In the Making: Craft, Community, & Art Education in the Valley of the Sun

This year-long collaboration engages K–12 art teachers, recent alumni, and current students from Arizona State University’s Art Education program in exploring how values of craft—ritual, history, material, reinvention, skill, rhythm, concentration, and storytelling—shape both creative and teaching practices. Through hands-on textile-making, reflective writing, and dialogue, participants investigate the intersections of artmaking, pedagogy, and identity. By centering ASU-affiliated educators as makers and storytellers, the project highlights craft as a framework for professional reflection and community-building across generations of teachers. The initiative culminates in a collaborative exhibition at ASU’s School of Art, showcasing textile works, written reflections, and public engagement that celebrate the role of craft in education and illuminate its power to connect creative practice with classroom teaching.