Grant goals
To encourage innovative research on critical issues in craft theory and history
To investigate neglected questions on craft history and criticism
To support new cross-disciplinary approaches to scholarship in craft
The Craft Research Fund was created to encourage, expand, and support craft research in the United States. This program is currently on pause. Please stay tuned to our e-news and social media for updates.
recipients
The Center for Craft is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 Craft Research Fund Grants. This year, five scholars, artists, and curators were selected by a distinguished panel to receive a total of $52,400 to support research for exhibitions, publications, and projects that explore new and innovative approaches to craft scholarship.
This project examines Mary Mitchell Gabriel's role in revitalizing Passamaquoddy basket weaving, emphasizing cultural sovereignty, intergenerational knowledge, and U.S. craft history through archives, oral histories, and community collaboration, culminating in a journal article and online resource.
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This proposal will research the craft program of the Lincoln Institute, a historically black school in Simpsonville, Kentucky, that taught craft in the early 20th century. The grant will allow further in-depth research for public talks and a book proposal in preparation for a full book on the Lincoln Institute.
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This research honors the untold stories of Black instrument makers in the United States, celebrating their artistry, resilience, and legacy. Through archival research and storytelling, Amanda Ewing aims to lift the voices of Black instrument makers and reclaim their place in craft history. Ewing works to inspire new generations to see instrument making as cultural remembrance and as a living lineage of Black makers rooted in sound and craft.
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This research studies the underexplored cultural history of Indigenous beadwork in Aleut/Alutiiq Russian Orthodox textiles (1794–1915) and documents how these contributions by Indigenous women played a pivotal role in the survival of both Russian and Indigenous cultures in Alaska.
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Exploring the intersection of industrial and studio glassmaking, this research recovers early flat-glass production techniques through archival study and hands-on experimentation. The project bridges craft history, material science, and creative practice to generate insights for artists and scholars.
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D Wood earned a PhD in Design Studies from the University of Otago, where her research concerned the contemporary craft movement and handmade furniture in New Zealand. She has an MFA in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her artist profiles and reviews of exhibitions and books have appeared in an international roster of publications, including American Woodturner, Ceramics Monthly, Craft Research, Design Issues, Garland, Metalsmith, and Surface Design. She is the editor of and contributor to Craft is Political (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021) and The Politics of Global Craft (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Hideo Mabuchi teaches and conducts research as a Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University. In the studio, he focuses on thrown-and-altered vessel forms for atmospheric firings. He is working on new teaching approaches that integrate ceramics with scientific and humanistic studies to bring craft into the core of liberal undergraduate education.
Lisa Gail Collins is Professor of Art on the Sarah Gibson Blanding Chair at Vassar College. Committed to the interdisciplinary humanities, she holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. Her latest book, Stitching Love and Loss: A Gee’s Bend Quilt, is a holistic study of a quilt made in mourning and the memory of its making. It received the Bard Graduate Center's Horowitz Prize and the James A. Porter and David C. Driskell Award in African American Art History.
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