Craft In America - Education - Memory

Craft In America - a journey to the artists origins and techniques of American craft

Some hands create to record a place and time; others are more intimate gestures about personal histories. In any case our Nation’s collective memory can become tangible when we examine objects created by the hand. This educational guide helps develop craft in a larger context, providing educators with material that will relate to and reflect the core ideas and art forms presented in the Memory episode.

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Tom Joyce speaks about his work and the mathematician Fibonacci.


Jan Yager's The Tiara of Useful Knowledge, 2006, is shown here in its parts: eight brooches, two stick pins, a tie tack and a pendant. Photograph by Jack Ramsdale	Pat Courtney Gold (Wasco/Tlingit), Honor the Wasco Weaver of the 1805 Basket Collected by Lewis and Clark, 2003	Sam Maloof 's home in Alta Loma, California. Photograph by Gene Sasse

A fragment is, by definition, a small piece of some larger whole. In this section of Educator Guide: Memory, teachers will help students develop an understanding of how selected craft artists work with the notion of fragments and then guide them through a variety of inquiry-based explorations. By working with the notion of fragments themselves, students will deepen their knowledge and understanding and gain greater insight into this important aspect of craft in America. Visit the complete Educators resource area at www.craftinamerica.org to see related materials and download all lesson plans. Download the Fragments Lesson Guide in PDF format HERE to see get started in your classroom.	Some craft artists look to their culture, heritage, and traditions for ideas and inspiration to incorporate into their art making. These artists understand who they are in terms of what came before them and consciously incorporate these ideas, stories, and struggles into their art. In this section of Educator Guide: Memory, students will discover the importance of “roots” to selected craft artists and investigate their own roots through inquiry-based activities. Visit the complete Educators resource area at www.craftinamerica.org to see related materials and download all lesson plans. Download the Roots Lesson Guide in PDF format HERE to see get started in your classroom.	Craftspeople find pleasure and fulfillment in making objects that are beautiful, unique, and functional. Many craft artists think about these notions of beauty and function and work tirelessly to realize their visions. In this section of Educator Guide: Memory, students will deepen their knowledge and understanding of how artists use their most valuable tool, their hands, to transform raw materials into works of art that are meant to used and enjoyed by those who own them. Visit the complete Educators resource area at www.craftinamerica.org to see related materials and download all lesson plans. Download the Hand to Home Lesson Guide in PDF format HERE to see get started in your classroom.

Updated May 29, 2007