American Craft Council's 2009 Conference

I just got back from my first American Craft Council Conference in Minneapolis, Minn. I wasn't exactly sure why I was going, but felt strongly compelled to make a trip out of it. I flew into Milwaukee to hang out with my grandma and then drove with my mom across I-94 straight through the gorgeous fall leaves into Minneapolis. I was most excited to hear Dr. Richard Sennett who's book, The Craftsman has "disrupted" my life much like Small in Beautiful or Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster.

Upon signing up for this conference, I feared a specific outcome. I predicted that I would attend this conference, listen to the presentations, which would then put me into a manic state and I wouldn't know how to best mobilize all the wonderful information I was adding to my database.

I was right, I came back to Brooklyn and traded bliss for angst.

To oversimplify, the angst comes from choice, the choice to be the craftsperson or study them?

Atelier or Academia?

Lucky for you, as part of my information digestion process which I am hoping will aid my decision making/life crafting, I will be creating a series of posts sharing the notes I took at the conference.