Exciting News!!!

National Magazine Honors Area Craftsperson

2007 — Lana Manis of Robbins, Tennessee ranks as one of the top traditional artisans in America, according to a panel of experts convened by Early American Life magazine. The experts—curators from such prestigious institutions as the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, American Folk Art Museum, Charleston Museum, Hancock Shaker Village, Heritage Center of Lancaster County, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Sturbridge Village, and Strawbery Banke Museum as well as antiques dealers, independent scholars, and professional instructors—selected the top craftspeople working with traditional tools and techniques for the magazine’s 22nd annual Directory of Traditional American Crafts. Manis’s handcrafted 18th century and 19th century style make-do pincushions showed mastery of the art form, heritage techniques, and workmanship, according to the judges. The Directory of Traditional American Crafts is a special listing that appears in the August 2007 issue of Early American Life, a national magazine focusing on architecture, decorative arts, period style, and social history from colonial times through the mid-19th Century. The Directory has been used for the past two decades by curators at living history museums, owners of traditional homes, and motion picture producers for finding artisans to make period-appropriate furnishings and accessories for displays, collections, and use. “The judges look for authentic design and workmanship, whether the piece is a faithful reproduction or the artisan’s interpretation of period style,” said Tess Rosch, publisher of Early American Life. “Scholarship, as well as use of period tools and techniques, is particularly valued in this competition.”

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Thursday I will add a few more close up photos of the two make-do pincushions that were judged for this directory. This is such an honor to be listed among so many wonderful artists.