Craft Alliance, St. Louis

Art has the power to bring people together, whether in appreciation or the act of creation. The Craft Alliance Center provides both of these social adhesives, thanks to a catalog of classes covering pottery, painting, glasswork, and woodworking. The center is also home to monthly exhibitions and other events to showcase the work of both professionals and students, and give visitors the chance to appreciate local creative talent.

The focus is art in all its forms. Whether the tool is the raw flame fusing cut copper or Sculptris software running on a 3D printer, the intention to inspire and to create remains the same. Its two locations schedule seasonal terms with four- to six-week classes, as well as intensive workshops and children’s classes. Guiding each student along his or her adventure, skilled faculty instruct from experience. Most are working artists who continue to exhibit their work nationally and who participate in various aspects the art world.

Craft Alliance is empowering people with real world experience in making items like ceramic bowls, wooden spinning tops, rings and 3D printed objects. A good number of these pieces are created by hand and are meant to remind us that everyone can do something different from their everyday, workaday lives by adding beauty to a world that truly needs it.

The student and faculty artists are the backbone of the Craft Alliance community, which in 2014 celebrated its 50th anniversary. The Grand Center location represents a regeneration of an arts district already pillared by the Fabulous Fox Theatre, Powell Symphony Hall, and St. Louis University.