Worcester Center for Crafts

The Worcester Center for Crafts is Worcester's original Maker's Space, beginning in 1856 as the Worcester Employment Society, an institution then, as is now, dedicated to the teaching of craft. The Craft Center is the only fulltime center in the area that provides instruction in ceramics, metals (including jewelry and enameling), digital and darkroom photography, and glass (glassblowing, flameworking and stained glass) as well as provides exhibit and sales space to artists and makers from all over the country. It is also the only accessible Craft Center in the area open to the public. This makes it a unique part of Worcester's cultural landscape, one that was important enough to the community to have survived since 1856. As the only public Crafts Center in central Massachusetts, northern Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire, our students and artists come from over a 50-mile radius of Worcester; our Artists-in-Residence are drawn from a national search and recruitment campaign; some relocate to the Worcester area and some reside in the Boston and Providence area while doing their residencies.

Our demos & events draw from throughout New England. The Center supports the diverse talents of the public through: Classes/Workshops, Visiting Artist Demonstrations/Workshops; special events; Artist in Residence program; outreach to schools; youth program with scholarship program; adult scholarship program; 9-10 gallery exhibits annually; and a Gallery Store representing over 300 American artists from around the country. The Center annually welcomes over 1000 students to 6-week classes to learn craft, and serves thousands more at our Holiday Festival of Crafts and Pottery Invitational and other events. The Krikorian Gallery and the Gallery Store are two of the few options for the public in the area to buy fine art craft and hand-crafted gifts.

Our mission: "to inspire and build a creative community through the promotion, appreciation and teaching of craft." We accomplish this by providing high-quality craft education and training for adults and youth, by supporting craft artists in their professional development, and through advocacy and public initiatives that create and nourish a dynamic market and appreciation for craft and teaching all ages & abilities, inspiring growth, reaching new audiences