Craft & Folk Art

Decorative arts and crafts both traditional and as they relate to specific ethnic groups.

Resources in this category:

American Cut Glass
http://www.cutglass.org/

"There was a time in U.S. history when elegance and manners were status symbols, indicating one's station in life. Among the most coveted of the symbols was American Brilliant Cut Glass." This website provides articles, a photo gallery, and recommended reading for those interested in American cut glass.

The Book of Zines
http://www.zinebook.com/

This comprehensive and regularly updated site includes extensive references, information, interviews, articles and links about zines and e-zines.

Latvian Folklore and Traditional Culture
http://folklora.lv/en.shtml

Find out more about Latvian Folklore groups, activities, traditional instruments and performance styles. Traditional performance groups are divided by location and alphabetically, and some include musical samples.

Quilts and Quiltmaking in America: 1978-1996
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/qlthtml/qlthome.html

"Showcases materials from two American Folklife Center collections, the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project Collection (1978) and the "All-American Quilt Contest" sponsored by Coming Home, a division of Lands' End, and Good Housekeeping. Together these collections provide a glimpse into America's diverse quilting traditions. The quilt documentation from the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project, an ethnographic field project conducted by the American Folklife Center in cooperation with the National Park Service, includes 229 photographs and 181 recorded interviews with six quiltmakers in Appalachian North Carolina and Virginia. These materials document quilts and quilting within the context of daily life and reflect a range of backgrounds, motivations, and aesthetic sensibilities. The materials presented from the Lands' End All-American Quilt Contest collection include images of approximately 180 winning quilts from across the United States. The collection represents a wide range of quiltmaking, from highly traditional to innovative, and the quilts pictured exhibit excellent design and technical skill in a variety of styles and materials."