Craft Contemporary

Craft Contemporary is a non-profit, non-collecting arts museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated exclusively to contemporary craft. Located on Museum Row along Wilshire Boulevard, it is the only institution on the West Coast of the United States to focus solely on this field. Formerly known as the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM), the organization was incorporated in 1973 and began formal operations in 1975. It presents exhibitions and public programs for all ages, from family workshops to intensive sessions for older adults, and has built a reputation for supporting emerging and underrepresented artists before they achieve mainstream recognition.

The museum's origins trace to November 1, 1965, when artist Edith R. Wyle, described by the Los Angeles Times as the "Folk Art's High Priestess," opened the commercial gallery The Egg and The Eye in a historic building on Wilshire Boulevard. The gallery sold fine craft and traditional art from world cultures and featured a restaurant with over 50 varieties of omelettes. Its success led Wyle and her associates to establish the non-profit Craft and Folk Art Museum in 1973, with formal operations beginning in 1975. Wyle served as Artistic Director from 1973 to 1984, then as Founder/Director Emeritus on the Board of Trustees.

The museum initiated Los Angeles' first multicultural festival, the International Festival of Masks, in 1976. The two-day celebration of folk art, dance, music, and food drew up to 40,000 people annually through 1994, and was selected as an official event of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival during the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

The restaurant closed permanently on June 30, 1989, as the museum began major renovations. During construction, CAFAM occupied the historic May Company department store building from November 1989 through 1992, then mounted exhibitions in off-site venues while Hodgetts + Fung reconfigured the original structure. The renovated museum reopened May 12, 1995, but closed again at the end of 1997 due to financial difficulties. The permanent collection was sold at auction; the library went to the L.A. County Museum of Art Research Library; and institutional archives were transferred to UCLA Young Research Library Special Collections. A partnership between the CAFAM Board and the City of Los Angeles, developed by former Administrative Director Patrick Ela and Al Nodal of the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs, enabled the museum to reopen in February 1999 after 14 months.

Edith Wyle died on October 12, 1999. The following year, the city honored her with a commemorative plaque at the corner of Stanley Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, designating the intersection as "Edith Wyle Square." In 2018, the board voted to change the institution's name to Craft Contemporary, publicly announced in January 2019, to reflect craft's evolution from associations with the antiquated to a contemporary art form rooted in the present.

As a non-collecting institution, Craft Contemporary does not maintain a permanent collection. Its programming emphasizes the process and materials of craft, exploring how traditional techniques and materials can be employed in unprecedented ways both technically and conceptually. The museum's vision positions craft as a contemporary art form rather than a historical or utilitarian practice. Its mission specifically targets established and emerging artists and designers who are often underrepresented in larger art institutions, with particular attention to supporting early-career artists before they achieve mainstream recognition.

Because Craft Contemporary is non-collecting, it does not hold permanent works. However, the institution has a significant history of presenting notable exhibitions that have advanced artists' careers. Early shows featured now-prominent artists including Frank Romero, Otto Natzler, Dale Chihuly, and Sam Maloof. More recently, the museum has supported artists such as Betye Saar, Timothy Washington, Gronk, Beatriz Cortez, and John Riddle. Significant exhibitions include "Betye Saar: Keepin' it Clean" (2017); the Pacific Standard Time exhibition "The US-Mexico Border: Place, Imagination, and Possibility" (2017); the 1st Clay Biennial, "Melting Point: Movements in Contemporary Clay" (2018); and "Katherine Gray: As Clear as the Experience" (2018).

The museum occupies a historic building at 5814 Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile district of Mid-Wilshire, directly across from the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park. The building was originally designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in 1930 as a mixed-use commercial space. It was renovated twice for The Egg and The Eye gallery by Guy Moore, then extensively reconfigured by the architectural firm Hodgetts + Fung in 1995. The original facade remains almost completely intact. During the 1989-1992 renovation period, the museum temporarily relocated to the historic May Company department store building, and later moved offices and the library to 5800 Wilshire before returning to the merged and reconfigured structure at 5814 Wilshire.

Craft Contemporary is located on Los Angeles' Museum Row on Wilshire Boulevard, across from the La Brea Tar Pits and near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The museum operates as a non-profit organization with a partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, established in 1998 to ensure its continued operation after financial difficulties. Its public programs cater to all ages, from family workshops to more intensive sessions for older adults. The institution's website is http://www.cafam.org/.