We are excited to announce that our artisans are busy getting ready to welcome you into our virtual studio spaces in November! If 2020 were an ordinary year, we would be eagerly anticipating opening our physical studios to all those who appreciate handmade, high-quality art crafted by Virginia artisans. But with Covid-19, this year is anything but ordinary.

This year we celebrate the 26th year of Artisan Studio Tours with 37 artisans and their work available to you online at http://www.artisanstudiotour.com/.  Our new, enhanced web site will feature the artisans’ stories, with videos of their studios and some of their processes. And of course, you’ll find opportunities to purchase fine craft work.

This year’s Tour brings five new artisans from around the state representing a variety of crafts. Both of our new ceramic artisans, Katherine Maloney from the Tidewater area and Julie Madden from Charlottesville, start with the wheel, but don’t stop there, adding figurative and sculptural elements to their pieces. Woodworker Craig DuBose makes custom furniture based on his study of design from Asian, European, and American furniture-making traditions. Jason Benkendorf of Redeemed Woodturning gives new life to old trees in his one-of-a-kind functional bowls. Jeweler Liz Hanson works with sterling silver to make clean, fluid shapes and forms that emerge through forging, fabrication, and casting.

Artisans will provide video demonstrations and opportunities to learn about their working processes — you can find these on the Studio Tour web site. The Online Tour provides an excellent opportunity to purchase the work of talented professional artisans as unique gifts or for your own collection. The studios and artisans are varied, but their commitment to fine craftsmanship is a constant throughout the Tour.

When you sign the Tour virtual guest book on November 14 and 15, 2020, you will automatically be entered for a chance to win one of several pieces of our work in an online drawing.

For more information about the Artisans Studio Tour and links to individual artisan websites, visit online at www.artisanstudiotour.com, Like the Tour on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/artisans.studio.tour and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/artisanstudiotour/, or contact Nancy Ross at [email protected] or 434-973-6846.

Visit the Studio Tour online