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Crafts CouncilAbout

History

The history of the Crafts Council since its founding in 1972



    The Royal Charter of Incorporation of the Crafts Council of England and Wales, lettered (calligraphy) on six sheets of vellum. Sealed with Royal Seal and framed, 1983

    Introduction

    In 1971 the Crafts Advisory Committee (CAC) was formed to advise the government ‘on the needs of the artist craftsman and to promote a nation-wide interest and improvement in their products’.

    Over the last 50 years, the Crafts Council’s role in advising government, and supporting makers, has remained consistent, but additional priorities and influences have undoubtedly informed the way in which the organisation works.

    Much like our collection, this brief history is a ‘snapshot’, rather than a ‘survey’ of the work of the Crafts Council, and serves to highlight some of the key moments that have defined the organisation.

    The beginning, 1971-1981

    The first CAC meeting was held at the Council of Industrial Design (now the Design Council) on 6 October 1971 and was chaired by the Conservative minister Lord Eccles – who had responsibility for the arts. Lord Eccles opened the meeting with an outline of the kind of areas which the CAC might usefully investigate: loans and grants, exhibitions, regional links and craft education in schools.

    In April 1979 the CAC was renamed the Crafts Council.

    Exhibiting craft, 1981-1991

    In 1982, the organisation established independence from the Design Council and was granted a Royal Charter. The objective of the Crafts Council was ‘to advance and encourage the creation and conservation of works of fine craftsmanship and to foster and promote those works to the public in England and Wales’.

    The Crafts Council was located in Lower Waterloo Place, with a gallery that hosted a programme of exhibitions that hosted a number of solo shows for makers early in their careers including ceramicists Alison Britten, Michael Cardew and Jacqueline Poncelet, weaver Peter Collingwood and artist Caroline Broadhead.


    • New Age by Laurent Benner, held in Crafts Council Collection (2016.21). Photo Sophie Mutevelian

    A new home, 1991-2001

    In 1991 the Crafts Council moved to 44a Pentonville Road, London, where premises included a reference library, a shop, a café, an education workshop and a gallery space. This remains the home of the crafts council to this day.

    In 1999 following a review by Chris Smith, Secretary of State for Cultural Media and Sport, the Crafts Council shifted from being a non-departmental public body and became a funded organisation of the Arts Council of England. This move meant that the Crafts Council was no longer a grant making organisation, providing much needed grants to makers, and was instead charged with being a service delivery organisation.

    Shifting priorities, 2001-2011

    With a strong focus on exhibitions and showcasing work from the sector, Collect was launched in 2004 as a market development initiative for craft galleries. This was held at the V&A for the first five years, where the Crafts Council also had a shop. In 2009 it moved to the Saatchi Gallery where it remained for 10 years.

    In 2006 after a major review the Crafts Council decreased its on-site activity and closed the gallery, shop, education workshop and café in order for it to focus on being a national development agency and to increase its regional activity via partnership working.

    Crafts Council took the national lead for craft in education and skills with the report Benefits to the Learner of 21st Century Craft published in 2005, and established its own research and policy team in 2007.

    Wider cultural policy was increasingly focused on public value and the importance of making the arts accessible to wider communities. The Department of Culture Media and Sport ‘Taking Part’ survey demonstrated that craft was a far more popular activity than opera and jazz. The Crafts Council took steps to fulfil the potential of this public interest by initiating a programme of public participation.

    Craft Club was launched in 2009 with support from the UK Handknitters and Womens Institute and has enabled hundreds of voluntary groups in local communities across England to access information and resources for everyday making. It celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2019.

    The success of this shift in the Crafts Council’s strategy to a national programme of support was amply demonstrated by the impact that was felt by the 40th anniversary celebrations for the Crafts Council in 2011, when over 400,000 visitors saw its five temporary exhibitions, including Lost in Lace, a ground breaking partnership with Birmingham Museum.

    27,000 people attended its craft fairs; Collect and Origin, and over 7,000 children and young people participated in its nationwide initiatives. This included Firing Up, a ceramics in schools programme that ran from 2010 for three years in 11 locations around the country and marked the beginning of the CC’s National Schools Programme.

    2011 also marked the launch of Hothouse, the Crafts Council’s maker development programme succeeding the Crafts Council Development Award. The programme has supported hundreds of makers in the early stages of developing their practice, guiding them on all aspects of growing a small business.


    • Triumph of the Immaterial by Phoebe Cummings for the Woman's Hour Craft Prize. Photo: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    • Fi Scott, Lauren Bowker and Roger Kneebone at Crafts Council MakeShift conference 2014, Photo Tas Kyprianou

    Our recent history, 2011 onwards

    In 2012, the year of the London Olympics, the Crafts Council contributed to a showcase of British creative excellence at Lancaster House, a grand building run by the Foreign and Commonwealth office. This year marked the launch of our international trade programme, with a presentation at Design Days Dubai. International work increased over the subsequent five years, with projects taking place in Korea, Australia, Dubai, South Africa, Istanbul, Switzerland and the USA.

    In 2013 we published a landmark report ‘Studying Craft’ which showed the decline of craft education in schools. Over three years we subsequently mapped craft’s decline in schools, which ultimately led to the publication of our education manifesto, 'Our Future is the Making’, in 2015, and the launch of ‘Make your Future’, our craft education programme in schools.

    In 2014 our work on craft innovation saw us develop ‘Make Shift’ a conference held at Ravensbourne College of Art, and ‘Make Shift Do’ – a programme designed to help audiences of all kinds connect to maker spaces and the possibilities of craft. Parallel Practices followed soon after which supported makers to work in residence in a series of craft and technology and medical residencies .

    Our sustained advocacy for the economic value of the sector continued with the publication of ‘Measuring the Craft Economy’, which used government SIC (standard industry classification) codes and estimated the value of the sector through these common measures.

    The Crafts Council partners with the BBC and a group of cultural organisations on ‘Get Creative’, in 2015, an annual festival to celebrate and support the everyday creativity happening in homes and public spaces.

    Reflecting the growing interest from the public in ceramics, we launch ‘Hey Clay’, a long weekend of clay focused activities where workshops and studios open their doors to the public, inviting them in to participate in open sessions, workshops and demonstrations.

    In 2017, States of Play – a Crafts Council and Hull 2017 Partnership Exhibition, supported by the British Council, shows how play shapes our lives and the world around us.

    Work by sixteen UK and international makers and designers challenge the idea that play is the preserve of children. Instead it was revealed as a creative, social and political force that infuses all areas of life.

    After a decade of darkness at the Crafts Council Gallery, work to re-imagine the space begins in 2016 with the appointment of architecture practice AOC to work up initial designs.

    A further collaboration with the BBC and the V&A sees the launch of the Women’s Hour Craft Prize in 2017, a national competition to mark Women’s Hour's 50th anniversary. The prize receives almost 1,500 entries, and is viewed by over 120,000 people in a national touring show. The winner, clay artist Phoebe Cummings, was awarded a Prize of £10,000 in a ceremony at the V&A broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 in November 2017

    In 2018, Crafts Council x Creative Debuts presents Common Thread, a celebration of the diverse creatives in the UK and beyond. Over three months in 2018 we highlighted a selection of artists, culminating in an exhibition to celebrate the spirit of Notting Hill Carnival with 20 artists reflecting on African-Caribbean history, identity and culture.


    Common Thread panel discussion. Photo: Francis Augusto

    Work addressing the lack of diversity in craft further develops and continues to this day.

    After 10 years at the Saatchi Gallery, Collect, the Crafts Council’s art fair for modern craft and design, moves to Somerset House for 2020. Into Art, a pioneering organisation that supports artists with learning disabilities, wins the Collect Award for best stand for its collaboration between artist Mawuena Kattah and textile artist Laura Slater. The V&A acquires work from this collaboration for permanent display in the new V&A East.

    Looking ahead to the 50th anniversary of the Crafts Council in 2021, the Crafts Council enlists the support of Pentagram and Bureau for Visual Affairs to refresh the brand identify and build a new website. Work on the Crafts Council Gallery is completed and preparations are made for the reopening.


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    Crafts Council
    44a Pentonville Road
    London N1 9BY

    hello@craftscouncil.org.uk
    +44 (0)20 7806 2500

    Reg. charity no. 280956

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