Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
6-2025
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
Art History
Advisor
Kevin D. Murphy
Committee Members
Marta Gutman
Jennifer Ball
Mary Savig
Subject Categories
American Art and Architecture | American Material Culture | Contemporary Art | Other Arts and Humanities | Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
Keywords
craft history, craft education, contemporary craft, American Studio Craft
Abstract
From grassroots artist-led cooperatives to accredited university courses and departments, sites of craft education have had a profound impact on the formation of a contemporary craft field in the United States. This dissertation explores the birth and efflorescence of the 1970s “craft revival” through three craft schools that acted as significant catalysts for this movement: Peters Valley School of Craft in New Jersey; Boston University's Program in Artisanry; and Pratt Fire (Fine) Arts Center in Seattle.
This dissertation considers how such sites acted as nexuses to develop values, ideas, and aesthetics about contemporary craft that moved past the therapeutic and philanthropic concerns that dominated the immediate postwar period, and into personal self-discovery, community networks, mass communication, professional specialization and stratification, and markets beyond regional craft fairs. Long overlooked in favor of a focus on the output of individual artists, these craft schools and programs epitomize both the ideal of universal participation in craft learning promulgated during the 1970s craft renaissance and, through their inaccessibility and often homogenous nature, the fallacy of craft as an inherently penetrable and participatory field.
This dissertation acknowledges the intangible impact of affective community that such sites produced rather than, as is more traditional to craft histories, prioritizing individual practitioners or the materiality of objects. The case studies demonstrate the frictions and connections between university-trained artists and makers who desired a status apart from hobbyists and rote production, and a range of amateurs – from youth participants to retirees, dilettantes, and the self-taught – who sought access to craft for reasons outside of aesthetic or conceptual standards. Through this critical analysis of the impact of sites of craft education on the field of contemporary craft, this dissertation builds a complex portrait of access, motivation, and affect that continues to shape the discipline today.
Recommended Citation
Fisher, Michelle Millar, "Craft Schools: Forming American Craft Culture Through Sites of Collective Pedagogy, 1970–1985" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6343
Included in
American Art and Architecture Commons, American Material Culture Commons, Contemporary Art Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons
