Olivia Comstock

This dissertation critiques the antagonistic relationship between the studio craft movement, economic precarity, and race by providing the first study of Allen Fannin (1939 –2004), a studio craft practitioner known for his spinning and weaving between the 1960s and 1980s. Fannin’s frank appraisal of what he called “The Black Craftsman Situation” identified the limits of studio craft for those with “nitty-gritty needs.” This project gathers previously unarchived materials to examine different facets of Fannin’s practice: texture, how-to manuals, commercial production, and pedagogy. By considering the social and material stakes of Fannin’s work, this project pushes the field of American art to consider where race is found in the materials, techniques, and objects of American history.