Emerging Leadership

Eliot School Represented in the Smithsonian’s New National Initiative

In 2020, the Smithsonian Center of Folklife and Cultural Heritage launched an African American Craft Initiative. The Smithsonian called it “a pan-institutional effort to highlight the voices and work of African American makers while building strong, maker-led networks and collaboration opportunities.”

Eliot School Associate Director Alison Croney Moses was tapped to participate in the Think Tank and the 3-day virtual AACI with other African American makers from across the country. Her work and thought leadership lead to the inclusion of the Eliot School in the new AACI Craft Institution Consortium Report that was just released this Fall 2021. Click here to read the report.

The report is a summarizes the findings of three separate AACI convenings designed to study how to address systemic racism and unconscious bias in the craft world. It includes recommendations and next steps on issue of great interest to African American Makers like

institutional recognition and support, entrepreneurship, community building, networking, social media, and more.