Mary Savig

Nora Atkinson

Anya Montiel

A highly illustrated,important volume inspired by the way craft artists have unitedduring the COVID pandemic and engaged in artistic conversations about race,gender, and inclusivity. During thesummer of 2020, the space outside the Renwick Gallery--the Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum's dedicated museum for contemporary craft and decorative arts--becamehome to a new discussion about racial justice on Black Lives Matter Plaza. Thecurators at the Renwick Gallery felt the need to align themselves with what wasgoing on right outside the Gallery's door, the organizing rationale forunderstanding the objects presented in this volume, many of which are newacquisitions. The title istaken from Alicia Eggert's 2019-2020 eponymous neon work, and the 85 objects inthe main plates section lead the reader from the idea of shelter, throughlayers of expanding spaces to the vast expanses of the universe. The volume looksat contemporary American craft "in the whirlwind of now" revealingpossibilities for contemporary makers to respond to a more empathetic future.

Crafting a Better World

This Present Moment

Renwick Gallery

"Crafted highlights nearly 200 of the extraordinary craft objects held at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Nora Atkinson looks at the whole notion of what defines craft, and how attitudes towards it are continually changing, from the pioneering years of the studio craft movement through to new definitions and expressions of craft today. "--

Nora Atkinson

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