Today's interview is with Kathryn Oosterhuis, archivist intern at the American Craft Council Library.

What is your favorite/most-read art or craft book in your personal collection?
Unfortunately, my personal collection has dwindled to almost nothing after my last move. I used to have a paperback book on men and knitting, from the mid-1960s that I just loved. I can't remember the specific title, but the cover had a cowboy sitting on his horse, knitting. The book itself had a tone throughout that suggested "even manly men knit!" It was a hoot! I wish I hadn't weeded it from my collection. Now every time I go antiquing I search the musty book stacks for another copy.

What book or magazine would you like to sneak out of the ACC Library?
There are so many to choose from! I personally love the older books in the collection, materials you can't just go pick up at your local library or bookstore. One of the books I would love to add to my personal collection would be The Furniture of our Forefathers, written by Esther Singleton and published in 1901. The page edges are jagged and brown, but it has some fabulous ...

Is it just me? Or does everybody find red invigorating? Especially if it's a cherry red, hanging out with its color-wheel kin, pink, orange, and violet.

Jilli Blackwood is a Scottish fiber artist, weaver, and textile designer whose work celebrates this palette more than anybody I've seen in a long time. Blackwood uses embroidery, layering, and unlikely combinations (silk, leather, linen, for example) to create wearables and other textiles that are beyond dimensional. Crimson, puce, cerise, plum, perfection.

Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more.

Over the weekend I had a chance to sit down and watch Eames: The Architect and the Painter. It's definitely one of the best documentaries I've seen in recent memory (another is Foo Fighteres: Back and Forth, if you like rock and roll).

The parents of modern design, Charles and Ray Eames, are fully-examined through archival footage, the Eames House, and interviews with those who knew the couple. The Eames lived creative lives, and their unbridled passion for design in all facets of life is inspiring.

I was well aware of the couple's work in furniture design, but I had little idea about the extent of their many other creative endeavors (Cold War propaganda films or an ad campaign for IBM, for example), or that they had an office full of junior designers whose work on projects often went without credit.

The documentary also provides insight into the personal lives of Charles and Ray, Ray's struggle for recognition in the male-dominated world of the 50s and 60s, and even Charles' infidelity.

You can watch the trailer below, and ...

The December/January issue of American Craft focuses on education, and particularly on art schools that encourage students to use their skills in their communities.

We profiled a program in which California College of Arts students make ceramic shelters for endangered seabirds.  We talked to North Bennet Street School students who teach neighborhood schoolchildren the basics of woodworking. For this blog, we talked with the director of a Maryland Institute College of Art program in which students work on campaigns to prevent drunk driving and promote healthy eating. And now we've spoken with students who help the loved ones of people who have died of AIDS.

For the second time since 2009, students at the Cleveland Institute of Arts joined forces with MetroHealth hospital to work with the community to design quilt panels alongside families and friends of AIDS victims. In late November and early December, CIA students helped with two full-day quilt workshops, producing panels that were then exhibited at CIA in early December.

I spoke with Julia Chepke and Ivy Garrigan, both 2011 CIA graduates, about the program.

How did this initiative come about?

In 2009, the Fiber and Material Studies department was approached by Jennifer McMillen Smith, a Cleveland social ...

Today's interview is with Kearstin Roy, archivist intern at the American Craft Council Library.

What is your favorite/most-read art or craft book in your personal collection?
My favorite photographer is Nan Goldin. Her book The Ballad of Sexual Dependency chronicles her life, the people she loved, and her struggle. I appreciate it because every time I look at it I see something new, and I see insight into Goldin as an artist and as a person who was trying to make sense of her surroundings. Goldin does an outstanding job of making this photography book a visual story and not just a place to house her photos for the public. She never let go of the whole vision of her art. I also love looking through this book backwards; it moves in every direction.

What book or magazine would you like to sneak out of the ACC Library?
Art Nouveau, 1870-1914 by Jean Paul Bouillon. I have never seen such a comprehensive history of Art Nouveau! The writing and images are fantastic! I love art books that encapsulate the whole picture: the era, the people, the history, the method/reasoning behind the art... this book does exactly that. It depicts a time when ...

For students at the Maryland Institute College of Art, changing the world for the better is more than a "someday" dream-it's a deeply hands-on, here-and-now commitment, part of learning to be a better artist and person. As part of our look at real-world art education, we spoke with Karen Stults, director of the Office of Community Engagement at MICA, an institution on the leading edge of the emerging field of community arts.

How does MICA define community and social engagement? What's driving interest in this direction, and when and why did it become a focus at the college?

At MICA, we view working in community and social engagement as pursuing issue-oriented initiatives that have the potential to transform communities. The work is purposeful and outcome-focused, not simply volunteerism.

More than a dozen years ago, MICA's trustees made community engagement and Baltimore revitalization a strategic priority of the college. At the same time, students have increasingly wanted to be outside the college "bubble" and have pushed for engaged projects.

This type of project-based learning provides opportunities for professional, urban and partnership development throughout the region. Community engagement is interwoven into virtually every facet of the college-from curricula and extracurricular activities ...

The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) recently gifted the library a treasure trove of ceramics resources, including print and video materials. They capture the breadth of the medium, and showcase the history of some influential ceramic artists.

Linda Arbuckle is known for her majolica-glazed earthenware. In her DVD, we get a tour of her home, studio, and classroom, offering us an intimate glimpse into her life, and into the personal relationships and everyday beauty that inspire her.

John Utgaard was the demonstrating artist at the NCECA 41st Annual Conference Meeting in 2007. In his DVD, Utgaard discusses his motivations and processes while demonstrating hand-building by working in a variety of scales, showing the conceptual beginning of a form, and using wheel-throwing in support of sculpture.

Two demonstrations are given by Val Murat Cushing in his DVD, where he throws a lidded casserole and a roll top jar. Cushing describes measuring, throwing, trimming, and assembly in detail. There is a slideshow of his work, and information about the artist.

American Craft Council College of Fellows honoree Cynthia Bringle has been a full-time studio potter since 1965. Her DVD opens with ...

"This Month in ACC History" is a new monthly blog series focused on the history of the American Craft Council. With nearly 70 years of organizational history, the organization has greatly impacted the continuing evolution of the American craft movement. Here are some ACC history highlights that occurred in the month of January:

January 21, 1967 - Death of William J. Barrett, ACC President, 1963-1967.

William J. Barrett was associated with the American Craft Council for many years beyond his ACC presidency from 1963-1967. Barrett served on the board of trustees before being appointed president upon the death of David R. Campbell on September 1, 1963. He expressed a "deep interest in the American crafts movement and the people who formed it," according to ACC founder Aileen Osborn Webb. Upon his appointment, Barrett acknowledged, "an organization is strong only as its membership is strong and actively participating toward attaining its objectives. With the help of a dedicated staff and an interested and active board of trustees, we can attain these objectives."

While Barrett's tenure as president was short, his strength of vision carried the organization through a difficult time after the death of ACC president David R. Campbell, another crucial ...