This student-led publication, guided by Ben Lignel, Core Faculty, demonstrates how the class of 2020 engaged with craft in its multiple forms. Through content and structure, the publication exemplifies how students critically respond to shifting perspectives in craft, celebrate a diversity of voices, and convey the pedagogical principles of the MA in Critical Craft Studies.

The editorial process and production of the publication was student-driven and includes contributions from all the 2020 cohort. Essays from faculty and guest writers complement the graduates’ work and frame the program’s experimental pedagogy.

“As a cohort we believe that craft is slippery,” explains the editorial team. “We accept its resistance to being pinned down in all capacities and use this as a strength in our research. This publication will act as a marker of current research interests within local, regional and global contexts. It addresses partner organizations, prospective students, craft/art/design scholars in the US and abroad who, like us, are invested in challenging the canon and opening up possibilities in and for craft.”

This inaugural issue features a wide range of content—interview transcripts, photo essays, poems, exhibition reviews, mappings, thesis excerpts, essays—reflecting the program’s versatility and the experiential focus of education at Warren Wilson College.

All proceeds from the sale of each publication go directly into a scholarship fund to support graduate students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the MA in Critical Craft Studies, Warren Wilson College. The publication is available through bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.

Contributors
Pheonix Booth, Darrah Bowden, Nick Falduto, Mellanee Goodman, Michael Hatch, Matt Haugh, Jeffrey A. Keith, Sarah Kelly, Phoebe Kuo, matt lambert, Judith Leemann, Amy Meissner, Lynn Morton, Francis Ponge (translated by Beverley Bie Brahic), Heather K. Powers, Samantha Rastatter, lydia see, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Kat St. Aubin, and Namita Gupta Wiggers.

Editor: Ben Lignel

Assistant editors: matt lambert, Heather K. Powers, Sam Rastatter

Editorial Committee: The above, plus Pheonix Booth, Darrah Bowden, Nick Falduto, Michael Hatch, Matt Haugh, Sarah Kelly, and Kat St. Aubin

Proofreading: Nathalie Mornu

Design: Ben Lignel

Photography: lydia see

Illustrations: Luis Burriel Bielza

Maps: Aleyda Rocha (concept); Hartlandvilla (design)

Program
The MA in Critical Craft Studies is a low-residency graduate program in craft history and theory. This full-time, four-semester/ five-residency program is the first of its kind in the US. Directed by Namita Gupta Wiggers, faculty and mentors come together from across the US and abroad to work with students.

The program is designed for a student to be able to continue to live and work from home while pursuing graduate education. We believe that you should be able to extend your own knowledge and critical thinking skills connected to your life and work—without uprooting your life.

Information
Visit warren-wilson.edu to access information about the program and submit an inquiry form, or email Nathan Wyrick, Director of Admissions at nwyrick [​at​] warren-wilson.edu. Application deadline is March 1, 2020.

Join us for an information session via Eventbrite; dates and times in November through February.

Visit macraftstudieswwc.com to learn about the students, faculty, and projects—including Mapping Craft: This is how we meet, and Paired Conversations in which students discuss their final projects with artists, curators, scholars, and writers connected to their work.