Arts & Culture

Treasuring America’s Handcrafted Tools

Tools play a starring role in this upcoming Craft in America Center exhibition.
Treasuring America’s Handcrafted Tools
(Top) Rigid-frame jeweler’s saw, and adjustable-frame jeweler’s saw by blacksmith artist Thomas Latané. Both will be displayed in the upcoming “Tools of the Trades: American Handmade Implements & Devices” exhibition that opens on Oct. 11, at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles. Midge Bolt
Lorraine Ferrier
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A couple of years ago, Craft in America Center director Emily Zaiden told blacksmith artist Heather McLarty that she hoped to curate an exhibition on tools. McLarty offered her help on the spot. She knew a lot of toolmakers and a whole lot more about toolmaking. “Blacksmithing has been known for centuries as the queen of crafts because we make everybody else’s tools, all the other crafts,” McLarty told The Epoch Times.

Zaiden, in consultation with McLarty, curated the “Tools of the Trades: American Handmade Implements & Devices” exhibition that opens on Oct. 11 at the Craft in America Center (CAC) in Los Angeles.

Lorraine Ferrier
Lorraine Ferrier
Author
Lorraine Ferrier writes about fine arts and craftsmanship for The Epoch Times. She focuses on artists and artisans, primarily in North America and Europe, who imbue their works with beauty and traditional values. She's especially interested in giving a voice to the rare and lesser-known arts and crafts, in the hope that we can preserve our traditional art heritage. She lives and writes in a London suburb, in England.