The History of the Crafts Guild of Manitoba

Kathy E. Zimon is a fine arts librarian (emerita) at the University of
Calgary. She is the author of Alberta Society of Artists: The First 70
Years and co-editor of Art Documentation Bulletin of the Art Libraries
Society of North America.

Founded in 1928 as the Manitoba Branch of the Canadian Handicraft Guild,
the organization gained independence in 1968, operating under that name
until 1997 when it became the Crafts Guild of Manitoba.

Characteristic of organizations with social-cultural-educational
mandates, it was founded by women. The guild’s mandate was the
preservation of handicrafts, teaching crafts skills, and marketing the
items made. In practice, however, it had a much wider role. The guild
promoted the crafts of Manitoba immigrant groups and Aboriginals; taught
classes in various crafts and maintained standards of quality; sold the
craft items, creating income for the producers (a welcome economic
benefit during the Depression years); was among the first to import and
sell Eskimo carvings; and through its exhibitions, sales, meetings, and
teas enhanced the social life of the communities where it was active.
Over the years, the guild worked with the Red Cross, the war effort, the
disabled, and other groups that needed its expertise. Ultimately, that
wider social role enabled it to flourish when the existing educational
and cultural institutions could not meet all community needs. Once those
institutions matured, and stores, galleries, and other amenities of
urban life proliferated, the guild and its functions became dispensable.
Sensitive as ever to changing times, the last executive negotiated a
responsible end to its operations. The guild’s papers were deposited
with the Provincial Archives of Manitoba, while its permanent collection
and books were transferred to the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library.

Dot From has chronicled the guild, annually until the 1950s, then by
decades, faithfully recording its many activities, triumphs and
failures, names of officers, obituaries, and profiles of many guild
members. This spiral-bound volume is clearly a labor of love that would
have benefited from more professional editing and publishing, an index,
and illustrations. Nevertheless, it is a story that deserved to be told,
and should be a treasure trove for historians of women’s studies, arts
and crafts, social history, and prairie heritage.