A “war chief” takes the reigns of troubled Handmade in America.

by Jess McCuan . photo by Matt Rose

Yes, she’s a craft artist. But in this case, she also needs to be a bit of a clean-up artist. That’s because Gwynne Rukenbrod is the new executive director of Handmade in America, an 18-year-old Asheville arts organization that has been in freefall since last January, when its executive director, Geraldine Plato, was abruptly fired. Plato had spent only two years on the job. She took over from the group’s founding director, Becky Anderson, who—with the help of some 300 other Western North Carolinians in the early ‘90s—created an organization that celebrates the making of handmade objects (and measures crafters’ economic impact) in the region.

To say that the nonprofit is at a crossroads would be an understatement. A crisis is more like it, says Rukenbrod, a petite, outspoken 39-year-old who’s a trained glassblower and moved here after a two-year stint as craft curator at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Texas. Handmade, like nonprofits around the country, has not had an easy time fundraising recently, as the recession has put a squeeze on state and local arts grants and donors and foundations have tightened their pursestrings. Just a few days before she became director, Rukenbrod says, the organization learned that it would lose a multi-year, $495,000 grant.

Handmade has also had staffing trouble. In 2008, Anderson, who had led the organization for 14 years, stepped down to start a consulting business. In her place, the board hired Plato, who had worked at Penland School of Crafts and was then head of Spruce Pine Montessori School. When Plato was fired last January, the move drew criticism from far and wide. Rob Pulleyn, who sits on the board at Penland and other craft organizations, summed it up when he wrote to Handmade: “I have never seen such an irresponsible and capricious board decision… [it] has been devastating to the entire WNC crafts community.” The move was also financially dicey. “I’m sure there are funders out there who watched during the transition and were concerned about their investments,” Rukenbrod says.

One of Rukenbrod’s first objectives will be to help Handmade diversify its revenue stream, a project Plato had started. In addition to going after new grants, she’ll reach out to individual donors and create core programming that generates cash. She’ll also shift staffers so that people who, in the past, oversaw only one program will now handle several. Titles will reflect new emphasis. Judi Jetson, once the Small Towns Program Coordinator, will now be Director of Creative Economies—which lets Jetson focus on spurring creative economies in WNC towns large and small.

Rukenbrod also wants Handmade to reconnect with craft artists. “We seem to have forgotten the more direct services to crafters,” she says. Figuring out which crafters is an interesting question. In the past, the nonprofit has formed strong ties to traditional crafters like potters and quilters. One of its major efforts is the Barn Quilts project, which promotes the Appalachian tradition of painting bright quilt patterns on barns. But Asheville’s craft community now includes a swelling crowd of people in their 20s and 30s whose kitschy, nontraditional creations often incorporate recycled materials and technology. For proof, look no further than hipster crafter gatherings like the bi-annual Big Crafty, where organizers have had so many applicants for 140 slots that they’ve had to turn many artists away.

Rukenbrod, whose husband makes funky metal jewelry, says she’s well aware of the split and is well suited to speak to both groups. “I’m definitely in that generation that can appreciate the younger DIY hipster crafters—even though there’s been a lot of criticism of them in the fine craft field,” she says. “They certainly need to be celebrated and appreciated.” Starting in March, she’ll hold free talks once a month in Handmade’s Design Lab space to teach crafters portfolio-building basics and tips for getting their work into local galleries.

In the big picture, Rukenbrod thinks it’s time for Handmade to move past its leadership struggles and stake out new territory on the WNC arts scene. When she moved here last year, someone told her that, in the Native American community, there are peace chiefs and war chiefs—and she seemed like a war chief. “I thought that was interesting. I do like to come in, take an organization and help it become more financially stable—move it to the next level,” she says. “It’s a good time for Handmade to have a war chief.”

For more information, check out www.handmadeinamerica.org.