The 2025 Small Group Discussion Topics
From the very beginning of the National Arts and Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn, our seminar presentations have been so popular that we have always held them in the spacious Heritage Ballroom. It soon became apparent that attempting to hold a traditional question-and-answer session with each speaker afterwards was impractical in a large ballroom, so in its place we began offering daily Small Group Discussions.
Friday, February 21st – 11am – Noon
Art Pottery Collecting 101
with Christine Boone and Patti Bourgeois
“Spotting Furniture Fakes, Forgeries, and Repairs”
with N. Gordon Gray
“What’s the Best Online Resource for Beginning Collectors?”
with Michael Lehr
“Hats, Shirtwaists and Boots: The Arts & Crafts Style From Head to Toe”
with Dianne Ayres
Saturday, February 22nd – 2:30pm – 3:30pm
“Craftsman Farms for Kids:
Making a Children’s Book about Gustav Stickley’s Home in New Jersey”
with Executive Director Vonda Givens and Book Illustrator Anna Szalc
Saturday, February 22nd – 4:30pm – 5:30pm
“Design Theory: Who’s Who in the Era of Arts & Crafts?”
with speaker Marie Frank
“Remuddling, Remodeling, or Restoration?”
with Norman Blankenship
“Collecting the Wooden Lamps of the Arts & Crafts Movement: Part Two”
with Jill Thomas-Clark
“Planning A Color Scheme for your Arts & Crafts Exteriors”
with Karen Hovde
“The Ten (Questionable)
Commandments of the Arts & Crafts Movement”
with Andre Chaves
“Building Arts & Crafts Furniture: Where Do I Begin?”
with E. Stewart Crick
Sunday, February 23rd – 12:30 – 1:30pm
“Weathering the Storm: Raising Awareness in Historic Preservation During Natural Disasters”
with Stickley Museum Executive Director Vonda Givens and Jonathan Clancy
“The A and C Philosophy: How Does It Fit Today?”
with Pat Bartinique
“Finding Your Lens: Photography for your Arts & Crafts Space”
with speaker Alex Vertifkoff
“Stickley’s Craftsman Homes—How to Find and Restore Them”
with author Ray Stubblebine
“Landscape Design for Craftsman Homes”
with Arlette Salata