BRATTLEBORO — American Craft Week, the nation's largest annual craft celebration, is launching a competition to discover the Top Ten Craft Towns in America.
Directors have curated a list of 33 communities with a wealth of interesting artistic elements. They took into consideration towns and cities with a high concentration of professional craft artists as well as places - galleries, shops, and artist cooperatives, and studios - selling quality handmade items.
Criteria included craft events such as distinguished festivals and artist studio tours, the strength of local craft organizations, and community regard and support for the role of craft.
They are now asking for the public to vote to choose the Top Ten Towns for Craft Lovers. Voting takes place online at http://americancraftweek.com/top10. There is a place on the ballot for write-ins.
Brattleboro made the list of 33 towns. Other New England towns on the list are Boston and Northampton, Mass.
Diane Sulg, founder of American Craft Week slated for Oct. 2-11 in cities and towns across the nation, urged communities and friends to join the contest.
“When we started American Craft Week, we wanted to involve galleries and festivals so we could draw the public's attention to craft,” she said. “But in the course of six years our vision has become so much wider, mainly because craft in this country is so pervasive and exciting.”
In 2014, American Craft Week encompassed events in all 50 states. Several states, including Vermont, Maine, and Virginia mounted official celebrations backed by tourism and economic development dollars. In Pennsylvania and North Dakota, Visitor and Convention Bureaus coordinated craft-centered events, and large areas in North Carolina and California organized large, regional celebrations.
In addition to the tangibles, such as jobs and tourism that craft creates, there are a host of intangible byproducts. “People love knowing who made an item and seeing the hand of the artist in the work. Craft creates connections, memories, and strong emotions that simply do not exist with mass produced merchandise,” said Sulg.