Crafts Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Crafts Council was established in 1971 as the national agency for crafts and was granted a Royal Charter in 1982. The object of the Crafts Council is ‘to advance and encourage the creation of work of fine craftsmanship and to foster, promote and increase the interest of the public in the work of craftspeople and in the accessibility of those works to the public.’

The Crafts Council’s vision is to position the UK as the global centre for the making, seeing and collecting of contemporary craft. Central to this vision is increasing the breadth and depth of the sector and its audiences and the Crafts Council will seek to make itself the UK’s first port of call for craft.

[edit] External links

• Crafts Council website

Crafts Council projects

• Two annual major selling events - Origin, the London Craft Fair which shows makers from the UK and abroad. COLLECT, a major annual event to introduce buyers and collectors to selected international galleries of contemporary craft.

• A partnership with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation with the annual Jerwood Applied Arts Prize that is awarded to a different craft discipline each year.

• A major collaboration with the V&A including a triennial exhibition promoting contemporary craft.

• A partnership with Ofsted through a series of teacher conferences, and working with the Qualifications Curriculum Authority to promote contemporary craft in the curriculum.

• A partnership with the Creative and Cultural Skills Council to progress career paths and professional development for makers and craft professionals.

• A Esmée Fairbairn Foundation funded three year programme in three regions, North East, West Midlands and South West providing support to new makers through the Next Move programme, professional development for makers, and support to craft retailers.

• Support to makers through ongoing Development Awards, Next Move programme and professional development forum.