FAN WEBINAR–Craft: An American History

Family Action Network (FAN) www.familyactionnetwork.net is excited to host an insightful conversation with renowned craft historian and curator Glenn Adamson who examines how makers and artisans have always been central to America’s identity.

Mr. Adamson will be interviewed by Norman Teague, founder of Chicago-based Norman Teague Design Studio. and educator focused on projects and pedagogy that address the systematic complexity of urbanism and the culture of communities.

This event is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. 

REGISTRATION REQUIRED for all FAN webinar events. Register here: www.bit.ly/AdamsonFANWebinar

At the center of the United States’ economic and social development, according to conventional wisdom, are industry, commodities, and technology—while craftspeople and handmade objects are relegated to a bygone past. In Craft: An American History,  renowned craft historian and curator Glenn Adamson turns that narrative on its head, revealing how makers have always been central to America’s identity. Examine any phase of the nation’s struggle to define itself, and artisans are there—from the silversmith Paul Revere and the revolutionary carpenters and blacksmiths who hurled tea into Boston Harbor, to today’s “craftivists.” From Mother Jones to Rosie the Riveter. From Betsy Ross to the AIDS Quilt.

Mr. Adamson documents how craft has long been implicated in debates around inequality, education, and class, as well as America’s failures to live up to its loftiest ideals. Yet artisanship has also been a site of resistance for oppressed people, such as enslaved African Americans whose skilled labor might confer hard-won agency under bondage, or the Native American makers who built traditional arts into businesses that preserved cherished folkways. 

Mr. Adamson’s previous books include Fewer, Better Things, The Invention of Craft, and The Craft Reader. His writings have also been published in museum catalogues and in Art in America, Antiques, frieze, and other periodicals. He was previously director of the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, and has held appointments as Senior Scholar at the Yale Center for British Art, and as Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  

This event is suitable for youth 12+

This event will be recorded and available later on the FAN website and YouTube channel. Please Note: Closed captioning will be available.

NOTE>BONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy of 

Craft: An American History  from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Adamson that will start immediately after the webinar. Copy and paste this link to purchase the book: https://www.thebookstall.com/event/craft-american-history-fan-event

FAN EVENT PDF:

https://www.familyactionnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AdamsonFlyerReleaseOpt-1.pdf

About Us: FAN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that curates a high-quality speaker series. Our mission is to present fresh ideas that elevate minds, expand hearts, and make the world a better place.