Browsing “New Wave” work at the American Craft Show

One of the interesting sub-plots of the rise of Handmade 2.0 DIYism is the relationship between practitioners of the new craftiness, and practitioners of what might be called “fine craft.” Let’s just say the two groups do not always connect, and there is occasional grumbling from some of the more traditional craft creators about all the attention that the upstarts get.

So I was interested to hear that The American Craft Council was including a “New Wave” section in its recent American Craft Show — a section that would include Handmade 2.0 subjects Circa Ceramics.

The Crafty Bastard blog visited the show and offers up an account. Excerpt:

So what does ‘New Wave’ mean? Well, according to a press release dated January 14, 2008, the American Craft Council describes them as: artists typically labeled ‘indie’ as they usually exhibit and sell their work at small local craft shows.

Small local craft shows? Seriously? Is that why they were given so little space at this event? …

The New Wave artists were all crammed together in a fenced off area and barely had three feet of space each. …

Still, the post goes on to suggest that plenty of good stuff was on view. And perhaps it’s a first step toward some kind of reconciliation of what sometimes seem almost like two separate sets of ideas about craft. In any case, it’s certainly true that the “small local craft shows” line is a little weird, given how big events like Renegade have become.

The full account, with lots of pictures, is here.