American Craft Fest is the summer’s best opportunity to discover craft from across the region.

Participate in fun hands-on activities for all ages led by local arts partners, shop handmade work by early career artists, and enjoy food and beverages from local vendors.

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Linking heritage, history, and handcraft, this exhibition combines various forms of papercutting.

Through large and small-scale works, contemporary artists such as Kanako Abe, Lucrezia Bieler, Hannah Kohl, Sonja Peterson, Michael Velliquette, Janelle Washington, and Sam Wrobel expand upon tradition while hobbyist paper crafters add their voices to rich creative lineages. Additionally, Myra Su will perform shadow puppet theater throughout the run of the show.

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There is a continuum where beauty and function blend and diverge in the hands of the contemporary artist.

Even when traditional materials such as thread, fabric, wood, reed, and paper are used, these artists combine skill, imagination, and vision to meld their materials into compelling and beautiful art which resonates in today’s world.

Artists were invited to participate in this conversation between media to illustrate the continuum between beauty and functionality.

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Rooted in childhood memories of Cleveland’s industrial landscape and the burning Cuyahoga River of 1969, Mo Kelman’s sculptures merge water’s shifting forms with the stark geometry of steel and bridges.

Using simple, tactile materials, Kelman explores the tension between nature’s unstoppable force and human engineering.

These works celebrate craft, resilience, and transformation, revealing both the beauty of construction and the inevitability of nature’s power.

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Applications are open for Handmade Arcade’s new Modern Craft Market, supported by Contemporary Craft. This juried shopping event will connect shoppers, craft collectors, and retail and industry partners with over 150 of the best contemporary craft makers and artists from around the Pittsburgh and greater Appalachian region.

Applications close on November 5, 2025. To apply, please visit:

https://www.handmadearcade.org/modern-craft-market-applications.

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Founded in 2004, Handmade Arcade is a nonprofit that provides makers and craftspeople with opportunities to connect with customers and strengthen their small businesses. Handmade Arcade’s flagship event is the annual Holiday Market, which is the region’s largest handmade shopping event, connecting over 275 makers with more than 10,000 shoppers each year.

In addition to the Holiday Market, Handmade Arcade hosts an annual Emerging Craft Market for early career makers and will launch a new fine craft market called the Modern Craft Market in March 2026, supported by Contemporary Craft.

Handmade Arcade also helps makers connect to shoppers through an online Maker Directory, digital maker storytelling, professional development workshops, and more. Additionally, Handmade Arcade leads annual maker accelerator programs, including a BIPOC Maker Accelerator program and a Youth Maker Accelerator program. Handmade Arcade is dedicated to supporting the economic mobility of makers and craftspeople in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.

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Experience intensive workshops with nationally renowned artists celebrating American craft traditions. Transform your practice as you explore techniques that define our creative past, present, and future.

Handwork Week brings accomplished artisans from our region and beyond to BARN for an unprecedented week of deep learning and exploration.

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Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is the nation’s oldest continuously operating museum, dedicated to celebrating creativity across time, place, and culture.

PEM’s Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 audio tour curated by Paula Richter, features nearly 30 objects from six galleries. Spanning 500 years, the tour explores how handcraft—from colonial furniture to contemporary textiles—embodies artistry, identity, and the timeless value of making by hand.

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Colorado Creative Industries (CCI), a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), focuses on strengthening the vitality of visual, performing, and literary arts through promotion, resources, and funding opportunities.

In 2026, the United States will mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—our nation’s semiquincentennial. At the same time, Colorado will mark the 150th anniversary of our entrance into the Union—our state’s sesquicentennial. As the Centennial State, Colorado is the only one who will observe twin anniversaries.

Colorado Creative Industries is celebrating this milestone with a Creative Capitol exhibition focused on Colorado’s cultural heritage, highlighting the rich history of folk and traditional arts, as well as the contemporary implementation of these modes of community expression and cultural identity. The selected works will be on display at the Colorado State Capitol Complex, including the Governor’s Office, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, and the basement rotunda from August 2026 through April 2027.

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We are a non-profit art center in South Carolina that produces contemporary art exhibitions, offers year-round cultural programming, and a variety of events that are free and open to the public. These include performances, workshops and classes that embrace not only visual arts but also theater and dance.

Housing both a gallery and an adjacent live-work studio for an artist-in-residence program, CCA provides artists with resources to develop, create and exhibit their art, frequently in conjunction with performing, literary and media arts.

The Center is financially supported by diverse sources including business, government agencies, foundations and private individuals through memberships, visitor donations, and grants.

Founded in 2007, and opened one year later, CCA continues to be dedicated to enhancing the interaction between artists and the public. The Center is located at 701 Whaley Street, in the former community center of Columbia’s Mill District.

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Now in its 49th year, American Craft Made Baltimore is the largest juried craft fair on the East Coast. A celebrated local institution, American Craft Made brings together over 400 artists, 10,000 attendees, and dozens of local partner organizations from across the East Coast for shopping, demonstrations, hands-on experiences, and connection through craft.

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Clay as Care considers ways in which care manifests in ceramic art and how viewing art and working with clay can promote personal and communal health. Featuring artists whose practices address healing, rest, and resilience, including Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Adebunmi Gbadebo, Ehren Tool, and Maia Chao. A reflection of the values of care that we see as inherent in the act of making art with clay.

Supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

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This special themed folk art show celebrates the past, the present, and the future of Norwegian folk art in the United States and abroad.

Contemporary artists submit pieces to honor folk art masters of the past; draw inspiration from contemporary culture bearers; explore what folk art might become in the future; or play with some combination of past, present, and future all in one piece.

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The Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) stewards the world’s largest collection of international folk and traditional arts, including more than 160,000 objects from six continents and over 150 nations. This diverse collection includes dress and textiles, furniture, ceramics, masks, basketry, woodcarving, and metalwork. As one of the few museums in the United States dedicated to folk art from around the world, MOIFA expands the understanding of folk art and encourages dialogue about traditions, cultural identity, community, and aesthetics. The museum is a dynamic, multidimensional learning environment that is an integral part of community life. Our collection and programming provide important connections between past, present, and future folk art and related traditions.

MOIFA’s mission is to connect communities through stories of dynamic cultural traditions, human creativity and resilience. We value and champion dialogue and collaboration with artists and communities; excellence in public engagement and programming; cultural empowerment, social justice, and accessibility to collections. As an artist-centered organization, we believe that folk artists have the power to change lives and the world, and we work to facilitate their creativity and innovation.

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Yucca Valley Material Lab (YVML) is a nonprofit arts organization committed to hands-on making, material experimentation, and meaningful exchange. Through residencies, workshops, and public programming, we support underrepresented artists while cultivating an inclusive creative ecosystem rooted in collaboration, discovery, and shared knowledge.

We do this work because we believe art shapes a world worth living in.

We envision a future where arts education is accessible to all, where risk and experimentation are celebrated, and where artists are supported not just as makers, but as leaders, collaborators, and catalysts for change.

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