Honor, Recognition, Excellence

Since 2009, the Maine Crafts Association has honored craft artists by presenting them with the Maine Craft Artist Award. The award confers the prestige and acknowledgment of the artist’s work and career reaching a distinguishing mark of excellence.

These artists are recognized for their outstanding bodies of work and dedicated careers of service to the craft field in Maine.

2025 Awards Cycle

Two recipients will be selected by an appointed juror, guided by the following benchmarks: Excellence in craftsmanship, inspired design, a singular voice or style, and a career of service to the field. Once selected the annual awards presentation will be announced for later in 2025.

Thanks to generous funding from The Maxwell | Hanrahan Foundation, each awardee will receive a $4,000 honorarium in addition to historical benefits and endorsements of the Maine Craft Artist Awards:

• Lifetime Maine Crafts Association Professional Membership
• Recognition at the annual award presentation and ceremony
• Custom-made Award Pin that reflects the honoree
• Custom-made Award Certificate
• Special press release and website feature
• Solo exhibition at the Center for Maine Craft (SMC Retail Gallery)
• Invitation to teach at MCA Weekend Workshop at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
• Invitation to exhibit at any scheduled Guild Fine Craft Shows (SMC Produced Shows)
• Inclusion in decennial and vicennial anniversary exhibitions

Nominations

We aim to recognize a diversity of voices, backgrounds, cultural heritage, as well as exemplary contributions to the craft community and the field of materials-based practice.

Honorees are selected out of a pool of peer or self nominations. Please follow the link below and fill out the online form. All artists nominated since 2018 will automatically be considered for the award.

Form Criteria: 

• The media the artist works in / Professional title
• Artist nominee’s email, phone number, mailing address
• Link to the artists website for portfolio review and/or bio, resume and CV
• A written description of the highlights of the nominees studio practice
• A written description of the highlights of the nominees contribution to the craft community

If the artist does not have a good representation of their work or bio/resume online, please follow up the nomination submission with an email to Simonne@MaineCrafts.org

Learn more about the award’s history, criteria, history of recipients and to nominate, please follow this link.