Consejo Estadounidense de Artesanía

El American Craft Council ( ACC ) es una organización nacional sin fines de lucro que promueve la artesanía y tiene su sede en Minneapolis , Minnesota . Fundado en 1943 por Aileen Osborn Webb , el consejo organiza ferias y conferencias nacionales de artesanía, ^{[ 1 ]} publica una revista trimestral llamada American Craft ^{[ 2 ]} y una revista académica trimestral llamada American Craft Inquiry , ^{[ 3 ]} mantiene un extenso programa de premios, ^{[ 4 ]} y alberga una biblioteca y un archivo completos. ^{[ 5 ]}

En 1939, la filántropa y activista social Aileen Osborn Webb fundó la Handcraft Cooperative League of America, una agrupación de artesanos organizada para desarrollar mercados en áreas metropolitanas para artesanos rurales. Ese mismo año, Anne Morgan , amiga y vecina de Webb, fundó en Delaware el American Handcraft Council. En 1940, la Liga de Webb inauguró un espacio comercial cooperativo llamado America House en el número 7 de la calle 54 Este en Manhattan. En 1941, publicaron el primer número, sin título, de lo que más tarde se convertiría en la revista Craft Horizons . ^{[ 6 ]} En 1942, el American Handcraft Council de Morgan y la Handcraft Cooperative League of America de Webb se fusionaron en una sola organización, el American Craftsmen's Cooperative Council. En 1943, las organizaciones fusionadas crearon el American Craftsmen's Educational Council y recibieron una carta constitutiva provisional de la Junta de Regentes del Departamento de Educación de Nueva York. ^{[ 7 ]}

Durante la década siguiente, el Consejo mantuvo su sede comercial en Nueva York, inició exposiciones que presentaban a artistas artesanos en activo (incluida Designer Craftsmen USA , que fue organizada por el Museo de Brooklyn , el Instituto de Arte de Chicago y el Museo de Arte de San Francisco , ^{[ 8 ]} ) y organizó concursos nacionales como "Young Americans" para artesanos menores de 30 años. En 1955, el American Craftsmen's Education Council acortó su nombre a American Craftsmen's Council con el acrónimo ACC. ^{[ 7 ]}

In 1956, the Council opened the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, now the Museum of Arts and Design, in a brownstone purchased by Webb at 29 West 53rd Street in New York City. The museum's inaugural exhibition Craftsmanship in a Changing World^[9] featured 314 objects by 180 craftspeople from 19 states. The new building also housed the offices for Craft Horizons and the council's first formal library space. The Council launched its first national conference and began publishing a newsletter, Outlook, in 1957. In 1959, the Council divested in the retail space America House, which relocated to a brownstone purchased by Webb until closing 1971. In 1960, Craft Horizons was officially incorporated into the Council and subscribers were automatically enrolled as members. For the next decade, the council continued to host conferences, present and tour exhibitions through the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, and expand educational and awards programs.^[7]

Rose Slivka was appointed editor-in-chief of Craft Horizons in 1959. In the July/August 1961 issue Slivka published the article The New Ceramic Presence, in which she reported on the abstract, sculptural work of Peter Voulkos, John Mason, and others. The article served as a flash point within the ceramic community for the divide between traditional and contemporary ideas about art in clay, but also brought more serious attention to ceramic art from the general art world.^[10]

In 1966, ACC held its first regional craft fair in Stowe, Vermont, a precursor to the annual shows the Council continues to present in Baltimore, Atlanta, Saint Paul, and San Francisco.^[11] In 1969, one year after celebrating its 25th anniversary, the American Craftsmen's Council changed its name to the American Crafts Council.

The 1970s brought many significant changes to ACC, including its first cohort of Fellows, elected in 1975. Over 200 craft artists, scholars, and philanthropists had been honored by 2017 through induction into the Council's College of Fellows.^[12] While continuing to host shows and conferences, the Council relocated in 1978 to 22 West 55th Street and in 1979 the Museum of Contemporary Crafts reopened as the American Craft Museum at 44 West 53rd Street. The same year, Craft Horizons was renamed American Craft and founder Aileen Osborn Webb died at age 87.

Another series of relocations took place throughout the 1980s, and in 1990 the American Craft Museum became independent. At the Council's new, larger space at 72 Spring Street, the library had space to expand throughout the 1990s, taking on significant donations from the estate of glass artist Robert Sowers and from Ed Rossbach and Mildred Constantine. Efforts to develop a computer database for the library began in 1988, and the Council officially launched its website in 1999. In 2001, the library's catalog became accessible online.^[7]

• sitio web oficial
• Colecciones digitales de la biblioteca y los archivos
• Página del Consejo Estadounidense de Artesanía sobre la artesanía en Estados Unidos.