The Exhibition

Gustav Stickley and the East Coast

Arts and Crafts societies and experimental communities, modelled on British prototypes, were established in and around Massachusetts and New York in the early 1890s. Among the most notable initiatives were the Roycroft Shops and the Byrdcliffe Colony, both in New York state, and Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms in New Jersey.

Perhaps more than anyone else, Stickley defined the Arts and Crafts Movement as it evolved in America. Although he fully subscribed to Arts and Crafts ideals, his approach was more commercially aware. Stickley sought economic viability as well as moral satisfaction.

He operated as an entrepreneur, designer and furniture manufacturer. In 1898 he founded the Craftsman Workshops in Syracuse, NewYork, for the production of furniture, metalwork and textiles. From 1901 to 1916 he published The Craftsman, an influential magazine in which he illustrated his own work as well as that from Britain, mainland Europe and other parts of America.