Philadelphia Resurgent: The Growth of the Nation’s Contemporary Craft Capital 1960s to 2020s

Foreword

Philadelphia Resurgent: The Growth of the Nation’s Contemporary Craft Capital — 1960s to 2020s is an illustrated Timeline presenting our city’s unparalleled contribution to the emergence of American studio craft over the last half-century. CraftNOW Philadelphia undertook this project in 2026 as its contribution to celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Since 2015, CraftNOW has sponsored programs promoting Philadelphia as a national center of craft — a status recognized in a recent survey of the nation’s craft hubs published by Etsy.¹

CraftNOW offers programs in four general areas:

• Youth Education, through our annual partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Parks and Recreation in arranging craft instruction each summer in dozens of neighborhood rec centers;
• Capacity Building, through business training sessions and networking opportunities for makers and craft artists to enhance their marketing opportunities;
• Cultural Tourism, through events culminating in November of each year when CraftNOW hosts a Symposium and promotes other programming concurrent with the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Contemporary Craft Show; and
• Craft Scholarship, by sponsoring symposia and promoting exhibitions at more than 30 craft-related arts organizations throughout Greater Philadelphia each November, a month designated as CraftMONTH in Philadelphia through CraftNOW’s efforts.

The Timeline is based on the research and archives of Helen Drutt, an educator, curatorial consultant, former gallerist, and tireless advocate for American studio craft over the last six decades. She, together with her longtime research assistant Marina Hurwitz, assembled much of the chronological information about craft shown in the Timeline.

Jennifer Zwilling, curator and director of Artistic Programs at The Clay Studio, led a working group that presents Helen’s archival information in an illustrated format designed for the general reader. She was assisted by a working group consisting of Doug Bucci, assistant professor and program head of Metals, Jewelry and CAD-CAM at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture; Albert LeCoff, executive director emeritus and co-founder of the Museum for Art in Wood; David Seltzer, CraftNOW Philadelphia co-founder and board member; and Julie Siglin, executive director of the Wharton Esherick Museum. Sid Sachs, former chief curator and director of exhibitions at the University of the Arts, contributed the introductory essay to the Timeline, providing historical context for the chronological summary.

Elissa Topol, board chair of CraftNOW, and Clara Hollander, chair emerita of CraftNOW, provided invaluable guidance throughout the project. Carolyn Zalesne designed the Timeline and this publication.

CraftNOW acknowledges the generous sponsorship of the project by Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust, John Medveckis, Thomas Bershad, Jill Bonovitz, Patricia Kolodny, and Linda Richardson.

It is hoped that this Timeline will both inform readers of Philadelphia’s important role in advancing contemporary craft and encourage support of the many superb craft artists, makers, and organizations throughout the city and region that have contributed to Philadelphia’s resurgence as the nation’s craft capital.

David Seltzer, Project Coordinator
November, 2026

Notes

1. Craft Hubs, The Creative and Cultural Ecosystems that Sustain Local Communities, Althea Erickson/Nest, Etsy, 2026. ↩