REsearch & IDEAS
As an incubator for new research and emerging ideas, we convene, research, and lead initiatives across institutions to stimulate critical thinking and new directions in the field. We appreciate voices from within and outside the craft community and value the knowledge sharing and unexpected outcomes that results from collaboration.
Field Building
Field Building
The Center for Craft is working in collaboration with members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to create a public art parklet to preserve and advance the important craft legacy of western North Carolina.
Informed by ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ, Mary Thompson, consulting artist and prolific Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians basketmaker, the parklet’s design references Cherokee basketry in its materials, structure, colors, patterns, and use.
A two-day convening of national and international thought leaders intended to identify and meet emerging needs in the craft field. These convening nurture relationships across the various disciplines where craft is learned, researched, and/or shared with the public. Craft Think Tanks frequently result in new projects and initiatives, including Makers: A History of American Studio Craft, the first comprehensive survey of studio craft in the United States, the Journal of Modern Craft, and the Craft Research Fund program, among others.
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Photo: Steve Mann, Black Box Photography
A program created by the Center for Craft and offered through Mountain BizWorks that connects, elevates, and advances emerging and established makers/designers with craft-inspired businesses. The program includes a series of workshops, events, and cohort experiences.
Local artist Jeannie Regan leads the inaugural year as Creative Director with the vision for Krafthouse 2023: Forest of the New Trees. Between September 28 and October 13, the curious will be rewarded with a ticketed installation that changes nightly, as artist and audience participation weave a story of radical collaboration in Appalachia in the aftermath of a mysterious, world-changing event.
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The Center for Craft is redeveloping our historic 1912 structure located at 67 Broadway Street into a National Craft Innovation Hub, an urban creative campus that puts craft in context with other creative disciplines. The project connects makers, artists, designers, scholars, students, creative sector entrepreneurs, and the general public through galleries, coworking/shared workspaces, event spaces, and a makerspace. In 2023, in partnership with The Virginia A. Groot Foundation, the Center for Craft activated the 3,500 square foot Ideation Lab by welcoming the first Virginia A. Groot Material Exploration Artist in Residence. The 2024 Virginia A. Groot Material Exploration Residency Application is now open to all previous Virginia A. Groot awardees and honorable mention recipients.
This is a closed application process, for more information please contact grants@centerforcraft.org.
PROJECT ARCHIVE
67 Broadway St, Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 785-1357 | info@centerforcraft.org
Gallery Hours: Tues–Sat, 10–6 get more info
Gallery Hours: Closed — Reopening Fall 2019
