Craft in America: Organizations Who are Elevating the Art Form and Supporting Innovation in the Field
An overview of some of the nation’s top craft organizations, plus details on upcoming residencies and workshops.
Across the country, artists are working in strong craft traditions—from woodworking and ceramics to fiber arts and metalworking (to name a few!)—with many pushing the boundaries of craft by using new technologies and processes to innovate on what we understand craft to be and where it is placed in the art canon.
In this article, we’re highlighting organizations who are supporting and uplifting craft, including their current and upcoming opportunities for craft artists.
Stay tuned for a second article with insights from representatives from each of the below institutions on how craft artists are creating today!
Organization Overview
Anderson Ranch Art Center
Snowmass Village, CO
Founded in 1966, Anderson Ranch Arts Center is a premier destination for art-making and critical dialogue, bringing together aspiring and internationally renowned artists to discuss and further their work in a stimulating environment. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Aspen/Snowmass, CO, the Ranch hosts an extensive array of workshops for artists of all levels in seven disciplines, including Ceramics, Digital Fabrication, Furniture Design & Woodworking, Painting & Drawing, Photography & New Media, Printmaking, and Sculpture.
In addition, the Ranch hosts engaging community events throughout the year which feature local, national and international artists; and a year-round Artists-in-Residence program including invited artists who work in the Editions studio on print projects, fostering artistic growth for emerging and established visual artists.
Center for Craft
Asheville, NC
The Center for Craft catalyzes the artists and ideas shaping the future of making. One of the Center’s core focuses is to invest in craft through grants and fellowships to makers, scholars, and organizations strengthening the field. Since 1996, the Center for Craft has awarded $8.3 million and counting to nearly 1,600 people and projects in 49 states and U.S. territories. Their programs support emerging makers, mid-career teaching artists, scholars and researchers, and emerging curators with a range of funding and cohort experiences designed to build strong communities within and across major centers of craft nationwide.
The Center for Craft also recently announced the acquisition of the American Craft Council Library and Archives Collection, which they have moved to Asheville in anticipation of opening the new Center for Craft Community Library and Archives in spring 2028. Combined with existing holdings at the Center, the expanded collections will create the foremost resource on American craft in the nation, second in scope only to the Smithsonian’s archives. From their start 30 years ago, they have connected craft scholarship to its making and exhibition with the understanding that what gets documented and studied shapes culture and influences the next generation of artists.
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Deer Isle, ME
The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is an international craft school located on the Atlantic Ocean in Deer Isle, ME. Founded in 1950 as a research and studio program in the arts, Haystack offers one and two-week studio workshops to participants of all skill levels as well as its two-week Open Studio Residency program; exhibitions; tours; auctions; artist presentations; and shorter workshops for Maine residents and high school students. Visiting Artists augment the summer programming schedule by living and working at Haystack, providing engagement activities, and delivering public presentations on their work.
Mountain School of Crafts
Penland School of Craft
Bakersville, NC
Penland School of Craft is dedicated to helping people live creative lives. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Penland offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in books and paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking and letterpress, textiles, and wood. The school also offers artists’ residencies, community collaboration programs, and a gallery and information center.
Peters Valley School of Craft
Sandyston, NJ
Peters Valley School of Craft enriches lives through the learning, appreciation, and practice of fine craft. Located in the picturesque Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area of Northern New Jersey, the non-profit organization offers state-of-the-art studios and specialized opportunities for all levels of participants, from absolute beginners to professional artists. From May-October, expert instructors teach immersive hands-on workshops in Blacksmithing, Ceramics, Fibers & Textiles, Fine Metals & Jewelry, Glass, Printmaking, Woodworking and more.
The Opportunities
Anderson Ranch Art Center
Workshops
Registration currently open.
Throughout the summer months, Anderson Ranch will offer 150 workshops led by world-renowned faculty from across the country in seven disciplines: ceramics, digital fabrication, furniture design & woodworking, painting & drawing, photography & new media, printmaking, and sculpture. In addition to the summer workshops, they recently launched their January programming, which includes workshops with esteemed Ranch faculty in sculpture, furniture design & woodworking, and photography. Anderson Ranch is also offering expanded Studio Sessions for one to four weeks in ceramics, painting and drawing, printmaking, furniture design & woodworking, photography & new media, and sculpture. The Studio Sessions at Anderson Ranch provide artists the opportunity to work on independent projects while receiving mentoring and critique sessions with Anderson Ranch artistic staff and interns.
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Core Summer Workshops
The Open Call period is now open for the final round of enrollment for summer workshops. Workshop seats are filled on a first come, first served basis.
Core Summer Workshops include one- and two-week sessions in blacksmithing, ceramics, fiber, glass, graphics, metals, and wood. Workshops are open to adults 18-years or older of all skill levels—from beginners to advanced professionals.
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Square ONE
The Open Call period is now open for the final round of enrollment for summer workshops. Workshop seats are filled on a first come, first served basis.
Developed expressly for beginners, Square ONE offers workshops in each of the Haystack studios with topics developed to introduce the disciplines or media taught at the School to individuals with no previous experience. Square ONE is intended to provide space and support for artists and would-be artists alike to learn introductory material together in a workshop cohort of only beginners. Individuals with previous experience but are new or a beginner to the medium or technique being offered during a Square ONE workshop are welcome to apply.
Peters Valley School of Craft
Workshops
Rolling Deadline
From May-October, expert instructors teach immersive hands-on workshops in Blacksmithing, Ceramics, Fibers & Textiles, Fine Metals & Jewelry, Glass, Printmaking, Woodworking and more. Learn more about workshop scholarships for Art Educators and College Students (rolling deadline).
Penland School of Craft
Core Fellowship
The application deadline for this program is June 15.
This work-study program brings eight young artists to Penland each year to take workshops while doing part-time work for the school. Core fellows receive housing, meals, and a stipend.
Penland School of Craft
Resident Artist Program
The application deadline for this program is June 15.
This program provides full-time, self-supporting artists with one or three years of housing, studio space, and meals. Resident artists work in a shared studio complex and benefit from interactions with the workshop program and with each other.
Penland School of Craft
Winter Residency
The application deadline for this program is July 30.
This residency makes the teaching studios available for two or four weeks to a small group of artists capable of working independently. Some fellowships are available.
Peters Valley School of Craft
Fully Funded Residencies
Applications are open now through July 31.
Two or three week fully funded residencies are offered in the month of November through the generosity of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation. Twelve artists are selected to immerse themselves in their craft in our fully-equipped studios and live together on our campus.
Penland School of Craft
Workshops
Workshops take place in the spring, summer, and fall with rolling deadlines.
Penland’s adult, residential workshops span a dozen media for makers of all skill levels, including beginners. All instructors are guest instructors who, like their students, come to Penland for the duration of their workshop, which last for four days, two weeks, or two months. Each workshop focuses on a single topic—the work is focused and intense. Media include clay, glass, metals, fiber, wood, book arts, painting, photography, and printmaking. Scholarships are available for all workshops.
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Open Studio Residency
Applications for 2026 are closed, and will open again in January 2027.
This residency program fosters a dynamic exchange of ideas and creative processes among peers with two weeks of studio time and an opportunity to work in a community of makers. The Residency supports approximately 50 participants—from the craft field and other creative disciplines—who have uninterrupted time to work in its studios (blacksmithing, ceramics, fiber, graphics, metals, wood, and Fab Lab) to develop ideas and experiment in various media. Residents may choose to work in one particular studio or move among them depending on their interests and the nature of their work. Individuals must be 21 years of age or older to participate in Haystack’s Open Studio Residency.
Anderson Ranch Art Center
Artist-in-Residence Program
Next application cycle: December 2026-February 2027
Residencies are offered during Spring and Fall terms each year in ceramics, photography and new media, furniture design and woodworking, painting and drawing, printmaking and sculpture. Applications are open between December-February each year for the following Fall and Spring terms.
Find more opportunities in the arts by visiting our Opportunities Board. Interested in listing a craft job or opportunity with us? Get details and sign up to post here or contact Leah Rosenfeld for questions at [email protected].