In response to the closing of the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, OR

[Brigitte Martin]

Denise Mullen, President of Oregon College of Art and Craft

The recent closing of Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft has given rise to heated protests in both Portland and across the country from those who champion craft. But what does “craft” mean? And, why are there passionate advocates of craft?

Defining craft has been my cause for six years as the President of Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC), and it has not been an easy task dispelling the misconceptions and extolling the intrinsic worth of craft. Let me share an example of a recent gathering of artists and scientists to illustrate the problem. 

Data were being gathered to use in making a case for STEAM versus STEM in pre K-12 education (a very worthy cause and a subject for another day) in which the data had three categories: art, craft, and design. Craft was intentionally being used in a slightly pejorative and dated way by defining it as the hand skills necessary to make domestic or functional objects, primarily in shop classes and as a means of vocational training. An art educator objected to the term “craft” being used at all, on the basis that K-12 art educators have dropped the term “craft” and subsumed it under the “art” umbrella.

Continue reading: https://ocac.edu/blog/response-closing-museum-contemporary-craft-po...