About Craft ACT: What we do

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre provides a unique service to craft and design practitioners and audiences in Canberra and the region. Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre (Craft ACT) is an incorporated association - it is owned by its members. For 36 years Craft ACT has been delivering quality cultural programs and recognises the ongoing need of Canberra craft and design artists to have access to:

• a professional exhibition program
• professional development opportunities
• promotion and commercial services and
• advocacy on behalf of the sector

Craft ACT continues to present innovative and high quality exhibitions for the people of Canberra and in doing so supports approximately 150 established and emerging artists in its exhibition program per annum.

The careers of many local internationally renowned craft artists and the potential of new emerging practitioners form a rich vein of Canberra's cultural identity. These artists constitute Craft ACT's membership and it promotes and supports all areas of the craft and design sector, covering textiles and fibre, metal and jewellery, glass, ceramics, furniture and objects.

Craft ACT is a pivotal player in Canberra's visual and contemporary craft and art landscape, collaborating regularly with other arts and cultural organisations including Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra Glassworks, Australian National University School of Art, Canberra Potters Society, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, ACT guilds, the National Gallery of Australia, and the National Portrait Gallery and many others. Craft ACT is part of the network of Australian Craft Design Centres (ACDC), a national strategic and advocacy body, and is positioned to promote the activities of its members and local artists to national and international audiences. Through these links and beyond to other organisations and institutions across Australia, Craft ACT provides opportunities that allow artists and designers to establish and maintain successful professional practices in the Canberra region.

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre is a long serving community organisation that has provided great support for, and development of, contemporary craft and design in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory). It is part of Canberra's social framework that has flourished in tandem with its capital responsibilities, but which is here to support the living city of Canberra - the people who grow, work and live their lives in Canberra.

Canberra's federal duty has created a dynamic group of purpose-built national cultural collections. Canberra as a capital has matured; it stands to reason that the city of Canberra would also reach a point of self reflection and autonomy. Pulsating beneath Australia's historic cultural and political cathedrals is a bedrock of local arts and broad community participation and enjoyment with the arts. Craft ACT plays an important part in this unique context, and today Craft ACT is respected local venue that works hard to promote, present, and provide the arts to the people of Canberra, and importantly, for the artists themselves.

History

Canberra is a designed capital and a unique planned city. It is a city with a high level of education, and a transient and international population. Canberra also houses the seat of federal government. It has developed a cultural landscape where the arts are a resonant part of the Canberra experience, and contribute greatly to its lifestyle. Against this background, Craft ACT was founded in 1971 as the Craft Association of the ACT, subsequently the Crafts Council of the ACT, and renamed Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre (Craft ACT) in 1998. The current name identifies its role as a promotional and exhibiting organisation for ACT contemporary craft practitioners and designer/makers.

Located in the North Building in Canberra's CBD, the quality and size of its gallery spaces are amongst the best for craft and design in Australia. As a result of premium facilities and professional management Craft ACT has generated a reputation for excellence, innovation and quality in the presentation of its artistic program, attracting an ever growing number of applications from contemporary craft artists.

Read more in: Our history.