E D IT O R S ’ L E T T E R
F a r e w
e l l
&
W
e l c o m e
It is with poignancy that we
write our final Editors’ Letter.
After 67 years in New York
City, the American Craft Coun-
cil has made a big leap to the
Midwest. Saying goodbye is
never easy, and it is even more
difficult for this staff, whose
individual contributions to
American Craft amount to over
60 years’ worth of work. From
the perspective of one of us
who has worked here four short
years and another who has dedi-
cated 22 years to the Council
and magazine, we both believe
the person who can best speak
to the place American Craft
holds in our hearts is our senior
editor, Beverly Sanders, who
has spent an incredible 30 years
here. Though we can’t help feel
regret for the Council’s depar-
ture from New York City, we
heartily wish it well in its hand-
some new digs in Minneapolis.
W e welcome the new editor
in chief, Monica Moses, and
feel assured that in her capable
hands and, under the leadership
of Chris Amundsen as execu-
tive director, the magazine
and the Council will flourish
in Minneapolis.*
Shannon Sharpe
Christine Kaminsky
Goodbye
to A ll That
Back in the day—1980, to be exact—when
I first began to work as an editor for the
American Craft Council’s magazine, then
barely a year into its incarnation as Ameri-
can Craft, I knew little about the field
(though I’d learned to throw pottery, knit
and make quilts) and its cast of already es-
tablished artists and institutions. But I liked
what I saw when I flipped through the pag-
es of the magazine. In the nearly 30 years
since, as I worked as an editor, I received
an incomparable education in much that
was bright and beautiful far beyond my
previous university and teaching experi-
ences. I found a home, indeed a family, at
the Council, finding common purpose with
cherished colleagues on the magazine and
in our other programs in spreading the gos-
pel of craft by bringing to light the abun-
dance of talent all across the country and
documenting it in our pages and present-
ing it in our shows. It’s been a joy to meet
artists and writers, museum personnel,
gallerists and collectors, whose dedication
to the field has caused it to flourish even in
difficult times.
It was a privilege over the past 20 years
on Spring Street to work in an airy setting
organized around the Council’s precious
library, to feel that craft’s rich history— such
as that extraordinary wall of catalogs—was
a step away from my desk (who needed
Google?), and that we at the magazine were
contributing to that history through our
coverage of the field, a wonderful synergy.
(How surreal to be working in this space
a week ago as the library was literally decon-
structed for shipment to Minneapolis!)
I’ve had a marvelous ride. Sometimes,
while attending a gallery or museum open-
ing or observing an artist in the studio, or
tweaking the prose of a valued writer, or
writing about a splendid book or exhibition,
I’d say to myself, “Hey, it’s a dirty job, but
somebody’s gotta do it.” I’m so grateful that
that somebody happened to be me. +
Beverly Sanders
06
am erican craft oct/nov io
