On Crafting the Future:
So I founded this organization with a friend, Annie Evelyn, and a group of likeminded artists at the Penland School of Craft in North Carolina where I was living at the time. But it was 2016 and earlier that we were having conversations about the glaring lack of racial and ethnic diversity in our field and all the spaces we move through—academic institutions to galleries and beyond. It was really simple at first. We identified the craft program as a bit more accessible than a 4 year collegiate program and so we started a Kickstarter to send two kids from New Orleans to Penland and we raised $8,000 and that paid for everything from tuition to room and board, and materials. We tried to think about all of the different barriers to entry for that experience. That was year one. In year two, schools started to see what we were doing and wanted to be a part of it, so they began to match our efforts and so the number of students we could serve began to multiply each year. Fast forward to today where we are now supporting about 30-40 artists every summer through scholarships to craft school but also expanding the ways we think about supporting artists, for example, we now have residency programs, exhibition opportunities, internships. It was largely for me informed by my own experience. When I get an opportunity, I try to see how I can bring other people into the fold. Whether it’s Corey Pemberton the director of Crafting the Future being invited to a symposium, or Corey Pemberton the artist being invited to a residency, I try to have conversations about visibility and opportunity. We have a vibrant community making art across different spaces. While the talent is too diverse and numerous to not leave anyone out, I’d like to give a special nod to Adrienne Muse @iam.muse (a figurative painter), Asari Aibangbee @asariaibangbee (a filmmaker transitioning to a visual art practice), newcomers Terrick Guttierez @terrick03 and Alake Shilling @sillyshilli.
