34th National Arts and Crafts Conference Goes Virtual With A New Website
Registration is Open
by Kate Nixon
This past summer was marked with difficult decisions for small businesses all over the country. Nestled in the mountains just outside Asheville, North Carolina, here at the office of the National Arts and Crafts Conference, we had a difficult decision of our own to make. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we decided that the 34th National Arts and Crafts Conference could not be held in person in February of 2021. It was a sad sign of the times and a disruption of a 33-year tradition, but we could not ignore reality.
Our desire to support our conference exhibitors and to further the education of Arts and Crafts collectors was too strong to simply cancel the conference, especially in light of advancements being made in virtual technology.
“Rather than risk sacrificing the momentum of the current Arts and Crafts revival, instead of cancelling next February’s conference and shows, we are declaring the entire month of February to be National Arts and Crafts Month,” announced Bruce Johnson, conference founder. “Throughout the month we will be hosting a virtual conference and selling shows, featuring recorded seminars, live discussion groups on weekdays, demonstrations, virtual walking tours, book clubs, house tours, resource guides, on-demand videos, and links to exhibitors’ websites.”
Online Registration
The month-long conference registration fee is $100 for an individual and $150 for a couple. The selling shows side of the conference website is free for anyone to explore and buy from the participating exhibitors. People interested in exploring the shows do not have to register beforehand and can start exploring those virtual shows starting February 1st.
A screenshot of the new and improved National Arts & Crafts Conference website, www.arts-craftsconference.com. The website was adjusted to handle online registration, host the free virtual exhibitor shows, feature advertising and host a separate paid conference registrant side, which will show special Zoom live session information, a Video-On-Demand section, and a curated library of resources, starting February 1st.
Included in the month-long schedule of events are several seminars which had been recorded at prior Arts and Crafts Conferences held at the Grove Park Inn. These seminar recordings will be shown as “featured videos,” accessible to paid conference registrants, and will include Rosalie Berberian’s 2018 presentation “If Jewels Could Talk: Stories to Share With Friends,” Richard Mohr’s “Art Tiles in the Prairie School: A Paradox of Styles,” and Michael McCracken’s “The Evolution of Stickley Furniture” among many others. The conference schedule will also include room for virtual tours from historic sites, a special Grove Park Inn tour by conference director Bruce Johnson, and the annual Asheville Historic Home tour, which is an annual favorite for our conference attendees and hosted by the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County.
The daily schedule has been published at the new Arts-CraftsConference.com and those interested in attending the virtual conference can register by filling out our online registration form. Conference participants will create an account with a username and password to access links to all the conference events throughout the month of February, to watch all recorded events in a special “Video on Demand” section, and to access a curated library of educational resources.
For more information, please go to Arts-CraftsConference.com or contact our office at 828-628-1915 or send an email to [email protected].