Center for Craft

The Center is currently engaged in a strategic plan titled Craft matters (2023-2027), at The heart of which envisions a culture where communities celebrate and embrace The centrality of Craft in everyday life. Through The realigned mission to resource, catalyze, and amplify how and why Craft matters, The Center is committed to increasing access to Craft by empowering artists, organizations, and communities through grants, fellowships, and programs that bring people together. The Center for Craft's grant programs are keystones in developing The national Craft ecosystem, supporting emerging and established Craft artists, scholars, educators, and organizations nationwide. In fy24, The Center received 720 grant applications and made 54 awards, providing 494,200 in grants. Now permanently endowed, The Center for Craft's windgate-lamar fellowship has awarded 2.8 million to over 180 emerging Craft artists with exemplary skills in Craft since The program's inception. Grantmaking to artists has expanded to include The teaching artist cohort, which provides unrestricted funding and a cohort experience with mentorship and peer-to-peer learning designed with mid-career Craft artists who teach in mind. In fy24, The Center also completed The second year of an on-site artist residency program in partnership with The Virginia a. groot foundation. Resident sculptors were provided an honorarium and time to develop their work, access to new materials, professional development, and networking opportunities. The Center supports innovative research and Craft scholarship through The Craft research fund and Craft archive fellowship. A visionary program dedicated to supporting scholarly Craft research in The united states, The Craft research fund is The Center's longest-running grant program. In fy24, The Center received 79 grant applications and awarded 8 recipients 61,000. The Craft archive fellowship, which supports archival research on underrepresented and non-dominant Craft histories in The united states, received 130 applications and awarded 6 grants, distributing 30,000 this year. The Center for Craft has become a vital community resource in western north carolina, serving visitors annually through top-notch programs. Free to The public, our galleries offer exhibitions and an engagement studio, where visitors are invited to explore Craft publications and other hands-on activities that catalyze discovery and learning about Craft for all ages, backgrounds, and interest levels. In fy24, The Center welcomed 11,090 gallery visitors, exhibited 79 artists, and received 1,119 virtual program attendees. This past year, we designed and produced a new materials collection. Through hands-on exploration and observation, audiences may explore materials commonly associated with Craft to deepen their understanding. The materials collection was funded by The institute of museum and library services and supported, in part, by The Center for native health. The Center for Craft's historic 1912 facility also offers over 10,000 square feet to host programs, meetings, and events in classroom, conference, and coworking space ("cowork"). The Center for Craft is a destination and resource for visitors and The local community by fulfilling The cultural sector's need for networking and workspace for like-minded organizations, small businesses, and creative professionals. The ideation lab and makerspace now include a recently added photography studio, computer lab, and pack-and-ship stations for creative entrepreneurs. With The help of generous funders and donors, The Center continues to build its endowed funds and fellowship program to remain a beacon of support for The makers, scholars, and Craft community. To learn more about our programs and how you can support The Center, please visit www.centerforcraft.org.