Creative Industries Courses

Experiencing craftworks in context and understanding how craftwork finds its way into the world is essential for the future craft practitioner. This course will include:

• Faculty-led field trips to local galleries, museums, private collections, artists’ studios, craft shows, and public lectures
• Trips for tours led by curators, gallery owners, private collectors, and artists

Venues may include the Renwick Gallery, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, American Craft Council Show (Baltimore), private collectors’ homes, and artists’ studios.

Students will develop critical thinking skills in craft by writing a series of short essays about these travel experiences.

Students will attend a series of lectures by VisArts faculty and craft media professionals on historic and contemporary craft media and practices. The lectures will be recorded and archived; students will have permanent access to resources in the archive.

Students will learn many of the professional practices needed for a sustainable career in craft, including:

• Writing and updating CVs and artist statements
• Artistic photography
• Economics and pricing of work
• Record-keeping
• Approaching galleries and applying for shows, grants, and residencies

Students will learn many of the business practices needed for a sustainable career in craft, including:

• Writing business plans
• Contracts, copyrights, and accounting
• Studio management
• Marketing, branding, social media, and selling online
• Craft fairs and booth design

Students will participate in a six-week studio apprenticeship in their area of interest, which may include studio management, arts administration, curation, and business management.

This is the final course for students pursuing a Certificate of Mastery in Craft and Creative Industries. Students will select a VisArts faculty member to provide instruction, guidance, and critique for a capstone paper and mounting an exhibition of craftworks.