a journey to the artists, origins and work of American craft
Cary Esser, Sarracenia Tiles, 1998, Seth Tice-Lewis photograph.
As a basket maker weaves
plant fibers to form a
container, as a jewelry
artist shapes fine metal
and stones into objects for personal
adornment, and as a potter creates
functional objects from lumps of clay,
these artists are continuing traditions that are thousands of
years old. When asked how “My mother taught me and her mother they learned their art form, taught her and I taught my children.” craft artists often talk about —Mary Jackson, basket maker
learning from another artist,
sometimes even a family member.
Many families carry on a craft tradition for generations, allowing younger
members to acquire the knowledge
and skills held by those who came
before them.
There is a long history of artists
transmitting their craft. Throughout
the world and dating back centuries,
craft guilds—organizations formed
by artists practicing the same craft—
consisted of a system of master and
apprentice, where the apprentice
learned craft skills while assisting
the master. Within this guild system,
some apprentices reached the status
of journeyman. After creating what
was judged to be a “masterpiece,” a
journeyman might become a master
craftsman with his own apprentices.
Although the guild system is no
longer formally in place, some craft
artists today have studio apprentices who both assist and learn from
them. In various academic settings,
the student-teacher relationship is
highly important. Those who seek
to become skilled in their craft will
often work with one teacher; and in
special cases, that teacher becomes a
mentor whose influence can be seen
in the students’ work habits, thought
processes, and often in the work
itself. As the student moves into the
professional world of craft, he or she
may take on students of his or her
own, thus continuing the tradition.
Ceramics artist Cary Esser is
professor and chair of the Ceram-
ics Department at the Kansas City
Art Institute. Her clay tiles,
wall reliefs, and installa-
tions reference motifs found
in architectural ornament.
One of her students, Nikki
Lewis, talks about what she learned
from her teacher and mentor. “Cary
taught us how to communicate with
a high level of professionalism. She
also showed me that it’s possible to
wear several hats as an educator and
a leader, while maintaining a sen-
sitivity to each student’s individual
needs.” A studio potter whose work
has been called “exquisite and deli-
cate,” Nikki Lewis teaches pottery at
schools in Los Angeles, California.
