| Editor | Karen Olson [1] |
|---|---|
| Categories | Arts and crafts |
| Publisher | American Craft Council |
| Founder | Aileen Osborn Webb |
| Founded | 1941 (as Craft Horizons ) |
| First issue | May 1979 (as American Craft) |
| Final issue | December 2025 |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
American Craft is a periodical magazine that documents crafts, craft artists, and both practical and creative aspects of the field of American craft. [2] [3] Originally founded by Aileen Osborn Webb in 1941 as Craft Horizons , the magazine has been published by the nonprofit American Craft Council under the title American Craft since November 1979. [2] The print magazine's final edition appeared in December 2025, moving to digital-only production as of January 2026. [4]
As of 1979, the magazine's monthly circulation averaged 40,000 copies, making it the main craft publication in the United States. [2] As American Craft, the magazine developed "a more visual orientation as a coffee-table magazine". [5] : 378 After the National Endowment for the Arts began to award grants to individual craftspeople in 1973, American Craft profiled major NEA craft recipients. [5] : 377 However, its reviews were often limited to "one or two in-depth commentaries" accompanied by a "visual summary of shows". [6]
Like its predecessor, which both "documented and shaped" the changing history of the American craft movement, [7] American Craft has reflected the development of craft. [8] Writers such as Ed Rossbach have examined the history of craft in its pages. In the 1980s Rossbach wrote a series of articles describing tensions between textile artists Mary Meigs Atwater, Anni Albers, Dorothy Liebes and Marianne Strengell in the 1940s. [5] : 206–207 In 1993, the magazine marked its 50th anniversary and the national "Year of American Craft" with a commemorative issue profiling the previous fifty years. [9] : 6 [10] American Craft was described in 1994 as a "major scholarly periodical" of interest to both researchers and serious craftspeople. [9] : 12
American Craft's current editor is Karen Olson (2020-). [1] Previous editors-in-chief include Deborah Pines, Pat Dandignac, [11] Lois Moran (1980 to 2006), [12] Andrew Wagner (2007-2009), Janet Koplos (guest editor, 2009-2010), Shannon Sharpe (deputy editor), [11] Monica Moses (June 2010 to January 2018) [13] and Megan Guerber (2018-2020). [11]