We may be in the house, but it’s time we think outside the box. This FREE three-part online series is meant to be an inspiring, refreshing, pragmatic, and safe conversation space. We’ll explore innovations in our craft communities in the face of adversities and challenges during the COVID-19 outbreak. We want to hear from you about ways artists, writers, and organizations are creating unique solutions in a time of crisis.
Produced and presented in collaboration with American Craft Council, CERF+, Springboard for the Arts, and the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG).
Part 1: Vulnerabilities, Disruptions, and Opportunities in the Marketplace
April 3, 2020, 2 – 3:15 p.m. CDT
Americans for the Arts is reporting a $3.6 billion impact on the arts sector due to the effect of the outbreak on operations through canceled events, lost wages, and other expenses. The business of craft has been disrupted at every level – from marketplace events to supply chains to retail and gallery outlets to small manufacturing production. What solutions are we seeing? How are artists and businesses adapting? What alternatives might we consider? Can we use craft thinking to design our way out of this?
Program Outline:
What have we learned?
- Guest: Jackson Schwartz, co-founder of Hennepin Made, a glass lighting fixture company launched in response to the last economic recession @hennepinmade
- Moderated Q&A: Where have we been and what have we experienced in the past and how did we overcome it?
What’s new about this scenario and what does innovation look like?
- Guest: Ayumi Horie, founder of Pots In Action lauded for her pioneering use of digital marketing and social media within contemporary ceramics @ayumihorie
- Moderated Q&A: Who else is innovating, changing, refocusing?
How do we coordinate new ways of working?
- Guest: Tori Hong, cofounder of Asian American Youth Storytellers and She Spends community member @tori.hong
- Moderated Q&A: What other ways are artists collaborating to be successful?
How can we take care of one another, ourselves and our community?
- Guest: Michael Strand, producer of Misfit Cup Liberation Project and social entrepreneur @strand_michael
- Moderated Q&A: How else can we take care of one another, ourselves, our community during this time?
Part 2: Understanding the Impact and Pursuing Relief
April 10, 2020, 2 – 3:15 p.m. CDT
The nation’s arts and culture industry is experiencing devastating economic losses with closed venues and cancelled performances, exhibitions, and events as a result of the pandemic. With the passing of the $2 trillion emergency stimulus package that includes important provisions supporting the arts sector and creative workforce, there is still a lot to sort out for independent artists, entrepreneurs, and organization leaders. This series of online forums continues with this session devoted to helping you navigate what all this means for the craft sector and practical advice for pursuing relief.
Program Outline
What are we finding and why is this work important?
- Guest: Ruby Lopez Harper, Mexican, mother, wife, dancer, photographer, poet, and social justice warrior. Ruby is also the senior director of local arts advancement for Americans for the Arts @americans4arts
- Moderated Q&A: What other studies should we be staying focused on?
How has the craft field specifically been impacted and what sources of relief are out there – for artists, for businesses, for organizations?
- Guest: Carrie Cleveland, artists advocate and assistant extraordinaire and education and outreach coordinator at CERF+ The Artists Safety Net @cerfplus
- Moderated Q&A: What other needs should we be focussed on getting relief for?
How can we take care of one another, ourselves and our community?
- Guest: Carl Atiya Swanson, manager of Springboard for the Arts’ Creative Exchange program, a national platform sharing stories of artists with impact and toolkits for change @springboardarts
- Moderated Q&A: How else can we take care of one another, ourselves, our community during this time?
Part 3: Education Disruptions and Opportunities
April 17, 2020, 2 – 3:15 p.m. CDT
Our series continues by turning to the impacts COVID-19 has had on the education field. From residencies to education centers to higher education, the way we learn, teach, and educate has been turned on its head. We close our first round of the American Craft Forum by hearing from the education field – students, educators, and administrators – about new directions the field is turning to and what we’ve learned from this most recent disruption.
Program Outline
What impasses, roadblocks and challenges have our craft education systems faced in the past and how have we responded?
- Moderated Q&A: Other examples?
How are education systems innovating and changing and moving forward with this?
- Guest: Leslie Boyd, founding member of JV Collective and creator of Making Progress, Resources for Social Justice in Craft @lesliedylanboyd
- What are our students, the futures of the field, thinking about?
- Moderated Q&A: What other needs should we be focused on getting relief for?
How can we take care of one another, ourselves, and our community?
- Guest: Paul Sacaridiz, executive director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts @paulsacaridiz
- Moderated Q&A: How else can we take care of one another, ourselves, and our community during this time?
