Membership Criteria

 

Folk Craftsmen: maintain traditional crafts learned within their own community. Their skills are passed down orally or by example rather than in the context of a classroom or workshop.

Ritual & Festive Crafts: voodoo dolls, Mardi Gras mask, etc. Native American Crafts: palmetto weaving, moss dolls, woodcarvings, etc. Domestic Crafts: quilting, weaving, soap making, broom making, etc. Folk Instruments: fiddle making, triangle (tee fer), wash boards (frottoirs) etc. Rural Occupational Crafts: blacksmithing, rope making, boat building, etc.

Contemporary & Revivalist Craftsmen: Craftsmen who have acquired knowledge of his craft through books, workshops, or education.

 

Clay: thrown or hand built forms. If a mold is used it must have been designed by the artist. No mass-produced ware. Fiber: spinning, weaving, weaving baskets, cane bottom chairs, pine needle baskets and hand-woven cottons, etc. Glass: flat “cold” and “hot” glass processes (stained glass, blown glass, laminated glass, etc.) Metal: enameling, casting, granulation, repousse, engraving, metal spinning, inlay, cutlery, sculpture, decorative and utilitarian ironwork, etc. Wood: furniture, carving, sculpting, etc. (If a clock is made, the mechanism can be purchased, but not the housing – must be hand made.) Mixed Media: drawing and painting are allowed if part of an original piece of art in 3D. Example: Decorative gourds. Other examples of mixed media would be collages, decoupage on an original 3D item, and architectural salvage, altered or assembled in an aesthetic creative manner. Beading: if commercial beads are used they must be used in a creative manner and not just strung with the use of commercial clasps . Fabric dyeing – silk and batiking are eligible. Block printing is eligible only if the original block is submitted for review with the printed pieces.

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Quality findings must be used…no plastic, faux metal clasps or plastic beads in any medium.