Feature by Northings
Melanie Muir: A View Across The Pond
1 Apr 2010 in Visual Arts & Crafts
MELANIE MUIR gets a first hand look at how they do things in rather different Craft world of the USA.
AS I PAUSED at the entrance to the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, I felt like Charlie Bucket standing at the gates to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, clutching his golden ticket, beside himself with anticipation and excitement at the wonders he was about to discover inside!
Over the last few years I have made a point of discovering the exceptional craft being made in the US, as well as researching work produced here in the UK, but of course all of this discovery was courtesy of the internet, books and magazines, and at last this was my chance to see the work in real life, and meet the makers too!
American Craft Council Show in Baltimore (Photo by Melanie Muir)
The ACC holds several major craft shows throughout the US, but Baltimore is regarded as its flagship, as it is the oldest established (this is its 34th year). More than 700 exhibitors (many travelling thousands of miles) gather at the modern Convention Centre, to sell their work to both wholesale and retail clients. In 2010 the organisers adjusted the timing to include two wholesale-only days, followed by four retail days (it had previously been three and three). Some only exhibit at the wholesale section, and some only at the retail, but the majority come for all six days.
The first thing that struck me is how much bigger the booth sizes are and how much more aisle space there is in comparison to comparable shows like BCTF and Origin in the UK. Construction of the booths relies on a simple connecting metal pipe frame system – there are no walls or shell schemes, and the floor is polished concrete. It is up to exhibitors to create and dress the walls and floor of the booth, and many do this with huge style and creativity.
As in the UK, the professional presentation of one’s “shop” is paramount. The minimum size of booth is 3m x 3m, and costs the equivalent of £1328 for six days. In comparison, a booth this size for a week at Origin, the UK Crafts Council show, would cost a minimum of £2544 (inclusive of VAT, a compulsory £90 catalogue entry and a one off set up cost of £500).
Prior to going into the show I had spoken with Bernadette Boyle, Marketing and PR Manager for the ACC. She told me that they receive more than 2500 applications each year (only US makers are admitted), with some regular exhibitors being invited without having to apply. Five images of work are submitted in either of two categories; fashion/jewellery and home decor.
The reason that the ACC is able to publish accurate figures is that they send out a confidential survey a few weeks after the show (to allow exhibitors time to collate post show sales/orders). At Origin over two weeks in 2009, 19,000 visitors spent £1,000,000, with 147 different exhibitors in each week, totalling 294. The organisers of Origin would not disclose how they arrived at their revenue figures. The wholesale only BCTF just publishes visitor numbers (4500 over three days in 2009).
Given that Origin has over 800 applications from the very best craftspeople in the UK and abroad, it seems strange to me that they have chosen to reduce the number of booths, instead of finding a larger venue and expanding the show in order to bring more superb craftsmanship to the eyes of the buying public. Origin also encourages applications from overseas makers, which further reduces the chances for UK craftspeople to exhibit.
On the first retail day in Baltimore there is a positively frenzied atmosphere in the huge queues which build up prior to opening. Indeed, Bernadette tells me that they have to use security to maintain order! Many visitors are highly qualified, educated and passionate collectors of crafts and want to be able to have first choice of what’s on offer.
If you pay the annual ACC membership fee of £26, you get a year (six issues) of American Craft magazine and free entry to all the ACC shows in the US (a day pass to Baltimore is usually £8 – £10). This seems like a bargain in comparison to what we get in the UK.
Once inside, I browsed the aisles and chose a number of exhibitors to interview. I was interested in finding out what differences and similarities there might be between us and our American cousins in craft. It soon transpired that I would be disappointed if I was hoping for answers which would help me draw finite conclusions. Everyone seemed to have a different perspective and I heard everything from “craft is a dying industry, we’re all going to be washed down the plughole on a wave of Chinese imports”, to “this has been my best ever show and I signed up eight new galleries with great orders on the first day”.
Sue Eggen and her work (Photo by Melanie Muir)
My impression is that established crafters come from a slightly different historical direction to ourselves. Many of those who have been in the business for decades (and exhibiting at Baltimore for all of that time) spoke of how important it was for them to be part of the craft “family”. The craft movement began in the US as part of the larger major social changes in the 60’s and 70’s.
To be a craft maker wasn’t just a job choice – it was a lifestyle decision too – social, economical and political influences played a major part. As a result, many of the older exhibitors had literally grown up together, being hands-on supportive and encouraging each other. Although they each had their own “oar” (hand-made, of course!), instead of rowing their own little boats on the stormy seas of making a living, they all climbed into the bigger ship called “Craft” and rowed together in the hopes of surviving better and going farther and more successfully as a result.
Of course this approach has had to adjust with the changing times over the years, but interestingly some of the long established makers seemed more relaxed in the face of current tough economic challenges. They had not indulged in “knee jerk” reactions, by lowering prices or creating cheaper ranges. They simply kept making to the very highest standards of technical expertise and originality, and had faith that discerning customers would always be willing to spend more on a few good hand-made pieces, rather than accumulate larger quantities of mass produced items.
I spoke to many younger exhibitors too, some of whom had a different approach to generating sales. A group of female jewellers working in acrylic had chosen to exhibit by grouping their booths together. Many might think this approach would create tension and problems of competing for the same customers, but the jewellers felt that it was supportive of their efforts to promote acrylic as a “serious” craft medium, and had confidence that their own individual approaches to the material would shine out.
The American craft buying public seem to exhibit much more of the “I’m not paying that much – it’s only made of plastic” school of thought. Exhibitors have to spend time explaining and showing how much work goes into things in order to convince customers to pay the (sometimes ridiculously reasonable) prices.
Some expressed negative views about the burgeoning “Indie” or “Etsy” school of craft and subsequent cheap pricing. For those of you who have not come across Etsy before, it is a successful and growing website which gives makers (often part time amateurs) the opportunity to sell their hand made work online globally (with makers paying a percentage fee to Etsy). Detractors complain that the often very low prices and sometimes questionable quality undermine the efforts of professional craftspeople to make a living from their work. However, I have noticed many successful and established makers now have Etsy “shops”.
Interestingly, the ACC has clearly taken a “if you can’t beat them, have them join you” approach, and for the first time this year included heavily promoted special “Alt Craft” and “Green Craft” (for those using recycled or renewable materials) sections in the show. Despite some of the negativity surrounding this “Handmade” movement, many see it as the fledgling saviour of craft and the way forward in terms of the changing commercial world.
The internet was also cited as a contributing factor to change. Many makers can now get direct to their buying public without having to rely on long, increasingly expensive journeys and huge outlays in order to exhibit at shows and similarly, wholesale buyers can access suppliers.
Work by Deborah and Jerry Kermode (Photo by Melanie Muir)
US exhibitors are very open about their sales. I doubt if I could walk up to exhibitors at shows in the UK and get as frank a reaction as I did from many, including a jewellery designer who was happy to share that in the “good old days” she took orders of £33,000 wholesale and now regards £6000 as a good show.
An established (English born) maker of beautiful made-to-measure Windsor-style chairs told me that he needs to do a minimum of £13,500 in order to justify his spend on Baltimore. Thankfully he had had a very successful show!
Impressions of the UK craft world were varied – some didn’t know much (and didn’t really care), many admired the long tradition of high educational standards and guilds and others felt we were much more “cutting edge” and “design led” than the US.
Some exhibitors expressed the same huge concern for the future of craft that is being expressed in academic art education circles in both the US and the UK. So many hands-on craft education programmes and budgets from high school level through to art schools are being cut or cancelled altogether, often in favour of “STEM” subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) and digital and media based creativity.
Concerns voiced about the demands and costs of increased health and safety issues are reflected equally in the US and UK. The whole vexed issue of crafts education both here and in the US is part of a much larger discussion on the future of craft as a whole, which I unfortunately do not have space for here. Indeed I think we could devote a whole issue of Craft and Design to this and still not be able to come up with the answers!
Wherever you live in the world, if your passion is to use your hands to make original, well designed work of the highest technical quality, you will have something in common with your fellow craftspeople. To visit any quality crafts show either here in the UK or in the US is to appreciate and admire this continuous striving for excellence, which is something we should keep faith with no matter what storms may challenge the “Ship of Craft”!
© Melanie Muir, 2010
Melanie Muir applied for funding through the HI-Arts Makers Awards Scheme to attend this event. To find out more about the scheme please click on the following link:
