Welcome to Crafting Voices. The Crafting Voices is an audio program that focuses on American craft and those individuals who spend their lives creating, promoting, and collecting American craft.

Partly inspired by the Chicago Public Radio program, "This American Life", each show has a theme and features interviews with working artists and professional craftspeople...

Season 1


Episode Guide& Season 105 Jun 2007 08:04 pm

Whether your thumb is green or brown, almost everyone has a fascination with gardens, flowers, and nature. There have been countless artists who have used gardens and nature as an inspiration for your work. On today’s show, we’re looking at art inspired by nature and gardening.

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To listen, click on the “Play in Popup” link below, or you can download this episode and listen later by clicking on the “Download” link. For more information on how to listen to episodes, visit the “How to Listen” page.

Episode Guide& Season 110 May 2007 02:36 am

Back in the day, little girls were expected to learn how to sew, how knit, how to embroider, and how to quilt, because it was part of the skills women needed in order to run their households. With the advent of mass produced clothing and home products, the necessity of knowing traditional “women’s” skills became less important, and for a time, knitting and sewing seemed to be terribly “old fashioned” and almost hokey. Not so anymore. Books and videos on quilting and knitting has exploded…and there is a revival of the old fashioned sewing or knitting circle - with a modern edge. And you’re likely to find more than just lady-like doilies and baby booties…today’s generation of knitters, quilters, and embroiders are creating amazing things. On today’s show, we’re looking at Women’s Work - the traditional domestic skills of sewing, embroidery, and knitting and how today’s artists are using these skills to make incredible art.

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Listen to this Episode

To listen, click on the “Play in Popup” link below, or you can download this episode and listen later by clicking on the “Download” link. For more information on how to listen to episodes, visit the “How to Listen” page.

Episode Guide& Season 124 Apr 2007 03:30 pm

One question that artists are always getting is, “Where do you get all of your ideas?”. In reality, I’ve found that some of the most incredible artists are inspired by some of the most unremarkable and everyday things. On this week’s show, I’ll be exploring how artists become inspired, what gave them their “aha” moment, and how they stay inspired.

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To listen, click on the “Play in Popup” link below, or you can download this episode and listen later by clicking on the “Download” link. For more information on how to listen to episodes, visit the “How to Listen” page.

Episode Guide& Season 117 Apr 2007 02:00 pm

The most we ever think about trash…if we ever really think about it at all…is that we
have to put it out on the curb on Thursday nights so it can be picked up early the next morning. Most of our awareness about the things we discard stops at the trash can at the curb. There are a number of artists who use what we throw away to create their art and are breathing new life into the things that we consider trash. In celebration of Earth Day this first episode of Season 1 of Crafting Voices, we’ll look at three artists who use discarded materials to create their work and how they transform trash into a thing of beauty.

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Listen to this Episode

To listen, click on the “Play in Popup” link below, or you can download this episode and listen later by clicking on the “Download” link. For more information on how to listen to episodes, visit the “How to Listen” page.