Fuller Craft Museum

Mission:

Fuller Craft Museum is a dynamic environment where craft is experienced through exhibitions, education, outreach, and collaboration. We explore the materials, techniques, and artistic expression that challenge the perception of craft, while honoring the achievements of the past.

Vision:

Fuller Craft Museum will become an international forum for the recognition and exploration of craft. Our Museum will be known as a familiar destination inspiring visitors from New England and beyond. People of all ages and artistic ability will come and come again to enhance their lives through an intimacy with craft.

History:

Fuller Craft Museum was made possible by Myron Fuller, who in August 1946, set up a trust fund for an art center to be educational in nature. A native of Brockton, Fuller was a geologist and a hydrologist. During his career, he amassed a small fortune. From his accumulated wealth, Fuller set aside the sum of one million dollars, to establish the art museum and cultural center in memory of his family.

In 1969, the Museum was built and first opened its doors as the new Brockton Art Center Fuller Memorial. There was no collection, but there were lectures and exhibitions of mostly drawings and paintings, all for the annual membership price of $10. The Museum eventually changed its name to The Fuller Art Museum and began collecting artwork in every medium. In 2004, the Museum changed again to Fuller Craft Museum to focus solely on collecting contemporary craft, which is rooted in the creation of functional objects and dates back roughly to the end of World War II. Makers who work primarily with their hands in materials that are tactile and familiar (wood, metal, glass, ceramics, and fiber) have stretched the boundaries of these functional everyday objects into the conceptual, the personal, the virtuosic, and wildly imaginative studio craft scene.

Right now, Fuller Craft Museum is the most exciting place to be in the world of contemporary craft. We offer a collection, exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops, and special events where you can literally touch the materials and objects. We strive to keep this work accessible, to put people in touch with the minds and methods of the makers, in touch with the values embodied by craft. Thus our motto-let the art touch you.