Handwork - by Emily Zaiden (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

An engaging and essential portrait of America through surprising, overlooked, everyday, and iconic handmade things crafted over more than 250 years

Handwork is a visually stunning, deeply inspiring celebration of America's spirit through surprising, iconic, overlooked, and everyday handcrafted objects spanning more than 250 years. Edited by Emily Zaiden, director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center, with a foreword by Carol Sauvion, the visionary behind the Peabody Award-winning PBS series Craft in America, this book is part of a sweeping national initiative marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.

Grouping handmade things into four curated sections - DWELL, FEED, FURNISH, ADORN - Handwork takes readers on a journey through time and across the multiplicity of cultures that have made America, uncovering the powerful stories behind objects that shaped American life. From a nineteenth-century Kiowa cradleboard and a silver bowl made by Paul Revere to celebrate a rebellion, to an antique Hawaiian papa heʻenalu - or surfboard - and a prototype for an iconic sneaker, these objects reflect innovation, resistance, artistry, and community--and were all crafted by hand.

Accessible yet authoritative, the book includes illuminating essays by experts nationwide and places a special focus on overlooked narratives and the underrepresented artists who helped define American life through their craft. Contemporary makers featured throughout show how craft traditions live on--reimagined, reinterpreted, and renewed.

The official book of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 - a major national initiative featuring exhibitions at dozens of partner museums and a core exhibition at the Smithsonian, a four-part PBS docuseries, and specially designed educational components - Handwork: Handcrafted Things that Made America is essential reading for anyone curious about American history, design, material culture, or craft. With vibrant full-color photography; a fresh, engaging layout; and an inclusive approach, this book is as captivating and eye-opening as the objects and artists it celebrates.

About the Author

Emily Zaiden is director and lead curator of the Craft in America Center. She has curated over seventy exhibitions on American craft, design, and decorative arts. Zaiden has an M.A. from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and a B.A. in American Studies from University of California Berkeley.

Carol Sauvion is an American crafts scholar and creator of the Peabody Award-winning PBS series Craft in America. Sauvion is the founding director of Craft in America and owner of Los Angeles's renowned Freehand Gallery.