American Craft (magazine)

American Craft
EditorKaren Olson[1]
CategoriesArts and crafts
PublisherAmerican Craft Council
FounderAileen Osborn Webb
Founded1941 (as Craft Horizons)
First issueMay 1979 (as American Craft)
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.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]

  1. ^ a b "Karen Olson". American Craft Council. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c "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.