Dartmouth College The School for American Craftsmen was formally opened at
Dartmouth College in
Hanover, New Hampshire on January 14, 1945. In
Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Dartmouth College stated that their support was meant to be temporary, a two-year commitment to get the School started. and Marianne Haile in ceramics, Alden Hewes Wood and Miss Sammy Tate in metalworking, Robert Frederic Heartz in weaving, Eva Crockett in textiles, and Ernest Brace in woodworking. The first students were a
Marine and a
Seabee, veterans funded through the
G.I. Bill. The first classes were held in Hallgarten Hall and Bissell Hall, The top floor of Bissell Hall hosted the woodworking shop while the basement provided space for the ceramics shop. At Hallgarten Hall, the main floor and basement were devoted to metalworking, and another two floors to textiles. Because of the emphasis on becoming self-supporting, all teachers were producing craftsmen. Mornings were spent on classes; afternoons on production work. Classes included theory, technique, use of tools, design, marketing and pricing. Students worked cooperatively in craft-specific shops in a setting for large quantity production. The ability to engage in production work in a group setting was seen as good training for specific skills and as offering a potential career avenue, which could enable craftsmen to support themselves while doing "creative work of an individual character." In this way, America House provided a "clinical laboratory" and "testing ground" for the SAC artists. The program was framed as a two-year certificate program, the major crafts offered being metalsmithing, wrought iron, pottery, textiles, and woodworking. The class schedule required a commitment of 40 hours per week and 11 months a year. Producing marketable goods and selling them through America House was still a major focus, but there was no longer an industry-style production system. As of January 1947, faculty included Ernest Frank Brace (woodworking), Edwin Blanchard Brown (design), Ethel Irene Mitchell (textiles), Linn Lovejoy Phelan (pottery), Herbert H. Sanders (pottery), Alden Hewes Wood (metalsmithing) and
Laurits Christian Eichner (metalsmithing).
Harold James Brennan became director of SAC in 1948, and focused much of his work on seeking out skilled faculty. Faced with a lack of qualified American craftspeople, he recruited faculty from
Denmark for metalsmithing and woodworking. Danish studio furniture designer
Tage Frid was also recruited in 1948, to teach woodworkinug at the School for American Craftsmen. His work was Danish-modern in style with light, delicate lines and curves that emphasized natural qualities of the wood. Frid is considered an originator of the studio furniture movement and credited with having "tremendous impact" on studio furniture making through his own work and the work of his students.
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York In 1950 the School for American Craftsmen moved again, to the
Rochester Institute of Technology, which was then located in downtown Rochester, New York. A basis for developing an advanced art and crafts curriculum already had been laid by
Susan Bevier (1822-1903). Bevier had given the Mechanics Institute her $70,000 art collection and her $300,000 estate. Thus, the school benefited from not one but two great women benefactors of art education, founder Aileen Osborn Webb and donor Susan Bevier. The appointment of
ceramist Frans Wildenhain as a faculty member in 1950 also had a broad impact on the school. Wildenhain had studied at the
Bauhaus in Germany, and spent the war working as a teacher and production potter in
Holland. Mature and experienced, he influenced all departments of the craft school, emphasizing creative and aesthetic concerns. Christensen combined Danish Modern style, technical knowledge and a trade background, all assets to the SAC metalsmithing department. Three degree programs were offered: Associate in Applied Science (two years), Bachelor of Fine Arts (four years) and Master of Fine Arts (five years). The new campus was officially opened at a dedication ceremony in October 1968. Around this time, the emphasis on production work at the school decreased. An increasing perception of the craftsperson as artist rather than artisan was personified by the appointment of American modernist
Albert Paley to the metalworking faculty in 1969. In the metalsmithing department, the 1960s saw a shift away from the production of traditional
holloware, to the creation of individualist contemporary jewelry. In 1972,
Gary S. Griffin replaced Paley. The requirement of "functionalism" was subsequently dropped, aligning the program's requirements with the emerging perception of the craftsperson as artist. Castle taught at the School for American Crafts from 1962 until 1969, at SUNY Brockport from 1969 until 1980, and founded the Wendell Castle School in 1980. He returned to SAC as an artist-in-residence in 1984. In 1988, the Wendell Castle School became part of the woodworking program at the School for American Craftsmen at RIT. Castle continued to be a tenured professor and artist-in-residence at the School for American Craftsmen. In 1992 the school shortened its name to the School for American Crafts. == Notable faculty and students ==