thumb|The Crafts Council building in Pentonville Road, London

The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary craft in the United Kingdom, and is funded by Arts Council England.

History

The Crafts Advisory Committee was formed in 1971 to advise the Minister for the Arts, David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles, ‘on the needs of the artist craftsman and to promote a nation-wide interest and improvement in their products’.

Its first meeting was held on 6 October 1971 at the Council of Industrial Design (later the Design Council).

In 1982, the organisation was granted a Royal Charter and became independent of the Design Council.

  • Selectors: Alison Britton, Michael Cardew, Emmanuel Cooper, Mary Farmer, Erik de Graff, David Kindersley, John Makepeace, Enid Marx, Malcolm Parsons, Alan Peters, David Pye, Connie Stephenson, David Watkins, Michael Brennand-Wood
  • A trio of A Closer look exhibitions (1983–5), curated by Peter Dormer which started with concurrently run exhibitions at the Waterloo Place Gallery of the Crafts Council. The tour tended to separate the three themes for practicality of space.
  • A closer look at rugs
  • A closer look at Lettering
  • A closer look at Wood
  • A Collection in the Making (1985)
  • Goodbye Piccadilly (1991)
  • Inaugural exhibition at the gallery: Beyond the Dovetail - craft, skill and imagination
  • Curator: Peter Dormer
  • Artists: Gordon Baldwin, Svend Bayer,Stella Benjamin, Clive Bowen, Alison Britton, Mary Farmer, Michael Flemming, Gerda Flockinger, Neal French, Sally Freshwater, Caroline Broadhead, Sandy Brown, David Garland, Lucy Goffin, Victoria Brown, Sally Greaves-Lord, Mary Bunce, Jane Hamlyn, Will & Sebastian Carter, Walter Keeler, Mick Casson, Jacqueline Mina, Joanna Constantinidis, Ian Mortimer, Joel Degen, Pierre Degan, Steven Newell, Colin Pearson, David Drew, Alan Peters, Philip Eglin, William Phipps, David Pye, Wendy Ramshaw, Mary Restieaux, Michael Rowe, Janice Tchalenko, Richard La Trobe-Bateman, Audrey Walker, David Watkins, Robert Welch, Helen Yardley, Takeshi Yasuda, Andrew & Joanna Young and pieces from the Craft Council Collection
  • Tour: Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland; Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Tullie House Museum, Carlisle; The City Gallery, Leicester
  • Maker’s Eye: Stories of Craft (2021)
  • Selectors: Assemble (Amica Dall & Giles Smith), Michael Brennand-Wood, Caroline Broadhead, Neil Brownsword, Dr Christine Checinska, John Grayson, Ineke Hans, Angela James, Michael Marriott, James Maskrey, Freddie Robins. Matt Smith, Esna Su, Simone ten Hompel

Crafts Magazine

From 1973 - 2025 Crafts Magazine was a key part of the Crafts community in the United Kingdom, the communication has been moved to the website of the Crafts Council and members notified in 2025. Archives continue to be available to members and institutions.

Collect Art Fair

This Art Fair has become one of the major events in London, England each year, usually set in the magnificent venue of Somerset House on the Strand. Historically it has also been set at the Saatchi Gallery on the Kings Road in London

Archives

References

  • Crafts Council Collections Online
  • Collect Art Fair
  • Crafts Council website