What inspires a person to choose a career in craft? How does one acquire the knowledge and necessary skills? From self-taught artists to those who pursue formal study, from avocation to college, from apprenticeships to craft schools. Featured artists include the 92nd St Y, Dave & Roberta Williamson, Cary Esser, Nikki Lewis, KCAI, N. Bennet St. School, Tom Killion, and Julie Chen.

Many artists use their craft to share personal and political opinions. Craft has the ability to entice viewers to consider topics that they might find difficult. By expressing their ideas through their work, artists add meaning to the objects they create. Featured artists include glass artist Beth Lipman, santero Charles M. Carrillo, bead artist Joyce J. Scott; and jeweler & sculptor Thomas Mann.

Family explores the creative environments and personal dynamics of four families of craft artists and asks: Is talent inherited? What is it like to live in a household where objects are made by hand? Meet the featured artists (the Lees, Marionis, Moulthrops and Sorrells).

Industry explores the business of craft and how artists contribute to local and national economies.

Documenting craft in the military and the power of the handmade to inspire and heal.

Discover the role craft plays in our winter holiday traditions, rituals, and festivities. Featuring lion dancers & float builders for San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade, ceramic artists in Michigan for the holidays at Pewabic (Detroit) and Motawi Tileworks (Ann Arbor), Kwanzaa celebrations with Chicago & Oakland artists, and Christmas card making in Tacoma with Yoshiko Yamamoto.

Artists committed to sharing their skills and passion for craft with students of all ages. Featuring Navajo weavers Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete at Idyllwild Arts, glass artist Mark Mitsuda at Punahou School, glass artist Therman Statom, and ceramic artist Linda Sikora at Alfred University School of Art and Design.

Explore the connections between Mexico and the United States through craft. Featuring master altar maker Ofelia Esparza and the Day of the Dead celebration; master weaver J. Isaac Vásquez Garcia and family; weaver Jim Bassler, potter Veralee Bassler and the colorful Guelaguetza parade; and artist Kiff Slemmons and maestro Francisco Toledo at Taller Arte Papel.

Explore the connections between Mexico and the United States through craft. Featuring ceramic artist Gerardo Monterrubio; ceramic artists Magdalena Pedro Martínez and Carlomagno Pedro Martínez; glass artist Jaime Guerrero; silver designers William Spratling, Carmen Tapia, Miguel Angel Ortíz Miranda, Cristina Romo, and Eduardo Herrera; muralist Judy Baca and SPARC.

Explore the diverse craft traditions and innovations in the Golden State. Featuring Pomo basket weaver Corine Pearce, silversmith Randy Stromsoe, the Arts and Crafts architecture of Greene and Greene, stained glass artists at Judson Studios, cabinetmakers James Ipekjian and Jack Ipekjian, and textile artist Deborah Cross.

Documenting the ways in which artists and influencers inspire new generations to envision the limitless possibilities of craft. Featuring textile designer and founder of LongHouse Reserve Jack Lenor Larsen, curator Helen Molesworth and Black Mountain College, fiber artist Kay Sekimachi, collector Forrest L. Merrill, and book artist Felicia Rice.

Learn about contemporary quilters as we celebrate the role quilts have played in our country's story. Featuring Susan Hudson, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Michael A. Cummings, Judith Content, the International Quilt Museum and special guest Ken Burns.

Artists explore issues of gender, race, culture and place, offering true expressions of their experiences in this world. Featuring potter Diego Romero, photographer Cara Romero, furniture maker Wendy Maruyama and sculptor Cristina Cordova.

Meet artists who use narrative to communicate personal and universal truths. Featuring artist Nicholas Galanin, Julie Schafler Dale, Linda J. Mendelson, George Rodriguez and Christina Bothwell.

In the galleries and halls of our treasured institutions; in the hands of Native American, African American, and Veteran artists; from Appalachia to the Rio Grande Valley; Democracy explores how craft is intertwined with our nation’s defining principles. Hear from Robert L. Lynch, President of Americans for the Arts, who speaks to the role of government in the arts.

Bridging the art forms of music and craft, and celebrating the joy of music and the creation of handcrafted instruments. Featuring accordion maker Marc Savoy and the Savoy family, bow maker Susan Lipkins, luthier Doug Naselroad and the Appalachian Artisan Center Culture of Recovery Program, and artist Richard Jolley, whose monumental sculpture inspired a violin concerto.

Explore the history, artistry, and impact of personal adornment. Featuring: classic jeweler Tom Herman; Harriete Estel Berman who creates jewelry with recycled materials; the coeditors of Ornament Magazine; the legacy of modernist jeweler Art Smith; nature-inspired artist Gabrielle Gould; and Navajo/Hopi master jeweler Jesse Monongya.

No description available

No description available

No description available

Embracing familiar and new winter celebrations of our American experience with the handmade. Celebrates some of our most important cultural and religious customs and leads viewers directly to their own creativity.

Exceptional artists forging metal magically transformed by fire. Follow Chloe Darke as she begins her career as a silversmith at Old Newbury Crafters; Iraqi war veterans Tom Pullin and Jeremiah Holland as they turn to art as an antidote to the harsh realities of war; Join sculptor Albert Paley as he prepares for Paley on Park Avenue, the most ambitious project of his 50 year career.

Take a tour through craft's history in America beginning with the pioneers of the field to the intimate stories of some of our country's most prominent craft artists. Memory observes how past is prologue, and looks to the dynamic of cultural history and personal heritage in creating objects. Featured artists include Sam Maloof, Garry Knox Bennett, Mary Jackson, Tom Joyce, and Pat Courtney Gold.

How do borders and personal crossroads affect an artist? How do science and craft interact? How do other cultures influence American style and technique? This episode explores the intersections of craft, culture, and technology. Featured artists include Tanya Aguiñiga, Lia Cook, Clary Illian, Warren MacKenzie, and Jeff Oestreich.

No description available