North Georgia Art Ramble Celebrates

Welcome, participants of the North Georgia Art Ramble to American Craft Week! 

The Ramble participated last year, but is making a statement THIS YEAR... As makers, retailers and advocates of handmade craft, they revel in marketing and selling their art for use in buyers' every day lives.

From The Fork Diner in Calhoun - and its gallery of local artists' work - to Artistic Adventures in Suwanee, you can dine on local cuisine, try your hand at a pottery wheel classes and get to know makers of the stunning and awesome displaying at star quality festivals.

Spring Place Pottery & Artists' Gallery in downtown Cartersville, just named winner of the People's Choice Award for the Best Shoppe in Bartow County, kicks off American Craft Week by staying opened until 8pm. Throughout the week, they will be hosting artists at work and including free gifts with $30 or more purchases.Gail Freeman and her makers invite you to come start your holiday shopping early. They've been stocking the shelves with well-crafted new ideas and favorites.

Ann Art Gallery near Canton, has created an elegant space where people of all backgrounds can relate to, acquire and create art. The Gallery is welcoming to old friends and new visitors every weekend.

Potters Fred & Laura Ellis and Triny Cline/Mike Sherrer will be showing at John C. Campbell Folk School's Fall Festival in Brasstown NC October 5-6 and at Praters' Mill Country Fair in Varnell/Dalton GA that next weekend.  Jimmy & Marlene Hopkins of The Steel Managerie are at John C. Campbell as well as Gay GA's Cotton Pickin' Fair and the Georgia Apple Festival in Ellijay. Nancy Cann, extraordinary glass artist and Niche Award Winner, shows at the Norcross (GA) Art Fest.

If you are in Jasper GA during the festivities, stop in at Sharp Top Arts Association to see the Fiber Art Show. The Artist Trunk Sale & Artist Exchange is on October 5. And the Cherokee Arts Center in Canton GA hosts Women: Spirit, Beauty and Nature, a national art show featuring new paintings by Elizabeth Samoluk and Donna McGowan of Georgia & Millie Kenyon and Joann Milam of New Mexico.

Thank you, North Georgia Art Ramble, for joining makers from coast to coast and border to border in this annual celebration of American Craft!

ACW in Pennsylvania

Over 20 arts events in Pennsylvania Oct. 4-13

With a strong community of talented artisans, craft studios, galleries and organizations promoting the region’s crafts, Pennsylvania is a predictable hot spot for this year’s American Craft Week, Oct. 4-13. 

More than 20 event locations in Pennsylvania will present one of the nation’s largest regional celebrations of American Craft.  Residents and tourists alike will be treated to exhibits, demonstrations, markets, lectures and more in Cumberland Valley, Boiling Springs, Boyertown, Carlisle, Lancaster, Ligonier, Mechanicsburg, Newport, Philadelphia, and Reading.

“2013 marks the fourth year of American Craft Week celebrations. Each year the participation becomes stronger, attracting more artists, sponsors and fans,” says Diane Sulg, co-chair of American Craft Week.  “This year, we’ll have nearly 1,000 events with over tens of thousands attendees throughout the nation.” 

Regional sponsors for American Craft Week include the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau and the Pennsylvania Guild Fine Craft Fair (at Rittenhouse Square).

Read a full press release here. 

2013 Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information

Diane Sulg, Co-chair

dsulg@aol.com

Support and Buy Handmade During American Craft Week

  October 4-13, 2013 Marks Fourth Celebration

This fall, Americans in all 50 states will be celebrating the art of handmade craft. From Oct. 4 to 13, American Craft Week will feature hundreds of diverse events in galleries and artist studios, museums and schools, as well as at fairs and festivals.

“American Craft Week shows us how craft enhances our lives, makes us feel good and brings people together,” said Diane Sulg, co-chair of American Craft Week. “By taking part in the celebration, people are joining in on the trend of buying products made in America while shopping locally.”

Since its inception in 2010, American Craft Week has grown from 240 to nearly 1000 participating events. “Many regions have found American Craft Week an excellent way to connect with fall tourists to their area,” said Sherry Masters, co-chair of American Craft Week. “The celebration brings together individuals, small businesses and organizations while providing an opportunity to learn a craft or acquire that one-of-a-kind work of art.”

Involvement in American Craft Week is open to everyone, from craft artists to retailers to schools and beyond. To learn how to become a participant, visit Americancraftweek.com. The website provides numerous tools to plan and promote American Craft Week events.

ABOUT AMERICAN CRAFT WEEK

The fourth annual American Craft Week will be held Oct. 4-13 in cities and towns across the nation. With hundreds of diverse events at galleries, artist studios, museums, schools, as well as fairs and festivals, it is the premier public celebration of handmade craft in America. American Craft Week is a program of Craft Retailers and Artists for Tomorrow (CRAFT), a trade association dedicated to the growth and vitality of American craft. For more information, visit http://www.Americancraftweek.com.

Western North Carolina Joins Together for the 4th Year

Collaboration has been the key for the Western NC participants in American Craft Week. Since 2010, representatives of area galleries, studios and craft organizations meet monthly and work as a group to promote the whole regions’ ACW events.

Together WNC participants plan a kick-off event, invite a guest speaker to come to the area, highlight events on a regional postcard or rack card, and plan area media promotions.

Individual participants can represent a single gallery, an artist studio, or an organization comprised of over 900 artist members in the case of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. WNC proudly brings an average of 40+ participant listings to ACW every year…so many they’ve managed their own page of events on the ACW website and their own Facebook page!

Finally Western NC has seen the value of sponsoring ACW to strengthen the overall national effort and outreach. This year six of the national sponsors are Western NC participants! Thank you Western NC!

Vermont Celebrates American Craft Week

Leaf peepers love Vermont in autumn, traveling the state to see the brilliant show of reds, oranges and yellows shimmering in the mountains and valleys. While looking for peak foliage, however, they also can take advantage of many special events during their stay, one of which is the Vermont Fall Open Studio Weekend, an integral part of the national American Craft Week celebration throughout the country in October

The state of Vermont recognizes the importance of hand-made in America – economically and aesthetically – and for the second year in a row is a major sponsor of American Craft Week, which runs from Oct. 4-13 this year.

Quality hand-crafted goods and design are so important to Vermont that the governor, Peter Shumlin, has again proclaimed the entire month of October as American Craft Month in the state.

Over October 5^th and 6^th, craftspeople and artists at 127 sites in every region of Vermont will open their studios to the public. Iconic bright yellow Open Studio signs are posted along the roads to guide visitors to the studios. Visitors are offered a behind-the-scenes look at the workspaces of glassblowers, weavers, sculptors, potters, woodworkers, printmakers, jewelers, furniture makers, painters, quilters, and other makers.

The Vermont Crafts Council, which organizes the event, is also a sponsor of American Craft Week. It publishes a free map booklet available at Vermont welcome centers, galleries, and community centers that gives people an easy way to plan an individualized tour route. Each studio is numbered with the location shown on the Open Studio map/guide. Directions, addresses and contact information are also listed. Regional information centers are highlighted in the guide as places to give studio explorers an overview of a particular area. A map can be requested on the Vermont Crafts Council website, where an online version is available as well. Maps can also be obtained by calling (802) 223-3380 or emailing vt1crafts@aol.com.

Once you have your Open Studio map, it is easy to plan a studio tour: Choose a section of the state that you want to explore and find studios along the way. Or maybe your destination is a classic Vermont village and you want to look for studios nearby. If you are fascinated by a specific medium like pottery or woodturning or photography, you can create a tour of just those studios. Or maybe you like spontaneity and prefer to just follow the yellow signs along the roads that direct people to studio locations.

Martha Fitch, Director of the Crafts Council, says Open Studio is a great event because people have the flexibility to spend as much time as they want, whether on an interesting activity for a few hours or two full days of exploration.

Vermont Open Studio Weekend is a statewide celebration of the visual arts and the creative process in which Vermont artists and craftspeople invite the public to visit them in their studios. Open Studio Weekend is also a featured event during American Craft Week, a nationwide celebration of American craft over ten days in early October.

The Vermont Open Studio Weekend is only one of the multi-faceted events celebrating American Craft Week. For more information, see the listings for Vermont in the participants’ pages!