e don’t educate to increase vistors, we educate because it is our mission,” says Amy Weber, program manager at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas.

Weber’s comment reflects much of the feeling at other craft museums across the country — education plays a critical role in their missions.

Mary Beth Ausman, director of education of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, N.C., says part of their goal is to raise awareness. “Crafts receives an unexpected reaction from the public,” she says. “Studio craft is not a part of their everyday language. Our pieces turn people on their ear.”

Craft is functional and decorative

Upon entering The Mint Museum, visitors first encounter a two-story gallery that features a glass wall and a maple staircase that are both functional and decorative. “With these pieces, people have a tactile experience through our media,” Ausman says. “People touch the handrails and the steps. They see how craft can be integrated into the architecture.”

Ausman says museum visitors have “the universal desire to know how the pieces come about.” The Mint Museum responds to this interest by offering special programming. One tour called “How did they do that?” highlights 10 pieces in the museum and specifically addresses how the pieces were made. Ausman says the tour helps visitors develop an eye for the process and helps them to appreciate the work more.

Viewers learn what’s behind the work

Suzy Robins, curator of education at the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, in Racine, Wisc., also says that their goal is to educate people about what is behind the works. “People see our pieces and they get excited about it. Art classes and workshops help them learn to create and generate what they see.”

Museum director Bruce Pepich leads tours in the Wustum to teach visitors “what artists were thinking when they were creating the pieces.”

The Houston Center offers a variety of ways to interact with craft. “You can come for museum-level exhibitions, visit artists in working studios, take hands-on workshops, or visit our retail gallery,” says Weber, “and not only handle and learn about objects similar to those in the exhibitions, but also buy those objects and take them home.”

At the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, in Charlotte, N.C., visitors are greeted by the the two-story gallery shown above. In response to visitors’ requests for more information on how the featured objects were created, the museum hosts a series called “Extreme Craft,” featuring demonstrations of skills. In the inset photo, blacksmith Tal Harris is shown demonstrating his work.

Many museums offer workshops for beginners and professionals in a variety of media. The Mint Museum hosts a series called “Extreme Craft,” a monthly program conducted outside the museum entrance where an artist gives a demonstration of craft skills. Recent highlights were a glassblower and a metalsmith.

“Extreme Craft has been very successful,” says Ausman. “We see a 250-person jump in attendance every time we have it.”

Craft is a true discipline, not a hobby

The Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco produces an annual contemporary craft exhibit called Craft Showcase that offers unique artwork from California artisans. “Our hope is to show the public that craft is not what they may think ... that the art form transcends the common notion of ‘arts and crafts’ or the idea that craft is a hobby rather than a true discipline,” says marketing director Daliah Massehian.

Ausman believes that one of the Mint Museum’s biggest assets to increasing public awareness is the artists themselves. “A large percentage of craft artists exhibiting today are still alive,” she says. “They are our best resource.”
Ceramicist Marcia Armstrong, who teaches at the Ohio Crafts Museum, says museums play a significant role in educating the public about crafts. “I think that when crafts are viewed within the context of a museum, the viewer’s perspective changes accordingly,” she says.

Artists also gain through teaching

Lindsay Roberts, a tinsmith from Logan, Ohio, says teaching children at the Ohio Crafts Museum enhances her art career. “Teaching gives me a perspective that I don’t normally encounter in the studio,” she explains. “I often get new ideas for work after seeing what the younger mind creates.”

Roberts also enjoys sharing her craft through teaching. “I find it rewarding to teach tinsmithing to children since they rarely get exposed to its processes.”

Robins says “the future of art is with the children” and many museums nationwide have increasingly offered programs specifically geared to children and their parents.

Family programs are increasing

The Ohio Craft Museum offers “Hand in Hand,” a parent/child workshop on Sunday afternoons. Recent classes had professional artists teach weaving, Pysanky egg decorating, and gourd painting to adults and children working side by side.

A docent leads visitors to a quilt exihibtion at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco.

Winterthur Museum, an unparalleled collection of antiques and Americana housed in the former country estate of Henry Francis du Pont in Winterthur, Del., has historically attracted visitors over the age of 55. “We realized that if we want to bring in people who are younger, say in their 30s and 40s, we have to include children,” says Tracy Beck, curator of education.

Beck says a publication from the American Association of Museums published in 1991 entitled “Excellence and Equity” had a big impact on family programming at Winterthur. “It talked about how a museum’s mission should be more about people than about preserving and collecting art,” Beck says.

Winterthur has made big strides in mounting exhibits that appeal to families since then. Two years ago, Winterthur had an exhibit entitled “Kids! 200 Years of Childhood” that appealed to a younger crowd.

Winterthur also offers ongoing family programs, including a Touch-it room where children can examine and learn from objects like a tea set, puzzles, clothes, and wooden toys. Through June 15, the Museum’s current family programs include “The Incredible Elastic Chairs of Samuel Gragg,” an exhibit of the inventive, inspired furniture of Gragg, who in 1808 patented a remarkable design for the classical-style seating that was in vogue at that time.

These changes have helped boost attendance at Winterthur. “Our attendance has been steady or increasing which is extraordinary,” says Beck. “Because of September 11 and the economic downturn, many museums have experienced a decrease.”

The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, opened only 16 months ago, has seen a huge response from the public as well. Hoping for 350 members in the first year, the Texas museum has had more than 1,600 members join, many of them families.

“ Education is interwoven into all of our programming,” says Weber, “so response to the craft center in general is really a response to education about contemporary craft.”

-Monique Holloway is assistant editor of The Crafts Report.