Masters of Their Craft: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The craft object creates a link between the forming hands of its maker and the hands and mind of its user. Masters of Their Craft highlights artists who apply superb technical mastery and a deep understanding of their materials—clay, glass, fiber, wood, and metal—to produce works that beg to be touched.

The studio crafts movement evolved from ancient workshops, medieval guild trades, and the Industrial Revolution and was defined by tradition and function. Today, crafts are a hybrid form that combines traditional decorative arts, pure sculpture, and design. The objects here hint at the vast imaginative spirit that characterizes contemporary crafts.