The Craft Program at Warren Wilson College
Ruby Jane Moser | September 16, 2021
Ruby Jane Moser
Yarn at the fiber arts studio.
Melanie Wilder, the fiber arts instructor at Warren Wilson College (WWC), is teaching an introduction to craft and material course with her craft colleagues, Ben Blackmar in Woodworking and Matt Haugh in Blacksmithing. Wilder has been teaching at WWC for thirteen years and has also taught at local fiber-based learning centers and art camps. Wilder said that the WWC fiber arts program is unique in that students and staff are the ones harvesting and growing the materials they are using to teach and learn.
“It asks us to slow down, it asks us to be more intentional about our daily rhythms and how we work with our hands,” said Wilder, in reference to how the craft program makes their materials. “Not just how we work with our hands, but why we work with our hands.”
Haugh is the iron work teacher at Warren Wilson. This semester he is teaching iron work as a part of the introduction to craft and material class, as well as the hammer and anvil class. He began working at WWC in 2017 and since arriving he has found it a privilege to learn alongside the students and all members of the community. Haugh thinks of blacksmithing as a biological craft that is built in our DNA because the swinging of a hammer came from the swinging of a rock.
“I am also continually inspired and impressed by the levels of intellect and thirst and hunger for knowledge that a learning community like this demonstrates on a daily basis,” Haugh said.
Ruby Jane Moser
Bowls at the woodworking studio.
Blackmar is the woodworking teacher at WWC. This semester he is teaching intro to craft and materials and during the second and fourth term he will be teaching hand tool woodworking. Blackmar comes from a woodworking family and has always had a natural ability with the craft. He has found a place in the woodworking community where he is surrounded by like-minded people and where he feels his interests, quirks and thoughts are valued.
“It's a lot of fun to be around other people who think and experience the physical world the same way I do,” said Blackmar, who grew up around woodworkers and has been a part of many woodworking communities at WWC, The Eliot Innovation School and Arrowmont School of Craft. “If you're not around people who think the way you do, you can start to question yourself and forget the value of your own interests and quirks and thoughts. And, it’s fun and it’s refreshing and exciting and encouraging and validating to find those people. And for me that is the woodworking community.”
This year the craft program is expanding, offering more opportunities for those who are interested. There will be two-credit craft courses offered as well as craft workshops and more open studios in the future. Wilder, Haugh and Blackmar are looking to offer more variety in techniques, skills and topics taught through classes that are currently in the works and will be added to the program in the spring and following semesters. Along with expanding the craft program, fiber arts is looking to introduce more collaborative and interdisciplinary learning through looking at craft through the lens of science and creative writing and how they can coincide with each other.
Ruby Jane Moser
Tools at the blacksmithing forge.
“That idea of interdisciplinary learning through craft is something that really excites me,” Wilder said. “So, getting other faculty excited to embark on learning through craft with us is, I think, what really excites me as the potential as we grow our craft programming.”
“That idea of interdisciplinary learning through craft is something that really excites me,” Wilder said. “So, getting other faculty excited to embark on learning through craft with us is, I think, what really excites me as the potential as we grow our craft programming.”
The Craft Work Crew’s curriculum has changed to more work aimed towards supporting the academic craft classes. The Craft work crew’s will be working on things such as preparing for and assisting in classes, and hosting open studios for students to attend.
With growing interest in a craft major among students, WWC is looking to add a craft major in the future.