participant-type

: Museum

Bedroom in the Nichols House Museum with bed hangings embroidered by Rose Nichols. Nichols House Museum

The Nichols House Museum on Boston’s historic Beacon Hill was home to an early 20th-century family of artists and social activists. Preserved as a museum by Rose Standish Nichols, a pioneering woman landscape architect, the 1804 townhouse is furnished with an original collection, including pieces created by Rose and her sister Margaret. Rose was an embroiderer and woodcarver, whose historically-inspired designs enlivened her living spaces. Margaret was a furniture maker, designing and building pieces for her family, as well as for her business, Pegleggers. Both were inspired by the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement, combining their love of craft with their efforts to build a better world.

The Nichols House Museum fosters curiosity, creativity, and change-making, inspired by the trailblazing work and legacy of the Nichols sisters. Visitors are welcome for tours, programs, and special events throughout the year.

Boston,
MA
Museum
Fiber Wood
Front Exterior of the Gibbes Museum of Art. Thomas Photographers

The Gibbes enriches lives through art. We are committed to telling the story of Charleston’s ever-changing landscape and its people. Including historical, modern, and contemporary works, our collection spans 350 years and features some of the country’s most celebrated artists.

With world-class rotating exhibitions and a dynamic visiting artist residency program, there’s so much to see inside. Set in the heart of downtown Charleston, the Gibbes is a southern museum with a global perspective.

Charleston,
SC
Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN. Credit: Hunter Museum of American Art

The Hunter Museum of American Art collects, preserves, and presents American art and connects the community through inspiring educational and visitor-focused experiences for all.

With its iconic campus, exceptional collection of American art, and engagement with the community, the Hunter is an essential space where everyone is welcome to experience creativity, connect, and share ideas.

Chattanooga,
TN
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
Gallery, "The Art of Mending," 2022. Brick Store Museum

Founded by American artist Edith C. Barry in 1936, the Brick Store Museum ignites personal connections to local history and arts through exhibitions, education and programs illustrating the human experience in Kennebunk and the southern Maine region. For 90 years, the Museum has inhabited a campus of five historic buildings, including an 1825 dry goods store built of brick (hence our name!).

The Museum presents a blend of history and art exhibitions and related programming for all ages and learning levels; including arts workshops led by regional teaching artists. The Museum offers a hands-on learning gallery for young visitors, a contemporary arts gallery, and six main galleries to explore. The Museum is located in the heart of downtown Kennebunk, providing a gateway to engaging with the seacoast region and its deep history and artistic heritage.

In 2026, the Museum’s contemporary art gallery, the Bauman Center, will host rotating exhibitions of York County artists presenting their work in a variety of media such as fiber, glass, metal and wood.

Kennebunk,
ME
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood
The Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. Workhouse Arts Center

The Workhouse Arts Center is a vibrant 55-acre arts campus housed in a former historic prison. We offer art classes, exhibitions, and artist studio spaces for 70+ working artists, as well as professional theater and music performances, historic tours, and seasonal family-friendly experiences. We strive to harness the power of the arts to engage, heal, and inspire communities through creativity, cultural enrichment, historic preservation, and positive social impact.

2026 commemorates the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Washington DC Corrections Office’s Lorton Correctional Complex (1910-2001). The Workhouse Arts Center is located on 55 acres of the former 3,500-acre prison and is home to the Lorton Prison Museum, dedicated to sharing the 91-years of this former Washington DC prison’s history, including events of the women’s suffrage movement.

Lorton,
VA
Arts/Cultural Organization Gallery Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
American Folk Art Museum in New York City. American Folk Art Museum

Founded in 1961, the American Folk Art Museum is a global leader dedicated to the preservation and promotion of folk and self-taught art across time and place.

Candid, genuine, and unexpected, the Museum celebrates the creativity of individuals whose singular talents have been refined largely through personal experience rather than formal artistic training.

With a collection spanning 7,500 works of art from four centuries and nearly every continent, AFAM engages people of all backgrounds through its collections, exhibitions, publications, and public programs as the leading forum shaping the understanding and appreciation of folk and self-taught art.

Thanks to the generous support of our members, patrons, and donors, admission to the Museum is always free.

New York,
NY
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood
MUSAN: Museo de los Santos y Arte Nacional. R. Holm

MUSAN is dedicated to the preservation, research and exhibition of Puerto Rican arts, crafts and intangible cultural heritage. MUSAN celebrates Puerto Rico’s artistic patrimony as an inspiration for contemporary art and its relevance to society.

Museo de los Santos: Carvings that reflect our Puerto Rican spirit, pride and identity.

Legacy Collection: antique religious carvings from 1765–1965 used in household altars in the mountains of Puerto Rico.

Transitional Collection: carvers known as santeros segued from religious subjects to commercial carvings sold as souvenirs, folk art and personal expression from 1960-2020.

Contemporary Showcase: current generation of artisans pay homage to the past while interpreting santos with exciting, innovative new works.

MUSAN Gallery: Curated exhibitions of emerging artists and special events.

Zulma Santiago Gallery: Puerto Rican handwork such as lacemaking, ceramics, carnival masks, musical instruments, toys and specialized carvings such as roosters and birds.

San Juan,
PR
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Mixed Media Wood
Nevada Museum of Art Exteriors. Bill Timmerman

The Nevada Museum of Art is a museum of ideas.

Founded in 1931 and as the only accredited art museum in the state of Nevada, the recently expanded Museum offers world-class exhibitions, engaging public programs, and a distinctive focus on the relationships between people, place, art and the environment.

Located in the heart of Reno’s vibrant cultural district, the Museum features an ever-changing array of exhibitions spanning contemporary art, photography, design, and the environment as well as more than 1,600,000 items in the archive.

Visitors can enjoy four floors of galleries, enjoy panoramic city views from the rooftop, expansive research facilities, shop for unique gifts and art books, and relax at the Museum’s Cafe.

Reno,
NV
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Mixed Media Other Wood
​​Aerial view of Construction of Crystal Bridges Museum of Art Expansion. Photography by Edward C. Robison III, courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of Art.

The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is a public non-profit charitable organization. The museum opened on November 11, 2011, and welcomes all with free admission.

Crystal Bridges takes its name from a nearby natural spring and the bridge construction incorporated in the building, designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A series of pavilions nestled around two spring-fed ponds house galleries, meeting and classroom spaces, and a large, glass-enclosed gathering hall. Guest amenities include a restaurant (Eleven) and Coffee Bar on a glass-enclosed bridge overlooking the ponds, a Museum Store designed by architect Marlon Blackwell, and a library featuring more than 50,000 volumes of art reference material. Five miles of sculpture and walking trails link the museum’s 134-acre park to downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. In 2023, the museum welcomed nearly 785,000 visitors.

Bentonville,
AR
Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood
Smithsonian Craft Show 2025 at the National Building Museum, Washington, DC. Oxford St. Photography

The Smithsonian Women’s Committee is an all-volunteer auxiliary organization within the Smithsonian Institution.  To fulfill its mission of supporting the Smithsonian, the Committee produces the spring Smithsonian Craft Show as well as Craft2Wear, a fall show.

The Craft Show is a premier showcase for the finest American hand-crafted contemporary craft and design. Held in Washington, DC, annually, the Craft Show features a show and sale of works by 120 superb craft artists who are selected by independent jurors.  Also at the Craft Show, the Smithsonian presents its Visionary Award to a craft artist who is at the pinnacle of his or her medium.

The Craft2Wear show provides collectors and casual shoppers the opportunity to acquire unique and interesting wearables created by outstanding craft artists. Proceeds from both shows are used to fund grants to the Smithsonian for its museums, research centers, and the National Zoo.

Washington,
DC
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
Installation view of Convergence: Health & Creativity – New Work by Anne Labovitz. Plains Art Museum, 2024-25. Photo by Bailey Bolton & Eric Muller

Plains Art Museum is the largest and only American Alliance of Museums accredited art museum in the state of North Dakota. It is also the first, and only, Smithsonian Affiliate. We bring people and art together in ways that spark connection, conversation, and change.

Fargo,
ND
Museum
Clay Fiber Mixed Media Other Paper
Graham McKay, Executive Director of Lowell's Boat Shop, speaking at the stern of our big project of 2025–2026, a 38' Bantry Bay Gig for Atlantic Challenge USA. We are a working museum, continuing to build new traditional plank-on-frame boats for clients. Anne Bryant, righthandanne.com

Established in 1793, Lowell’s Boat Shop is the oldest continuously operating boat shop in the United States and is cited as the birthplace of the legendary fishing dory. Lowell’s is the only remaining survivor of Amesbury’s world-renowned dory manufacturing industry that produced in excess of a quarter of a million dories over a period of two centuries. We are a National Historic Landmark.

In its third century of operation, Lowell’s Boat Shop is both a working boat shop and a museum, and the preservation of each part is essential to our mission. We continue to build dories and skiffs for clients in the time-honored tradition of seven generations of the Lowell family that owned and operated the Boat Shop. The rich history of the building, collections, and our role in the community are conveyed through woodworking classes, our Apprentice program, programming for local schools, lively social gatherings, partnerships with other local museums, our YouTube channel, and the fleet of watercraft available for members who row their river.

Amesbury,
MA
Craft School Museum Other
Wood
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass

The mission of Museum of Glass is to ignite creativity, fuel discovery, and enrich lives through glass and glassmaking.

Located in Tacoma, Washington, Museum of Glass is a premier contemporary art museum dedicated to glass and glassmaking in the West Coast’s largest and most active museum glass studio.

The Museum has established a reputation for hosting impactful and engaging artist residencies, organizing and exhibiting nationally traveling exhibitions, and creating unique programs for visitors, all while building a growing permanent collection chronicling the development of modern and contemporary glass.

Tacoma,
WA
Museum
Glass
Furnace Stack at WheatonArts in Millville, NJ. Photo by WheatonArts

WheatonArts engages artists and audiences in an evolving exploration of creativity through diverse programs, exhibitions, educational initiatives, residencies, and other opportunities for artists.

With over five decades of history, WheatonArts is renowned regionally, nationally, and internationally for its unique collections and programs.

Located in Millville, the birthplace of America’s glass industry, WheatonArts houses the Museum of American Glass, featuring the most comprehensive collections of American glass, and is one of only ten museums in New Jersey to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

Millville,
NJ
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Glass Mixed Media
Anchorage Museum entrance in winter. Credit: Anchorage Museum

The Anchorage Museum is a place of ideas and transformation, narratives and perspectives, and resilient and relevant communities, responsive to a rapidly changing world toward a better future for all.

Our mission is to be a museum for people, place, planet, and potential, in service of a sustainable and equitable North, with creativity and imagination for what is possible.

Located in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, the museum sits on the traditional homeland of the Eklutna Dena’ina and is committed to recognizing and honoring the land, culture, and language of the Dena’ina people.

Anchorage,
AK
Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood