Congratulations to the 2020 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellows!

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for Scholars

Craft Archive Fellowship

Up to 6 fellowships of $5,000 will be awarded to support archival research on underrepresented and non-dominant craft histories in the United States.

Select Archival Images Courtesy American Craft Council Library & Archives

The 2024 Craft Archive Fellowship will foster archival research on underrepresented and non-dominant craft histories in the United States, such as feminist, intersectional, queer, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities and approaches that may not be specifically listed here.

The fellowship will support a range of scholars, including independent, artists, and emerging to established researchers. Up to 6 Center for Craft Archive Fellows will receive a $5,000 stipend to conduct research in an archive of their choosing. These Fellows may engage in both conventional and innovative approaches to archival research. Fellows will participate in a virtual program presented by Center for Craft in February 2025, to include a 5 to 7 minute verbal presentation of their research method and findings and participate in group discussion.  In addition, the Fellow's research will be published in an article on Hyperallergic which will be featured in a special edition of Hyperallergic's newsletter in Winter 2025, making it accessible to a national and international audience. 

Grant goals

Support

To encourage and support the research and writing of historically underrepresented and non-dominant American craft histories

Understanding

To expand understanding of where and how archival craft research can be conducted 

Awareness

To raise awareness of the importance of craft research

Overview

2024 Craft Archive Fellowship

The 2024 Craft Archive Fellowship will foster archival research on underrepresented and non-dominant craft histories in the United States.

Details

  • Award Amount:
  • Up to 6, $5,000 Grants
  • Grant Period:
  • 12 months
Grant application is closed. Applications will open Fall 2023. Please stay tuned to our e-newsletter for more details once the application is open.

Timeline

  • Applications Open:
  • October 16, 2023
  • Information Session:
  • November 8, 2023
  • Application Deadline:
  • December 6, 2023
  • Notification:
  • January 2024
  • Grant Period Begins:
  • February 1, 2024
  • Draft Hyperallergic Article Due:
  • October 7, 2024
  • Hyperallergic Article Final Draft Due:
  • January 6,  2025
  • Public Program:
  • February 2025
  • Final Report and Grant Period Ends:
  • February 28, 2025 

ELIGIBILITY 

Proposals are welcome from a range of emerging to established scholars, including artists researchers. Funding is intended to support independent research and is not intended to support research conducted on behalf of an institution, organization, or 501c3. 

Archives are repositories for and collections of primary source materials where people can conduct research. However, the histories preserved and stored within institutional libraries and archives often reflect the dominant cultural narratives, limiting the types of histories that can be told. Therefore, this fellowship takes an expansive understanding of what an archive is, to delimit what an archive can be. For the purpose of this grant, the Center for Craft understands archival craft research to be, but not limited to: 

  • Digital and in-person archives: Recipients can direct their research towards a digital or site-specific archive, such as institutional archives that feature underrepresented craft communities. An in-person visit is not required.
  • Objects as archives, the study of a new collection of materials, such as oral histories, community-created archives, site or place as an archive.
  • Funding from this grant can be used to visit more than one archive, as funding and time permits. However, engagement with just one archive is all that is expected.

Applicants must be: 

  • 21 years of age or older 
  • Eligible to receive taxable income in the U.S. 

Applicants cannot be: 

  • Disqualified persons, such as substantial contributors to the Center for Craft as well as current employees, consultants, or board members of the Center for Craft, or immediate family members of such a person 

If an applicant has been previously awarded a Center for Craft grant, but did not complete the project, or is still in the progress of completing a grant or fellowship they are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants may only receive one Center for Craft grant and/or fellowship per year. Awards cannot be deferred to the next year due to outstanding applications or multiple awards.

The Center encourages applications from historically underrepresented populations. The Center for Craft prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on sex, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or perceived disability, age, marital status, gender identity, veteran status, or any other protected category. Applying does not constitute a promise or guarantee of being awarded a grant.


USE OF FUNDS

Award funds may be used to cover travel and living expenses, personal stipends/honoraria, image rights, photocopies or other reproductions, subcontracted research assistance, purchase of primary source materials, and other incidental research expenses. Award funds may be used towards rent, childcare, and healthcare, as needed. 

  • For travel purposes, the Center for Craft recommends applicants use the following resources U.S. General Services Administration and Budget Your Trip.
  • When working with artists (to conduct oral histories or otherwise), the Center for Craft requires recipients to provide appropriate compensation. For remuneration estimates, we recommend consulting the floor wages listed on the Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.) fee calculator website at https://wageforwork.com/contracts#top
  • When working with community members, the Center for Craft requires that all grant recipients provide financial remuneration for their time, labor, and services rendered towards the awarded project scope and goals
  • Award funds can be used towards course buyouts, as possible.

REQUIREMENTS

  • Sixty percent (60%)  will be awarded upon mutual completion of the grant agreement and receipt of the recipient’s W9. 
  • Twenty percent (20%) will be awarded upon submission of a draft 1,200 word article to be published in a Special Edition article by Hyperallergic due October 7, 2024. 
  • Twenty percent (20%) will be awarded upon receipt and approval by the Center for Craft of the final report, participation in a Center for Craft virtual public program in February 2025, and finalized article for a Special Issue by Hyperallergic due January 6,  2025. 
  • Grant permission for the Center for Craft to use the language and images from the recipient's application or other high-resolution images the recipient may want to provide in press releases, social media, and/or reports of work by recipients of the 2024 Craft Archive Fellowship.
  • Recipients must acknowledge support from the Center for Craft by: 
  • Including the tag: “2024 Center for Craft Archive Fellow” in their email signature, website, and/or social media page for the duration of the Grant Period
  • Any publication or presentations resulting from the grant carry the Center for Craft’s logo or credit line: “This research was supported by a Center for Craft Archive Fellowship.”
  • Projects must be completed in 12 months, with a start date of February 1, 2024 and end an date of February 28, 2025. Fellows must submit a short (2 page) final report, including an explanation of the research process, findings, and use of budget is required by February 28, 2025 .
  • Fellows are required to disseminate their research through a 1,200 word article to be edited and published by Hyperallergic in a Special Edition. Article drafts are due October 7, 2024 and final edits are due January 6,  2025. Applicants will maintain rights to their work. Hyperallergic Special Issue will be published in Winter 2025. 
  • Fellows will participate in a virtual program presented by Center for Craft in February 2025, to include a 5 to 7 minute verbal presentation of their research method and findings and participate in group discussion. 
  • There is no time requirement for how long the archival visit is (3 days, 2 weeks, etc), as this may depend on cost, size of the collection, permissions, etc. Fellows are not expected to be “in residence” for the full grant period, but rather are expected to conduct their research within that up to 7 month period. 

REVIEW PROCESS

Applications will be reviewed first by the Center for Craft for staff for completeness and then evaluated by a panel of jurors through the SlideRoom online application review portal. The panel will consist of three expert jurors, such as scholars, archivists, curators, and artist researchers. 

Jurors free of any conflict of interest will evaluate the applications based on the following criteria: 

  • Rigor - Research proposals should thoughtfully, accurately, and strategically contribute to contemporary scholarly dialogue commensurate with the applicant's level of practice.
  • Representation - Research foregrounds critical issues in historically non-dominant and underrepresented craft histories and communities. 
  • Contribution - Research demonstrates a new, significant, timely contribution to the field of craft. 
  • Feasibility. Can this research effectively be conducted within the timeframe and budget? 

Consideration in final selection: 

The Center for Craft respects, values, and celebrates the unique attributes, characteristics, and perspectives that make each person who they are. We foster open communication of diverse perspectives and bring a broad range of individuals together to enrich and support programming. Ultimately we will ask the Selection Panel to identify a set of recipients representing a range of scholars, such as independent, artist, and emerging to established researchers, diversity, geographies, materials, approaches, and underrepresented histories.

HOW TO APPLY  

Deadline

The 2024 Craft Archive Fellowship application must be submitted via SlideRoom no later than 11:59 pm ET on December 6, 2023. Notification of awards will be released by the end of January 2024 for a grant period beginning February 1, 2024. The grant period will be completed on February 1, 2024. Fellows will present their resulting research in a Special Edition article published by Hyperallergic and a Center for Craft virtual public program in February 2025.  

Notification

Notification of the results will be sent via email in by the end of January 2024, with a start date of February 1, 2024. The email address listed on the application form will be used to send out notifications. Please be sure that it is a valid email account that you check regularly. 

How to Apply

Applicants must apply using the online application program SlideRoom at https://centerforcraft.slideroom.com/#/Login. Applicants will not be required to pay an application fee. Please review the sample application below before beginning your application. All applicants should create a login to be able to partially complete the form and return to finish it at a later date. Before submitting your application, you will be directed to a confirmation page where you can review your form and return to edit or delete your uploaded files as needed. Your application can not be accessed once submitted. Applicants will receive a confirmation email once the application form has been successfully submitted. A virtual application information session will be held on November 8,  2023. The information session will be recorded and available on the Center for Craft website.

2024 Craft Archive Fellowship - SAMPLE APPLICATION 

This is only a sample application. All applications must be completed in SlideRoom. 

Proposal to be submitted via SlideRoom as follows: 

Demographic Survey

The Center for Craft is committed to diversifying our audiences and to providing equitable and accessible programming – in order to do so, we need to know who our audiences are. Additionally, many of our funders ask that we report on the demographics of our audiences. Please note that the data from the demographics section will only be used anonymously for grant writing and reporting. Completion of this survey will in no way affect your application. If you are applying as a collaborative or organization please select the option “Not applicable.” You must complete the form, however, you may answer each question with the "prefer not to answer" option. Thank you.

  1. Which age group best describes you?
  2. Which of the following best describes your gender identity? (Select all that apply)
  3. Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? (Select all that apply)
  4. Which of the following best describes your race/ethnicity? (Select all that apply)
  5. What is your total annual household income?
  6. Do you identify as having a disability? (such as a physical disability, a cognitive or learning disability, sensory sensitivity or Autism Spectrum Disorder, or mental illness)
  7. What is the highest level of schooling you have completed or the highest degree you have completed? If currently enrolled, mark the highest level/degree already received.
  8. How did you learn about this opportunity?
  9. Have you previously applied for a Center for Craft grant/fellowship? 


Cover sheet

  1. Applicant name 
  2. Your personal or project specific website 
  3. Are you over the of 21 (yes or no) 
  4. Are you able to receive income in the United States or U.S. territories taxable by the United States or U.S. territories for the duration of the project period? (yes or no)   
  5. Please provide a project title 
  6. Please provide a short summary of your research proposal (no more than 50 words, 300 character limit) 
  7. Please provide the name of the archive(s) you wish to conduct research in?

Application 

  1. (Project Description) Describe your research project. How will it advance underrepresented craft histories? (500 words or less/ 3,000 character limit):
  • Research question(s) and relevance to the advancement of craft in the United States
  • Research methodology - What is your ideological framework 
  1. What archive(s) do you intend to study? What collections or materials are housed there and how will they advance your project? 
  2. How do you relate to your area of study? Please describe your community-engaged experience over time. 
  3. Timeline and schedule for completing the project. Grant begins February 1, 2024. The grant period ends on February 28, 2025.
  4. Please complete a budget expense form for your proposal (form provided in SlideRoom).
  5. Optional Media Attachment: Up to 5 work samples. A page for image/s that compliment or add clarity to the proposal

Allowed Media Types: 

  • Images (up to 5MB each) 
  • Video (up to 250MB each) 
  • Audio (up to 30MB each) 
  • PDFs (up to 10MB each)
  • 3D Models via Sketchfab 
  • External media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud Only

You have the option of uploading any combination of images or video links (from hosting sites such as Vimeo, Flickr, or YouTube.) During the review process, only the first 2 minutes of each video sample, so please edit your materials accordingly. Images should be in a JPEG format no larger than 1600 pixels on any side @ 300 dpi. Name each jpeg file with “Last NameImageTitleNumber.jpg,” i.e., “SmithUntitled1.jpg”, “SmithUnititled2.jpg” etc. Each uploaded image or video link must be accompanied by a corresponding image description (up to 50 words). Please include title, date, medium, size, and a short description of each uploaded image or media file. 

FAQs 

If I win, will I have to pay taxes on my award? 

Yes, all cash funding is taxable income.

May I mail a hard copy of my application materials to the Center for Craft’s office?

No, hard copy submissions will not be accepted. The application must be completed and submitted through SlideRoom.  

Can I work on my application and return to complete it at a later date?  

Yes, creating a login account will enable you to complete the form in several online sessions.  

I just submitted my application, but I want to return to it and make an edit. Is this possible?  

No, once your application is submitted, you will not be able to return to the form or change any submitted information. The application fee must also be paid when submitting your application, as you will not be able to log in again to access the payment page again. 

I am a student. Am I eligible to apply? 

Yes 

I work for an institution, organization, or 501c3; however, I am applying as an individual and conducting research independent from the institution, organization, or 501c3 I work for. Am I eligible to apply? 

Yes 

I have previously received a Center for Craft grant. Am I eligible to apply? 

Yes 

I have previously received a Center for Craft grant but did not complete the project or am still in the progress of completing the project I was funded for. Am I eligible to apply? 

No

If awarded, can I use the funds to archive my own work/practice? 

No 

Are applicants responsible for obtaining copyrights to documents, images, manuscripts included in their research? 

Yes

Are collaboratives allowed to apply?

Collaboratives are welcome to apply. There must be one fiduciary agent for the group or one person who will receive the award funds as this person will be responsible for paying taxes on the award amount funded.

Who can I contact with questions? 

For any questions, please contact Mellanee Goodman, Grant Program Manager, at [email protected] or call (828) 785 - 1357 ext. 103.

About our Program Partner

Hyperallergic is a leading voice in arts publishing, offering contemporary perspectives that “challenge the art world status quo.” With over 1 million unique visitors per month, working with Hyperallergic expands the impact of the research to a broader arts audience. The Center for Craft is partnering with Hyperallergic to feature up to 6 Center for Craft Archive Fellow’s research in a special edition of Hyperallergic's newsletter in Winter 2025. Thus ensuring the grantees' research is not only accomplished but free to access online and easily searchable for future researchers. This strategic partnership draws on the strengths of each organization in order to decrease physical and economic barriers to archival research, tell more accurate craft histories, and raise the visibility and appreciation of craft scholarship in the United States.

recipients

Meet the 2024
Craft Archive Fellows

Headshot of alejandro t. acierto

Photo Credit: Colleen Kheim

Crafting Imperialism: Philippine Industrial Prison Labor and American Luxury

$5,000

alejandro t. acierto

Phoenix, AZ

This research underscores how industrial labor in the Philippine prisons became a unique component of American craft traditions during US imperialism. Focused on wicker furniture produced for global markets, this research reveals how craft was an integral facet of an American colonial imaginary.

Learn more
Headshots of Michelle Amos and Jenna Richards

Courtesy of the artists

The Untraditional and Influential Lives of the Women Weavers at Little Loomhouse

$5,000

Michelle Amos and Jenna Richards

Louisville, KY

Michelle Amos and Jenna Richards will explore the stories of the weavers, living outside gender norms, who made a creative safe haven at the Little Loomhouse influencing American handweaving during the Arts and Crafts Revivalist Movement, 1940-60 and inspiring generations of weavers.

Learn more
Headshot of Shilpi Chandra

Photo Credit: Ariana Sarwari

Krishna Reddy and the Printmaking Workshop

$5,000

Shilpi Chandra

Scarsdale, NY

This research aims to delve into the history and impact of the development of viscosity printing by Krishna Reddy in the 1970s within a sociohistorical context which places him in the role of teacher and influencer to a wide network of overlooked and underrepresented artists.

Learn more
Headshot of Earline Green

Photo Credit: John M. Green

Texas Enslaved and Free Black Potters: Reconstructing Deconstructed Legacies

$5,000

Earline Green

Cedar Hill, TX

While some studies have found none, The United States Census Slave Schedules and Texas Historical Societies indicate that the most celebrated pottery vessels in Texas before 1860, were possibly made by enslaved Black artisans. This research will document the legacies of Texas Enslaved and Free Black Potters from 1850-1920.

Learn more
Ksm Lx'sg̱a̱n, Ruth Hallows, at their home on Akimel O’odham traditional lands in Mesa, AZ

Photo Credit: AK Hallows

Weaving in a Good Way: Crafting Chilkat Blankets Among the Tsimshian People

$5,000

Ruth Hallows

Mesa, AZ

This project will utilize archives in AK, WA, and BC to focus on the historical context and cultural significance of the ceremonial Northwest Coast craft contemporarily known as Chilkat. It seeks to recover and understand the history and protocols of Chilkat through the perspectives of the Tsimshian people.

Learn more
Headshot of Denali Joel

I Come To (Tryon) Me: Jonkonnu Mask-making as Waymaking in North Carolina

$5,000

Denali Joel

Los Angeles, CA

This research explores the migration of Jonkonnu masquerade culture from Jamaica to North Carolina, focusing on the craft of mask-making. It aims to trace the cultural journey, assess its impact, and investigate the influence of the tradition on shaping North Carolina's current Black beauty culture.

Learn more

Desire Paths

Lauren Kalman and Matt Lambert

Desire Paths looks at makers both within the discourse of craft and ones that exist on the periphery of the craftscape who focus on the movement of the body towards something desirable. These desires of the body are in relationship to: nature, tech, self, and society. Using architectural theory and queer curatorial strategies,Desire Paths will examine the possibilities and futures of bodies, revealing connections between the corporeal and craft.

Elizabeth Essner is a Brooklyn-based independent Design Specialist with a focus on modern and contemporary craft. In addition to conducting research and appraising, Essner is a regular contributor to Modern magazine. A graduate of the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture, Essner has previously been an auction house specialist at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey, and worked for New York design galleries: R & Company and Historical Design


Lily Kane is currently the Director of Exhibitions and Publications at R & Company gallery in New York, NY. In 2006, while serving as the director of education at the American Craft Council, Kane was part of a team to revive the organization's annual conference. Kane has also contributed pieces to magazines, including Modern and American Craft. A Nashville native, Kane attended Vassar College and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Meaghan Roddy is a Senior Specialist and Vice President in the Design Department at Phillips auction house in New York, specializing in 20th- and 21st-century design and decorative arts. She was previously a design specialist at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey, and has been consulted for print and television features on design, including Architectural Digest, Bloomberg, Art +Auction, The Art Newspaper,Die Zeitungen, and Modern magazine.  A Maryland native, Roddy studied at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Learn more

The Computer Pays Its Debt: Women, Textiles, and Technology, 1965-1985

Kayleigh Perkov

The Computer Pays Its Debt: Women, Textiles, and Technology, 1965-1985 examines craftswomen who used digital technology in their practice. Craft scholarship has reacted to computer-aided design with a mixture of celebration and anxiety. Much of this discourse fails to examine the historical precedence of digital tools in craft practice extending to the 1960s. A focus on feedback between person and machine will nuance scholarship, while an emphasis on women elucidates their underappreciated role.

Elizabeth Essner is a Brooklyn-based independent Design Specialist with a focus on modern and contemporary craft. In addition to conducting research and appraising, Essner is a regular contributor to Modern magazine. A graduate of the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture, Essner has previously been an auction house specialist at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey, and worked for New York design galleries: R & Company and Historical Design


Lily Kane is currently the Director of Exhibitions and Publications at R & Company gallery in New York, NY. In 2006, while serving as the director of education at the American Craft Council, Kane was part of a team to revive the organization's annual conference. Kane has also contributed pieces to magazines, including Modern and American Craft. A Nashville native, Kane attended Vassar College and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Meaghan Roddy is a Senior Specialist and Vice President in the Design Department at Phillips auction house in New York, specializing in 20th- and 21st-century design and decorative arts. She was previously a design specialist at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey, and has been consulted for print and television features on design, including Architectural Digest, Bloomberg, Art +Auction, The Art Newspaper,Die Zeitungen, and Modern magazine.  A Maryland native, Roddy studied at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Learn more

Funk You: Contemporary Sculpture and Funk Ceramics

Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy

Funk You: Contemporary Sculpture and Funk Ceramics brings together sculptures in clay bycontemporary artists that echo themes and aesthetics of 1960s–70s Funk ceramics. Put in conversation with historical pieces, the line between past and present is blurred, bridging the gap between the current generation and the pioneering artists who paved the way for ceramics to be imaginative, expressive, critical, and unapologetic.

Elizabeth Essner is a Brooklyn-based independent Design Specialist with a focus on modern and contemporary craft. In addition to conducting research and appraising, Essner is a regular contributor to Modern magazine. A graduate of the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture, Essner has previously been an auction house specialist at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey, and worked for New York design galleries: R & Company and Historical Design


Lily Kane is currently the Director of Exhibitions and Publications at R & Company gallery in New York, NY. In 2006, while serving as the director of education at the American Craft Council, Kane was part of a team to revive the organization's annual conference. Kane has also contributed pieces to magazines, including Modern and American Craft. A Nashville native, Kane attended Vassar College and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Meaghan Roddy is a Senior Specialist and Vice President in the Design Department at Phillips auction house in New York, specializing in 20th- and 21st-century design and decorative arts. She was previously a design specialist at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey, and has been consulted for print and television features on design, including Architectural Digest, Bloomberg, Art +Auction, The Art Newspaper,Die Zeitungen, and Modern magazine.  A Maryland native, Roddy studied at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Learn more

Selection Panelists

Field Building

Special edition of Hyperallergic

Featuring the research of the 2022 Craft Archive Fellows that focuses on underrepresented and non-dominant craft histories in the United States.

Watch the Virtual Program

recipients

Meet the 2022
Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship Grant Recipients

The Center for Craft is pleased to announce the recipients of 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This year 2 mid-career artists will receive $20,000 each to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.

2 out of 97 Artist Fellowship proposals were awarded.

A special thanks

To Ayumi Horie who through conversations with the Center for Craft planted the seed for the Craft Archive Fellowship, helped with grant development and generously contributed funding to make this program possible! Read more in our interview with Ayumi here.

Process photo of assembly of Y-axis conveyor belt.

Rose Buttress

 — 

$10,000

Rose Buttress is a self-trained machinist and programmer. Buttress’s research titled “FULL,” uses a novel design of fabric cutters to prefigure small batch garment fabrication efficiency with the goal of generating a new philosophy of inclusive design. Her research attempts to renegotiate the constraints on the industry through a methodology of developing new equipment that places the leading industrial mass production techniques and processes within small workspaces.

Learn more

Photo credit: Sean Carroll

Alexis Rosa Caldero

 — 

$10,000

Alexis Rosa Caldero is a first generation Ecuadorian-American and Puerto Rican disentangling from the inherited experience of forced assimilation. Informed by experience with wood, education, and art direction, Caldero’s craft strives to evoke beauty, unearth story, and build connection. Their research, titled “Beyond Ergonomics: Furnishing Healing,” asks what studio furniture can learn from anti-racist, fat positive, body-centered activism. It proposes a hands-on analysis of how everyday furniture can play a role in one’s healing journey through somatic study and community building.

Learn more

Photo credit: Mary Kang

Dana Davenport

 — 

$10,000

Dana Davenport is an interdisciplinary artist, who shifts between installation, sculpture, video, and performance. Within her practice, Davenport addresses the complexities that surround interminority racism as a foundation for envisioning her own and the collective futurity of Black and Asian peoples. Davenport's research titled “Dana's Beauty Supply: Research,” examines Black hair and hair care as a material that binds Black Americans and Korean Americans through the beauty supply industry, an industry that is overwhelmingly Korean-owned with a primarily Black customer base.

Learn more

Photo credit: Benjamin Weinberg

Emily Robison

 — 

$10,000

Emily Robison is a textile artist whose work incorporates place and cultural experience. Building upon their work with byssus fiber, a textile fiber produced by clams and traditionally used throughout the Mediterranean, Robison will research 18th and 19th century published descriptions of byssus production and the feasibility of adapting these techniques to North American pen clams.

Learn more

Photographed by David Hunter Hale

Nastassja Swift

 — 

$10,000

Nastassja Swift is a sculptural fiber artist, whose work exists figuratively in full or often fragmented forms that speak to geographical histories, womanhood, language and community. Swift’s needle felted portraits incorporate quilting, beading and other traditional and non-traditional materials morph into a form of storytelling that references the above themes. Swift’s research title “Hooded Figures: A History of Fashion and Power,”examines hoods across centuries, closely identifying the social and racial associations of the garment and how its symbolism has shifted over time. Using felting, quilting and beading, this research project will produce re-imagined images of Black subjects adorned in a hood.

Learn more

A special thank you to our Selection Panelists:

  • Lakshmi Amin, writer and artist based in New York City, Editorial Coordinator at Hyperallergic
  • Tempestt Hazel, curator, writer, and co-founder of Sixty Inches From Center
  • Laura Helton, assistant professor of English and History at the University of Delaware
  • Maru Lopez, artist, educator, and emerging craft researcher

Thank you to the Craft Archive Fellowship grant advisors that helped us develop this important opportunity:

  • Dr. Andy Campbell, Associate Professor of Critical Studies, University of Southern California Roski School of Art and Design
  • Sara Clugage, Artist, Writer, Editor, Salonnière, Editor-in-Chief, Dilettante Army (online journa
  • Dr. Karen Mary Davalos, Professor and Chair of Chicano and Latino Studies, University of Minnesota
  • Beth Goodrich, Librarian, American Craft Council
  • Dr. Mishuana Goeman, (Tonawanda Band of Seneca), Professor of Gender Studies, Chair of American Indian Studies Interdepartmental Program and Associate Director of American Indian Studies Research Center, the University of California
  • Dr. Tiffany Momon, Professor at Sewanee, The University of the South

In addtion, thank you to those who conducted grant development conversations and research with the Center for Craft:

  • alejandro t. acierto, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance, Arizona State University
  • Dr. Juliana Barton, Director, Center for the Arts, Northeastern University
  • Dr. Esther Choi, Adjunct Associate Professor, The Cooper Union Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, Creator of Office Hours
  • Dr. Sarah DeMott, Research Library, Middle East Studies, Harvard College Library
  • Josh T. Franco, National Collector, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
  • Ayumi Horie, Potter
  • Dr. Kayleigh Perkov, Lecturer, Design, University of California, Davis
  • Dr. Jenni Sorkin, Associate Professor, History of Art & Architecture, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Namita Wiggers, Director, MA Critical Craft Studies, Warren Wilson College

The Center for Craft Archive Fellowship is supported, in part, by Ayumi Horie and Sara Clugage. Program partner Hyperallergic.

We are still seeking funding support for additional Fellowships ($5,000 opportunity). If you are interested, please get in touch with Marilyn Zapf, Director of Programs and Curator at [email protected].

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