Handicraft guild of minneapolis

DEFINITION

A cultural outgrowth of economic expansion in Minneapolis in the 1880s and 1890s, the HGM was organized in 1904 by a group of women whose "emphasis was on the handcraft process and truth to materials." In 1907, a building was constructed for the Guild at 89 South 10th Street in downtown Minneapolis, and in 1918, the Guild's program was incorporated into the Art Department of the University of Minnesota. Education was a primary focus of the Handicraft Guild, and among the teachers were Mary Moulton Cheney, a graphic designer and Director of the Minneapolis School of Fine Art; and Ernest Batchelder from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Other activities included exhibitions and sales of work by members. With egalitarian motives, they signed their pieces only with the cipher HG and not their own names. Work included metal pieces, ceramics, jewelry, prints, weaving and baskets. Source: http://www.davidrumsey.com/Amico/amico580127-102384.html