Finding community essential for craft say panellists at Toast talk in New York

Promotion: to commit to craft under contemporary constraints, makers have to embrace community and find unique audiences, according to a panel hosted at British design brand Toast at its West Village store during NYCxDesign.

Called Becoming a Maker: Craft in Practice Today and led by Dezeen US editor Ben Dreith, the conversation featured editor-turned-basket-maker Deborah Needleman, Power House Arts development director Megan Skidmore and San Francisco-based ceramist Linnan Ye, a member of this year's cohort of the Toast New Maker programme.

Situated among the racks of natural-fibre clothing and dressed in Toast outfits, the panellists discussed the triumphs and travails of being and supporting craft and makers in today's world.

The brand works with creators to craft original fabrics, prints and forms, using time-honoured methods to preserve traditions that might otherwise be lost. The discussion also highlighted Toast's dedication to promoting material longevity, quality and the historical and cultural significance, which goes into each of its designs.

First and foremost amongst the panellist's priorities for contemporary craft was community.

As an organiser, Skidmore outlined the programmes at Power House Arts, which operates out of a power station converted by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron in Brooklyn, including subsidies for people, including those who are low-income, disabled, LGBTQ+ and/or BIPOC.

"We provide the opportunity for [makers] to apply and receive an honorarium, plus the fabrication support they need to make their work, which is huge for so many artists, and that is really what we're doing, is helping them," said Skidmore.

"I think there are many layers to it," she said, referring to the trust and security of having a space to work, meet and show. "They realise they can actually afford to do this in New York."

"It really brings people together."

Needleman and Ye agreed that interaction with practitioners was key to having confidence in practice, and both related the stories of physically witnessing practice as compelling them to start their own journey.

But making a living off the work is a different story, according to Ye, who left architecture to work with ceramics.

Ye said that while craft is widely practised, these specific interactions and moments are what keep the contemporary industry rolling. Part of the craft is finding who it resonates with.

"Every individual is different," she said, "People have different needs."

"Handmade stuff is not for everybody. It's a niche market, but someone wants it – you just have to find the right person."

Ye said that the New Makers programme has helped get her work out, and that social media's ability to connect with fellow makers and buyers is variable.

Needleman said that social media was – and remains – a great place to connect. To cut out the middle man in a slim-margin trade, but the real magic of craft and the transmission of skills has an undeniable physical aspect.

Skidmore expanded this, noting that in-person gallery visits at Power House Arts are essential.

"We are trying to introduce people, such as those paying sky-high rates for condos around [Power House Arts], to become patrons and go behind the scenes and have the studio visits to get to know those artists."

This commercial relationship can inject vitality into traditions globally, and Needleman noted this while emphasising respect for these traditions, acknowledging that approaches to craft can be "romantic".

Part of community building and education is opening up both the makers and the consumers to the potential of well-made things, the panellists agreed.

Needleman also spoke of the deep variation between traditions, even within countries, and the array of different approaches carried out in an institution such as Power House Arts speaks to the broadness of craft and making.

Beyond the commercial and relationship between people in the city, Needleman pointed to the deep relationship with nature that comes with craft, and Ye agreed that many craft traditions developed out of necessity and what was available.

"It's a symbiotic relationship. You have to be respectful [of nature] because it has to keep producing for you," said Needleman.

"If you respect it and you understand it and you rely on it, it's going to be sustainable, because otherwise you don't survive."

For the panellists, the imbuing of functional objects with beauty represents the core of the appeal.

"There's just all these little things you wouldn't know if not for the generosity of someone teaching you directly," said Needleman.

Though people have different traditions, the experience of passing on knowledge between cultures and through generations ultimately connects us.

"It implies skill and tradition and a legacy being taught a certain way, thinking a certain way, and what's really intriguing to me about craft, it connects everyone in the world going back pretty much forever."

And it continues to circulate, despite the massive changes of experience, because of the details, the flow-state gained in technique and the beauty.

"I want to give this experience to others," concluded Ye.

In its eighth year, Toast New Makers gives artists a platform to sell their handmade goods, with full profits being returned to them, along with expert guidance on growing their emerging businesses.

To learn more about Toast, visit its website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen as part of a partnership with Toast. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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