Our Mission

Inspire and build a creative community through the promotion, appreciation and teaching of craft.

The Worcester Center for Crafts is a nonprofit, community-based arts organization committed to:

  • Providing quality craft education
  • Assisting artists/artisans to gain visibility and marketplace prominence
  • Supporting entrepreneurship in the arts
  • Promoting an appreciation for fine craft and the handmade object

Supporting the craft community

Worcester State University Partnership

In 2009, concerned community leaders serving as volunteer board members of the Worcester State Foundation, Inc. and the Worcester Center for Crafts worked to forge an affiliation to support the Worcester Center for Crafts through a period of financial crisis. These volunteer leaders had the foresight to understand that the affiliation would be of great benefit to Worcester State University (whose growth at its main campus at that time threatened to leave the Visual and Performing Arts Department with insufficient studio classroom space), the Worcester Center for Crafts, and the entire Worcester community.

supporting the craft community

Our Continued Alliance

The agreement between the Worcester State Foundation and the Worcester Center for Crafts created an alliance that has yielded the following results:

  • The Worcester Center for Crafts remains an independent, vital non-profit community arts organization whose mission is to inspire and build a creative community through the teaching, promotion, and appreciation of craft.
  • The Worcester Center for Crafts receives strategic guidance from the Worcester State Foundation.
  • The Worcester Center for Crafts receives administrative support from the Worcester State University offices of IT, Finance, HR, Security, and Communications and Marketing.
  • The Associate Vice President for Continuing Education at Worcester State University provides support for the Executive Director of the Worcester Center for Crafts and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Worcester Center for Crafts.
  • The Worcester Center for Crafts provides studio space for faculty and students in the Worcester State University’s undergraduate Visual and Performing Arts Department classes in visual art, art history, and music composition. Additionally, the Center offers individual spaces for art students during their senior year.
  • The Worcester Center for Crafts fosters the potential for Worcester State University to offer interdisciplinary courses (for example, The Chemistry of Glass) as well as classes and internships related to non-profit management and entrepreneurship.
  • The Worcester Center for Crafts provides an off-campus meeting space for groups from or related to Worcester State University.
  • The Worcester Center for Crafts provides Worcester State University with opportunities for community outreach through the Center’s programs and networking capabilities.