Historians estimate that skilled Black artisans outnumbered their white counterparts in the antebellum South by a margin of five to one. However, despite their presence and prevalence in all corners of the pre-industrial trade and craft fields, the stories of these skilled workers go largely unacknowledged.

Running through July 13th, 2024, and borrowing its title from a Black culture and politics magazine of the same name, Hammer and Hope celebrates the life and labor of Black chairmakers in early America. Featuring the work of two contemporary furniture makers – Robell Awake and Charlie Ryland – the pieces in this exhibition are based on the artists’ research into ladderback chairs created by the Poynors, a multigenerational family of free and enslaved craftspeople working in central Tennessee between the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This exhibit runs through July 13, 2024.

Learn more about the Center for Craft at www.centerforcraft.org



Find out more about the Hammer & Hope exhibit at https://www.centerforcraft.org
/exhibition/hammer-and-hope

To purchase Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression by Robin D. G. Kelley, visit https://amzn.to/47yp9sm

Learn more about The Asheville View: TheAVLView.com