Reflections from the 2026 Honorary Chair
I want to thank the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, especially Barbara Rapp and Beverly Baker, Co-Chairs of the 2026 Smithsonian Craft Show, for their generous invitation to serve as Honorary Chair for this year’s show. Members of the Smithsonian Women’s committee are at the heart of the Smithsonian Craft Show, which is always a pleasure to attend. The excellence of the artists’ work and the magnificent architectural atmosphere at the National Building Museum unite to provide the perfect experience of the handmade. I’m thrilled to be in Washington during this Semiquincentennial year, when we can all celebrate the importance of the crafts in our history and in our contemporary culture. Certainly, the masterful objects that are on display at this year’s craft show are a continuum of the finest handwork that has been produced in this country since well before 1776. Craft artists have been championed by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee for decades, and we have benefitted from learning about their work and acquiring their objects, which have the potential to influence our lives.
To be chosen as the Honorary Chair of the Smithsonian Craft Show is a distinction that I am deeply grateful for, especially now, as we honor the crafts for the Semiquincentennial with a special Craft in America initiative, Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026. Handwork 2026 accentuates the positive place the crafts occupy in our nation, beginning with the contributions of indigenous peoples. The crafts of woodworking, ceramics, glass, fiber, jewelry, metalwork, and now the exploration of new materials, unite the head, heart, and hand in processes that build our culture from the inside out. Handwork 2026 will feature these crafts, both in our history and now.
I’d also like to thank the dedicated craft protagonists in Washington: Mary Savig, Jane Milosch and Lois Jecklin. Mary Savig, Curator-in-Charge at the Renwick Gallery, has shepherded the Handwork 2026 initiative through the processes of making acquisitions for the Renwick permanent collection and has curated “Handwork: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery,” the exhibition scheduled to open in November, 2026. Jane Milosch has been involved in the Craft in America project since the beginning, contributing her vast craft knowledge both to our PBS series and the Handwork 2026 initiative. Lois Jecklin is a revered craft supporter, first with her work with Chunghi Choo in Iowa, then her involvement in the James Renwick Alliance, and now her service on the Craft in America board, and as a member of the Handwork 2026 Planning Committee. Her experience, expertise and commitment to fine craft have made her involvement essential to our success.
We are in a new era for American craft. I sense a change in the air as we experience our Semiquincentennial year. Many of us are considering what it means to be American, and for craftspeople, what it means to work with one’s hands. A unique iteration of the handmade has evolved strongly in our country over the past 250 years. For me, it is gratifying to be influenced by traditional techniques and unifying to communicate with others through craft. This look at our craft culture is a different view than we had fifty years ago during our Bicentennial: more inclusive, more informational, more interesting for all of us.
Sixty-two million Americans make things with their hands. Some of the best makers are here with us today. Many of the artists whom we’ve featured in the Craft in America documentary series we met at the Smithsonian Craft Show. The history of craft for the past 44 years is inexorably tied to this event. Dona Look and Ken Loeber, Deborah Cross, Cliff and Holly Lee, Randall Darwall and Brian Murphy, Roberta and Dave Williamson, Tom Herman, and Mary Jackson come to mind immediately, but there are so many others! Craft in America was fortunate to be able to film at the 2006 Smithsonian Craft Show, which was a fine presentation of the best of American craft.
My life in the crafts began in 1969 when I learned to make pots on the potter’s wheel, which opened up the world of the handmade for me. First at the potter’s wheel, then at Freehand, my craft gallery in Los Angeles, then founding the Craft in America project, and now completing my work for craft with the Handwork 2026 initiative, I am grateful for techniques acquired and friendships formed. As part of the Handwork 2026 Planning Committee, a group of seven craft professionals, enthusiasts, and makers, I’ve learned so much about the vibrant craft communities in our American landscape. People of all ages, backgrounds, skills and intentions are working with their hands. Today, you will see the finest examples of that work. Please enjoy the beauty and the stories behind it.
Carol Sauvion