm and 10pm (PBS Broadcast Premiere)
(check local listings)
[Los Angeles] – INSPIRATION and HOME stream on the digital platforms of PBS and Craft in America starting November 2022, and premiere on PBS December 16 at 9pm and 10pm, respectively (check local listings). The episodes comprise the newest season of Craft in America. The Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary series has produced 14 seasons since 2007, discovering the beauty, significance and relevance of handmade objects and the artists who make them.
“Craft in America…[has a] knack for telling big stories… about the formation of culture, the purpose of creativity, the idea that the pursuits of beauty and utility are foundational to humanity.” – New York Times
INSPIRATION
November 2022 (Digital Release) December 16, 2022, 9pm (PBS Broadcast Premiere)
featuring artists who impact and influence
INSPIRATION premieres during the holiday season when inspiration and human authenticity are at the fore.
Fittingly, INSPIRATION visits communities and distinguished artists of varied disciplines impacting new generations of makers through their work. The featured artists and organizations are Diedrick Brackens (Los Angeles, CA), Hmong Community – Suzanne Thao, Tousue Vang, Chef Yia Vang, and Mandora Young (St. Paul, MN), Ayumi Horie (Portland, ME), Maddy Inez Leeser, Mary Little, Simon Rodia and the Watts Towers, Alison Saar, and Betye Saar (all of Los Angeles, CA).
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- Simon Rodia and Watts Towers (Los Angeles, CA)
The episode opens with the iconic Watts Towers—a monumental structure designed by Italian immigrant, Simon Rodia. We visit the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus, a vibrant community hub in the Watts neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles. Its extensive programming, classes, and education outreach serve as a local anchor for creativity.
- Alison Saar, Betye Saar, Maddy Inez Leeser (Los Angeles, CA)
We spend time with Alison Saar and three generations of the Saar family—Betye, Alison, and Alison’s daughter, Maddy Inez Leeser—who inspire each other as a close-knit family of artists. In the segment, Alison shares her many influences, including her mother Betye, one of the most impactful artists of the last half century.
- Ayumi Horie (Portland, ME)
On the other side of the country, in Portland, ME, ceramic artist Ayumi Horie exemplifies the way the internet has impacted contemporary craft—creating practical, usable ceramics combined with unapologetic activism.
- Hmong Community – Suzanne Thao, Tousue Vang, Chef Yia Vang, and Mandora Young (St. Paul, MN)
The episode turns its attention to the significant impact of immigrants on American creative culture, focusing in particular on the Hmong community of St. Paul, Minnesota. Viewers learn how the ancient practice of paj ntaub embroidery is an artistic and economic foundation for the Hmong, and how their culture continues to thrive and evolve.
- Mary Little (Los Angeles, CA)
Mary Little creates evocative, sculptural wall hangings inspired by landscapes from her childhood in Ireland.
Textile artist Diedrick Brackens explores identity and race, among other narratives, drawing from the past to retell profound histories in his weavings.
HOME
November 2022 (Digital Release)
December 16, 2022, 10pm (PBS Broadcast Premiere)
visits environments filled with artistry and meaning
The idea of Home has taken on heightened importance in recent years. Craft in America’s new episode embraces its many meanings—from the physical structure, to the belongings we cherish, to the meals we share with family and friends. “Through the artists and stories represented in this episode, HOME honors the significance of our surroundings, while also acknowledging the challenging histories that have shaped our ideas of it,” shares Carol Sauvion, Executive Director of Craft in America. Executive Producer Patricia Bischetti adds, “HOME offers a nuanced exploration of the environments we make and the personal, historical, and creative influences that shape them.” The featured artists and organizations are Syd Carpenter, Helen Drutt English, Wharton Esherick (all in Philadelphia, PA), Biskakone Greg Johnson of the Ojibwe Tribe (Wisconsin), North House Folk School (Grand Marais, MN), and Sim Van der Ryn and the Outlaw Builders (Northern California).
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- Ojibwe Tribe (Wisconsin)
Our exploration of handmade environments and hand built homes begins with the Ojibwe wild rice harvest in northern Wisconsin. Members of the Ojibwe tribe have been living in this region for centuries, and tribal member and craftsman Biskakone Greg Johnson shares his mastery of the crafts and traditions of his people.
- North House Folk School (Grand Marais, MN)
Our crew then films the construction of a timber frame house at the North House Folk School. Here, Scandinavian and northern European traditions and techniques are taught to craftspeople of all skill levels interested in building and living a well-crafted life.
- Syd Carpenter (Philadelphia, PA)
We meet sculptor Syd Carpenter whose work sheds light on the obstacles faced by African American farmers who want to remain landowners. Carpenter’s work speaks to the systemic racism that continues to threaten the homes of many communities throughout the nation.
- Wharton Esherick (Philadelphia, PA)
We explore the life and legacy of Wharton Esherick, one of this country’s most innovative artists who reimagined “home” through the creation of his hand-built house, studio, furniture, utensils, and other objects that expressed his commitment to artful living.
- Outlaw Builders (Northern California)
Viewers are then introduced to a series of experimental buildings from visionary architect Sim Van der Ryn and the “Outlaw Builders,” an irreverent group who flourished in the 1960s and early 70s. We take our cameras to Inverness, CA, where on a remote ridge the group constructed a remarkable example of this sensibility that still stands today.
- Helen Drutt English (Philadelphia, PA)
To conclude the episode, we turn our attention inward, to the handmade objects that fill our homes and the histories that impact our sense of place. In Philadelphia, Helen Drutt English, considered the “godmother of craft and a global ambassador,” shares her remarkable collection, which reflects the culmination of handmade objects at their finest.
ARTIST BIOS – INSPIRATION
Photo: Carol Sauvion.
Diedrick Brackens (Los Angeles, CA)
Diedrick Brackens is a textile artist drawing from many influences, including techniques from around the globe, his upbringing in a small Texas town, and poetry. He received his BFA from the University of North Texas, Denton, TX in 2011 and his MFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA in 2015. Brackens has exhibited in solo and group shows including the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, CA), the New Museum (New York, NY), Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts (Cambridge, MA), and NOMA (New Orleans, LA). His work can be found in various museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum (New York, NY), Crystal Bridges Museum for American Art (Bentonville, AK), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY).
Hmong Community – Suzanne Thao, Tousue Vang, Chef Yia Vang, and Mandora Young (St. Paul, MN)
In the mid-1970s, thousands of Hmong refugees from Laos came to the United States after the US withdrew from Vietnam. Despite the many obstacles they faced, they managed to create vibrant, thriving communities in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, among other areas. Craft is an artistic and economic foundation of Hmong communities as evidenced by their intricate, colorful textile traditions. They have also made significant contributions in the areas of art, culture, cuisine, and history. St. Paul, Minnesota has the largest Hmong population in the United States.
- Suzanne Thao is a master maker and instructor in the tradition of paj ntaub (“flower cloth”), a needlework technique practiced by Hmong women. She has been practicing and teaching the technique for over 50 years, having learned it from her grandmother, mother, and aunts starting at age 7. Deeply committed to preserving Hmong art, Thao has shared the technique with her daughter, Chuayi Yang, and is the inaugural instructor of Project Paj Ntaub, a free paj ntaub workshop offered through the Hmong Museum in St. Paul, MN.
- Tousue Vang is a Hmong American, storyteller, and image maker who has worked in the field for over ten years. Growing up, Vang was surrounded by traditional Hmong story quilts and is continually inspired by the art and tales of his heritage. Vang’s practice combines traditional narrative with new visual language to tell unique stories.
- Chef Yia Vang was born in a Thai refugee camp and lived there until his family was able to resettle in Wisconsin. He is a renowned chef and founder of the Union Hmong Kitchen, an award-winning restaurant in Minneapolis that brings Hmong cuisine and food traditions to the local community. Chef Yia is a James Beard Award finalist and has been featured in Bon Appétit magazine, CNN, and National Geographic, among other honors.
- Mandora Young is an artist and educator specializing in traditional paj ntaub textiles. She teaches classes and workshops for all ages at libraries and schools, welcoming both Hmong and non-Hmong community members. Young is committed to passing down the paj ntaub cloth embroidery techniques as well as conveying the significance and history of the art form.
- Ceramic artist Ayumi Horie believes that handmade objects hold power, and together with the stories that accompany them, can drive change. Horie has taught and lectured widely, including at the International Ceramics Research Center (Denmark), the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, ME), and the Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT). She was awarded the 2015 “Distinguished Fellow in Craft” by United States Artists and an Honorary Membership at NCECA in 2020 for her outstanding contributions to the field. Her work is in museum collections, including the Museum of Art and Design (New York, NY). Horie holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College, a BFA in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and a MFA in ceramics from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Ayumi Horie (Portland, ME)
Ceramic artist Ayumi Horie believes that handmade objects hold power, and together with the stories that accompany them, can drive change. Horie has taught and lectured widely, including at the International Ceramics Research Center (Denmark), the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, ME), and the Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT). She was awarded the 2015 “Distinguished Fellow in Craft” by United States Artists and an Honorary Membership at NCECA in 2020 for her outstanding contributions to the field. Her work is in museum collections, including the Museum of Art and Design (New York, NY). Horie holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College, a BFA in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and a MFA in ceramics from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Ayumi Horie (Portland, ME)
Ceramic artist Ayumi Horie believes that handmade objects hold power, and together with the stories that accompany them, can drive change. Horie has taught and lectured widely, including at the International Ceramics Research Center (Denmark), the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, ME), and the Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT). She was awarded the 2015 “Distinguished Fellow in Craft” by United States Artists and an Honorary Membership at NCECA in 2020 for her outstanding contributions to the field. Her work is in museum collections, including the Museum of Art and Design (New York, NY). Horie holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College, a BFA in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and a MFA in ceramics from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Mary Little (Los Angeles, CA)
Mary Little is an Irish-born artist whose career began after graduating from the Royal College of Art in London as an avant-garde furniture maker creating one-of-a-kind pieces. She is now producing wall artworks inspired by her childhood memories of Ireland. Her work has been exhibited at Craft Contemporary, L.A., the Textile Museum (Washington D.C.) and the Übersee-Museum (Bremen, Germany). Her pieces are in the permanent collections of the Vitra Design Museum in Basel; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; Victoria & Albert Museum, London and have been reviewed in Fabrik, New York Times, Luxe magazine and Architectural Digest.
Alison Saar, Maddy Inez Leeser, and Betye Saar (Los Angeles, CA)
- Alison Saar is a multi-disciplinary artist working in sculpture, installation, and mixed media. Through her practice, Saar explores a multitude of themes, including gender, race, and spirituality from personal, societal, and historical perspectives. Influenced by her mother, artist Betye Saar, and her father, ceramicist and restorer Richard Saar, Saar demonstrates a deep understanding of materiality and craft, and her work is often rooted in folk art traditions. Saar received her BA in art history and studio art from Scripps College in 1978, and her MFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 1981. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and multiple National Endowment for the Arts Artist Fellowships. She has exhibited in solo and group shows, including Galerie Lelong (Paris, France) and the National Museum for Women in the Arts (Washington, D.C.). Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, among many others.
- In addition to Maddy Inez Leeser‘s ceramics practice, she self-identifies as an educator, animal caretaker, committed family member, faith keeper, investigator, magical practitioner, witness, and friend. In 2016, she received her BFA from Pacific Northwest College of the Arts in Portland, OR. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows, including Damp Earth at Harawik (Los Angeles, CA) and Possibility Made Real: Drawing & Clay at Gallery 12.26 (Dallas, TX). She has attended residencies at Conduit (Portland, OR) and the Vermont Studio Center.
- With a career spanning 60 years, Betye Saar (b. 1926, Los Angeles, CA) has made an indelible impact on our nation’s artistic and broader cultural landscape through her prints, collages, assemblages, and installations. Saar’s signature themes are African American identity, spirituality, mysticism, and American social and political context. Her assemblages powerfully address racist histories and propel us into a future of reclamation and change. Saar’s work has been exhibited and collected by countless museums and arts institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, and the National Gallery of Art.
Simon Rodia and Watts Towers (Los Angeles, CA)
The Watts Towers are the world’s largest single construction created by one individual—artist and Italian immigrant Simon Rodia. He built the towers by hand over 25 years, completing them in 1948. The Watts Towers Arts Center Campus grew out of a call from local residents to create a meaningful relationship between the L.A. neighborhood of Watts, and the towers themselves. The realization of this community hub was led by Noah Purifoy, John Outterbridge, and Mark Steven Greenfield, as well as the continuing leadership of Rosie Lee Hooks. The arts center provides multidisciplinary classes, including visual and performing arts, gardening, and other multi-media arts. The center’s tours, lectures, and exhibits attract visitors from around the world.
ARTIST BIOS – HOME
Syd Carpenter (Philadelphia, PA)
Syd Carpenter sculpts with clay to tell stories of African American culture, US history, legacy, and courage. The medium feeds naturally into her exploration of African American land ownership, farming, and gardening. She is Professor Emerita of Art and holds the Peggy Chan Professorship in Black Studies at Swarthmore College. She earned her BFA and her MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Her work can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Illinois, the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Fuller Craft Museum, and many more collections both private and public.
Helen Drutt English (Philadelphia, PA)
Helen Drutt English has championed and promoted American craft internationally and helped to elevate studio craft into the realm of fine art. Her home is filled with the finest examples of craft objects and reflects her life-long commitment to studio craft at its best. Drutt English is a curatorial consultant, art historian, educator, and author. In addition, she founded the Helen Drutt Gallery in Philadelphia in 1973. She has received numerous honors for her profound impact on the field, including Honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council and the Lifetime Achievement in Crafts award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Biskakone Greg Johnson and Ojibwe Tribe (Lac du Flambeau, WI)
Members of the Ojibwe tribe have been living in the Lac du Flambeau, WI region for centuries, and tribal member and craftsman Biskakone Greg Johnson is a cultural practitioner and educator committed to learning and teaching the traditional methods and crafts of the Ojibwe. He has revived the crafts of beadwork, winter bark basket making, weaving winnowing baskets and cedar bark mats, moccasin making, and canoe building. He is an instructor at the North House Folk School, teaching the skills and knowledge of his culture. He is also an Ojibwe language teacher.
Wharton Esherick (Philadelphia, PA)
Wharton Esherick (1887–1970) was a woodworker who worked and lived in Paoli, PA, where his hand-built home and studio stand today as the Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern, PA. He was one the artists of the early 20th century who defined uniquely American handwork.The majority of his works, including the massive ones for which he is most famous, were produced with hand tools similar to those used by eastern Pennsylvania’s original settlers. The museum is a must-visit for anyone interested in woodwork or craft history.
North House Folk School (Grand Marais, MN)
The North House Folk School was founded in 1997 with a dedication to traditional craft and cooperative learning. The school has grown over the years, now hosting over 3,000 students per year and offering over 350 classes. Located in the Minnesota Northwoods on the shore of Lake Superior, it is one of the few places in the world where timber framing is being practiced and taught.
Sim Van der Ryn and the Outlaw Builders (San Francisco, CA & Northern California)
Visionary architect Sim Van der Ryn designed and built California state government’s first energy efficient and climate-responsive building, while serving as State Architect under Governor Jerry Brown. This work placed Van der Ryn at the vanguard of the Green Architecture and Sustainable Design movement. He is the President of the Ecological Design Collaborative and author of several influential books, including Design for an Empathic World: Reconnecting People, Nature, and Self, Sustainable Communities, and Ecological Design. While working as a professor of architecture at UC Berkeley for 40 years, he founded the “Outlaw Builders,” an irreverent group who flourished among the counterculture of the 1960s and early 70s. Their driving principle was good design, with disregard for building code, rules, and regulations. A remarkable example of this sensibility was built by the group in Inverness, California, where it still stands today.
ABOUT CRAFT IN AMERICA
Craft in America is the Peabody Award-winning series on PBS exploring America’s creative spirit through the language and traditions of the handmade. With 14 seasons produced since 2007, the series takes viewers on a journey to the artists, origins and techniques of American craft. Each episode contains stories from diverse regions and cultures, blending history with living practice and exploring issues of identity, ritual, philosophy and creative expression. Craft in America’s organizational efforts include educator guides that adhere to national standards, and the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles. Learn more at craftinamerica.org
OUR MISSION
To promote and advance original handcrafted work through programs in all media
OUR GOALS
To document the importance of handmade objects and the artists who make themTo provide a gateway to discover, explore and experience craftTo celebrate our nation’s cultures through craft