Two woodworkers each win US$100K Craft Awards
Robert K. Mills with “The Strength that Resides in Us All”, 2021, red cedar. Juneau, AK. Photo: Michael Penn
Two woodworkers are now US$100,000 richer as recipients of two of five 2025 Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft announced 21 May.
The Awards honour artisans, craftspeople, toolmakers, tradespeople and artists “who bring unique problem-solving perspectives to the expansive field of craft”. The five awardees each receive $100,000 in unrestricted funding.
Launched in 2022 and administered by United States Artists (USA), the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation established the Awards in Craft to celebrate artists and craftspeople for their unique and visionary approach to material-based practice, stewardship of cultural traditions, and craft’s potential to connect people, places and ideas. This unrestricted award seeks to recognise the complex, present, and ever-expanding role of artists and craftspeople by providing resources for them to continue their practice and advance their impact within our cultural fabric.
“Through a range of innovative approaches, this year’s awardees reveal the expansive potential of craft to shape how we see and engage with the world. Grounded in the cultural and historical significance of their materials, their collective practices honor the lineages of their disciplines while creating new paths for future generations. Working across mixed media including clay, glass, stone and wood, their work is rooted in diverse artistic traditions and informed by ecological, personal and social narratives — together reflecting the rich, multifaceted realities of contemporary craft.”
Baskets by Neal Thomas, 2022. White oak umbrella, dimensions variable. Neal Thomas's farm in Johnston County, NC. Photo: Earl L. Ijames.
Robert K. Mills is a Tlingit artist of the Tsaagweidi clan from Kake, Alaska. Working in metal, paint, and wood, Mills's art is deeply rooted in the traditions of his ancestors while pioneering new expressions for future generations.
Neal Thomas was born on April 22, 1940, in Raeford, NC. While working in the timber industry in the late 1950s, Thomas met an elder African American woodworker named Herman Holder, who shared with him the art and skill of making split white oak baskets.
Fellow award recipients included Jolie Ngo, ceramicist; Kevin Aspaas, Navajo textile and fibre artist; and Teri Greeves, Kiowa Tribe beadworker.
Learn more at www.unitedstatesartists.org