Looking at Craft from a New Angle

By Rebekah Frank, Program Officer

Discovering a foundation from the inside is an incredible privilege. As the newly hired program officer at the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, my first task is to understand the Foundation: the values, the mission, the goals. New to the philanthropic foundation world, it’s been a journey, especially as a craftsperson embedded in the Arts & Crafts area I was hired to serve.

My Background

My first experience as a maker began with a welding class at a small community college. It was there that I experienced the magic of material transformation, the empowerment of physical knowledge, and the confidence of completing a project. Inspired from that initial exposure, I pursued a path that took me across the United States, Mexico and Europe as I learned different ways to engage material using a wide variety of metalworking techniques. From architectural blacksmithing to conceptual art jewelry, I’ve spent 27 years working with metal. 

While I have a commercial gallery for my work, I’ve always supplemented my income teaching workshops and giving lectures. In addition, I held other jobs to support my creative practice – welder, scientific instrument maker, blown glass gallery assistant, farmworker and nonprofit arts administrator. 

Artists & Craftspeople

For the past four years, I’ve worked freelance as a craft writer and arts consultant. People would occasionally send me job postings they thought might be of interest to me. When the job posting for an Art & Craft Program Officer at the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation came to my attention, my curiosity was piqued. The very first sentence stated that the role would focus on supporting artists and craftspeople. What started as a curious scan of a job posting became a much more in depth reading, eventually resulting in me applying for and accepting the position.  

In my experience as both a grantseeking artist and arts administrator within the art and craft field, there aren’t many foundations that center craft in their giving philosophies, the Windgate Foundation being a standout exception. The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation is an outlier, not only by naming craftspeople alongside artists, but in making sure that the definition of craftspeople was inclusive. We include “practices encompassing the stewardship of living cultural traditions, unique insight in material study, and the advancement of craft at the intersection of other fields including science.” This is so specific and, yet, expansive; it deserves a closer look.

A Closer Look 

The Foundation’s priority listing of “stewardship of living cultural traditions” encompasses traditional artists who are part of ancestral lineages that go back generations, like Native beaders, weavers and carvers. It also includes makers who keep heritage traditions alive, like Filipino weaving, Scandinavian boat-building or Gullah-Geechee basketry. Stewardship also includes innovating within these cultural traditions, because these traditions are alive and responsive.

Second comes “unique insight in material study.” This connects to how most craft traditions are framed: within an intense material focus. Clay, wood, metal, iron, textiles, stone, paper… there are so many materials in the world. Craftspeople’s specialization in a material-based practice provides them with deep knowledge of their chosen element as they spend years learning, exploring and experimenting to create masterful objects.

Next is the connection between craft and science. The inclusion of “craft at the intersection of other fields including science” recognizes that craft has always been a space of exploration, rooted in human ingenuity. Craft has never been static, it is always evolving. Informing and embracing new technologies, bringing old knowledge to bear on new problems, and enhancing our daily lives with material comforts.

Conclusion

So back to the initial phrase that grabbed my interest, “artists and craftspeople”: Not all craftspeople consider themself artists, but some do. The words craftspeople use are varied and can be loaded with both cultural meaning and misunderstanding. They can include artist, artisan, maker, creative or a word derived from the action of making, like smith, potter or jeweler. By including these three broad categories of making – rooted in cultural traditions, in material mastery, and at the intersection of other disciplines – the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation strives to honor all these possibilities of making. I find this to be a delightful resolution, especially as a maker who struggles with the different ways to identify, especially when faced with grant applications, calls for entries or award parameters. As I grow more into this position, I look forward to learning more about how the Foundation positions itself, its programs and its hopes for the Art & Craft space.