Building Tradition Episode 23: Craftsmanship and the Building Arts with Judy Hayward

During the Victorian period and the industrialization of America there sprang the Arts and Crafts movement, a return to things made by hand out of natural materials by building artisans and craftspeople. "There has been a return to craft," says Judy Hayward, a preservation trades training and education provider, a desire to create with our hands, get out from behind our computers and feel the satisfaction of making or restoring something beautiful."

From the North Bennet Street School to the Hope Crew to the American College of the Building Arts and Belmont College, there has been a resurgence of interest in learning the building arts, from stone carving to decorative painting, plaster preservation to stain glass assembly. These programs, as well as Judy Hayward's Historic Windsor Preservation Education Institute and the Traditional Building Conference Series are training the new generation of craftspeople and building artisans.

"One can make a good living as a tradesperson," exclaims Hayward. "And as mid-century buildings age beyond fifty years, there is a whole new demand for building artisans who can preserve them." Whether through private apprenticeships or fine arts programs at liberal arts colleges, young people and mid-career professionals alike are finding their way into the preservation trades. And a plethora of trades training videos are helping to grow the pool of traditional building craftspeople.

Listen in as building arts education and training provider Judy Hayward talks about the collaboration between designers and craftspeople who preserve, restore, replicate, and save our traditional building architectural legacy.

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