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Built By Hand

Skilled Artisans in the Traditional Trades

“I’m shaping and setting stones with skills passed down through generations. The magnitude of it all constantly inspires me.”
Brianna Castelli, stone carver and mason
Built by Hand features the inspiring stories of a wide range of skilled artisans in the building trades, highlighting their diverse perspectives and experiences, their traditional knowledge and skill, their pride and satisfaction in work, and their dedication to passing on their craft traditions to the next generation.
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Skilled craftspeople in the traditional trades play a vital role in preserving our nation’s cultural heritage and built environment. Through their artistry and skill, their creativity and care, they help communities preserve historic places that hold memories, meaning, history, and identity. They create new architectural works of beauty and excellence that enrich us all. This crucial body of centuries-old traditional knowledge needs to be preserved and passed on to future generations.

We invite you to meet extraordinary artisans—stone carvers, decorative painters, preservation carpenters, blacksmiths, ornamental plasterers, stained-glass artisans, and many others—and discover the skills and values that shape and give meaning to their work.

Master blacksmith Darryl Reeves and apprentice Karina Roca work together at the anvil in Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans. Photo by Jonn Hankins, courtesy of New Orleans Master Crafts Guild

We hope this exhibition inspires a new generation of craftspeople to learn, practice, and preserve the building arts, and helps us all to value the humanity of the handmade.

— Marjorie Hunt, exhibition curator

Credits

Sponsors

Smithsonian Women‘s Committee

This project has been made possible by the generous support of the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.

Additional support was provided by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.

Built by Hand: Skilled Artisans in the Traditional Trades was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. 

Smithsonian Women‘s Committee

This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.

Exhibition

Curator

Marjorie Hunt

Editor

Elisa Hough

Interns

Ben Cook, Lydia Desormeaux, Claire Egelhoff, Lucy Florenzo, Peyton Hoffman, Mary Bridget Jones, Maria Maxwell, Connor Roop

Project Support

Sloane Keller

Advisors

Christina Butler, American College of the Building Arts; Christine Franck, INTBAU USA; Jonn Hankins, New Orleans Master Crafts Guild; Stephen Hartley, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Alejandro Garcia Hermida, Traditional Building Cultures Foundation; Michael Lykoudis, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Stefanos Polyzoides, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Nicholas Redding, The Campaign for Historic Trades; Moss Rudley, National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center; Steven Semes, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Simeon Warren, National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training; Harriet Wennberg, International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU)

Special Thanks

Betty Belanus, Marquinta Bell, Halle Butvin, Allen Carroll, Paloma Catalan, Kevin Eckstrom, Mimi McNamara, Arlene Reiniger, Colin Winterbottom, Erin Younger

Web Development

Design & Programming

Visual Dialogue

Content Migration

Ben Hatfield

Web Support

Elisa Hough

Archives Support

Cecilia Peterson
David Walker

Resources

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Credits

Sponsors

Smithsonian Women‘s Committee

This project has been made possible by the generous support of the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.

Additional support was provided by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.

Built by Hand: Skilled Artisans in the Traditional Trades was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. 

Smithsonian Women‘s Committee

This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.

Exhibition

Curator

Marjorie Hunt

Editor

Elisa Hough

Interns

Ben Cook, Lydia Desormeaux, Claire Egelhoff, Lucy Florenzo, Peyton Hoffman, Mary Bridget Jones, Maria Maxwell, Connor Roop

Project Support

Sloane Keller

Advisors

Christina Butler, American College of the Building Arts; Christine Franck, INTBAU USA; Jonn Hankins, New Orleans Master Crafts Guild; Stephen Hartley, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Alejandro Garcia Hermida, Traditional Building Cultures Foundation; Michael Lykoudis, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Stefanos Polyzoides, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Nicholas Redding, The Campaign for Historic Trades; Moss Rudley, National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center; Steven Semes, University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Simeon Warren, National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training; Harriet Wennberg, International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU)

Special Thanks

Betty Belanus, Marquinta Bell, Halle Butvin, Allen Carroll, Paloma Catalan, Kevin Eckstrom, Mimi McNamara, Arlene Reiniger, Colin Winterbottom, Erin Younger

Web Development

Design & Programming

Visual Dialogue

Content Migration

Ben Hatfield

Web Support

Elisa Hough

Archives Support

Cecilia Peterson
David Walker

Resources