The Directory of Traditional American Crafts is an honor
bestowed on a handful of artisans who work in traditional
media, styles, and crafts, an award that singles out their
work as the best now produced in America today. Each
year we select the work of more than 100 artists from all
those working in America to be honored. In addition to
appearing on this website, we publish the complete
Directory in Early American Life magazine.
Those whose work is selected by a jury of museum
curators, collectors, dealers, and respected authors are
entitled to display the Directory logo in their
advertisements and identify their work with a Directory
hangtag. Those selected for the Directory are allowed to
display hangtags (shown at left) on the products they
offer for sale.
These are your assurance that the work not only meets
the highest standards of skill in its making but also has
historical integrity. It is true to the period it represents.
Artists are allowed to display the Directory identification
for only two years following their selection to assure you
that their current work maintains the high standards set by
the Directory jurors.
In addition to being an honor for the artists, the Directory
is also a buying guide. It presents to you a selection of the
best historically informed handwork in America today. The
Directory will help you select the best decorative objects
for period-correct decorating, collecting, or movie-making.
An artist who has been selected for the Directory has had
his or her work thoroughly evaluated by a panel of
experts. They have graded the artist's work as showing a
mastery of the chosen craft, a mastery that represents the
top of its individual field and may even be suitable for
museum display. This jurying assures you not only of the
top-notch skill involved in making the work but also its
historic integrity. The work included in the Directory is
either an accurate reproduction of historic work or an
original interpretation of a historic style that is entirely
consistent with its historic roots.
bestowed on a handful of artisans who work in traditional
media, styles, and crafts, an award that singles out their
work as the best now produced in America today. Each
year we select the work of more than 100 artists from all
those working in America to be honored. In addition to
appearing on this website, we publish the complete
Directory in Early American Life magazine.
Those whose work is selected by a jury of museum
curators, collectors, dealers, and respected authors are
entitled to display the Directory logo in their
advertisements and identify their work with a Directory
hangtag. Those selected for the Directory are allowed to
display hangtags (shown at left) on the products they
offer for sale.
These are your assurance that the work not only meets
the highest standards of skill in its making but also has
historical integrity. It is true to the period it represents.
Artists are allowed to display the Directory identification
for only two years following their selection to assure you
that their current work maintains the high standards set by
the Directory jurors.
In addition to being an honor for the artists, the Directory
is also a buying guide. It presents to you a selection of the
best historically informed handwork in America today. The
Directory will help you select the best decorative objects
for period-correct decorating, collecting, or movie-making.
An artist who has been selected for the Directory has had
his or her work thoroughly evaluated by a panel of
experts. They have graded the artist's work as showing a
mastery of the chosen craft, a mastery that represents the
top of its individual field and may even be suitable for
museum display. This jurying assures you not only of the
top-notch skill involved in making the work but also its
historic integrity. The work included in the Directory is
either an accurate reproduction of historic work or an
original interpretation of a historic style that is entirely
consistent with its historic roots.
