About the Guild

Artisans formed the Arkansas Craft Guild as a cooperative in 1962 to promote and preserve the traditional crafts of Arkansas, as well as build a market for high quality handmade products and provide a collaborative environment where craftsmen and women could share information and explore further development of their art.

Today the Guild still supports those early goals and has expanded to provide greater resources for its membership, expanded opportunities for marketing and reaching the public, and excellence in traditional, contemporary, and emerging crafts. The Guild recognizes the cultural and economic role crafts have played in the lives of Arkansans and development of the state and the continued impact they will have into the future.

The Arkansas Craft Guild is a for-profit cooperative, owned and operated by Guild members, and managed by a board of directors elected annually from the membership.

Guild Membership

Membership in the Arkansas Craft Guild represents excellence, creativity, and professionalism. Those juried in as members are a diverse group of individuals who have demonstrated the finest in traditional and contemporary arts, crafts and design.

Membership Benefits Include

Participation in Guild-sponsored events:

• Christmas Showcase, a three-day tradition held the first weekend in December in Little Rock, giving artists a direct link to holiday shoppers.
• Automatic jury into Mountain View, Arkansas Artisans Market on the Square.
• Inclusion of crafts in the Arkansas Craft Gallery on the square in downtown Mountain View.
• Inclusion of information and links on the Arkansas Craft Guild’s website.
• Public recognition, advertising, and promotion of artists and their work on a local, regional, and national basis.
• Access to marketing education and training provided through the Guild and the Ozark Folk Center and nearby Arkansas Craft School.

To apply for membership, refer to the 2021 Membership Information Packet, and use the applications below.