“Hands to Work, Hearts to God”: A Post-Election Craft Manifesto

[Brigitte Martin]

By Sarah Archer on http://hyperallergic.com/

Excerpt:

...We in the educated corridors of the craft world — critics and collectors, the staff of museums and university departments — are by and large the sorts of Americans who didn’t think they knew any Trump supporters. I think I speak for many of us when I say that, like the pundits, we didn’t see this result coming by a long shot. But our community has something up its sleeve: the practices we hold dear, the ones we devote ourselves to critiquing and analyzing, are as old as humankind itself. Quilts, clothing, furniture, sign painting, and the crafts of the building trades all cross political lines, much like food. They also connect deeply to a battered vision of American identity that is in desperate need of a better angel right now. If we’re looking for a way to reach our fellow Americans, to have honest conversations with them about equality and dignity, craft can be a place to begin.

Read the complete article here.