“Leadership really comes down to two fundamental things and if you get them right, then you’re 80 percent of the way there. The first one is establishing the vision for a team; the second one is establishing a culture for your organization that helps contribute to mission success.”

Our Board

Not Pictured: Tony Wright, Jessica Patmo Johnson, Wendy Wilson, Sarah Ellis

Our Advisory Board

Our Story

2022 - A PRomising Future

After establishing Creating Your Career as a stand-alone program separate from the Alabama Clay Conference, building the framework for the Alabama Arts Log, and securing funding for CARE Packages and new interns, long-serving Board Members Curtis Benzle and John Phillips joined the newly created Advisory Board in 2022. At the 37th annual Alabama Clay Conference it was announced that, in recognition of his contributions as President to the Alabama Visual Arts Network, the 2023 Alabama Clay Conference will feature the first Curtis Benzle Distinguished Artist Lecture. The first Alabama Printmaking Conference was hosted by PaperWorkers Local and the Samford University Art Gallery in Birmingham in July. ALVAN supported artist exhibition and workshop honoraria for FLOW Tuscaloosa and provided funding for printing and framing as well as awards for excellence for the the Montgomery Photo Festival’s High School Student Exhibition. The first Alabama Fiber Art Conference will be hosted in Camden in August, 2023. With new logos, a new website, and more collaborations planned across the state, the Board is energized to embrace future opportunities and to engage Alabama artists and art-lovers going forward.

2019 - A MORE INCLUSIVE NAME

In 2019, the Board of the Alabama Craft Council voted to change the name of the organization to the Alabama Visual Arts Network, in recognition of its ongoing efforts to support visual artists working in all mediums at all stages of their careers.

1986 - THE ALABAMA CLAY CONFERENCE

The 1980s were a very active time for the organization and saw an expansion into a statewide craft conference, exhibitions around the state, and a regular newsletter.  The first statewide craft conference and exhibition was held in Tuscaloosa in April 1983 with support from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Kentuck Arts Center.  In 1986, the crafts conference narrowed its focus to clay and the first Alabama Clay Conference was held.  Larry Manning hosted the conference at Jefferson Davis State Junior College in Brewton in February 1986. The Alabama Clay Conference remained a staple program of the Alabama Craft Council and has now been hosted over 35 times all over Alabama.

1979 - A New Era

New Bylaws to govern the organization were filed in 1979 by then Secretary/Treasurer, Georgine Clarke, and officially changed the name of the organization to the Alabama Crafts Council. Georgine became increasingly involved with the organization through her role as Director of the Kentuck Arts Center & Festival and remained an active member and champion of the Crafts Council until her death in 2012.

1968 - ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

The Alabama Visual Arts Network, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation formerly known as the Alabama Craft Council, was founded in Montgomery in 1968 as the Alabama Craftsman’s Council and has promoted craft artists and fine craft in Alabama ever since. Howard McElhaney, Anne Pinkston, and Susan McKeen were among the founding board members.  

The Articles of Incorporation that were filed in December, 1968 articulated the founding mission of the organization as: 

To advance and promote the appreciation, enjoyment and distribution of crafts; to establish, maintain and manage this non-profit corporation for the mutual improvement, cultural benefit and social enlightenment of its members and of the public; to sponsor exhibitions of original crafts by any craftsmen, whether or not they are members of this corporation; to present craft programs of high quality; to afford a medium through which craftsmen may continue their work and study; to encourage craftsmen of all ages through special exhibitions and awards; and to foster appreciation and participation in crafts by the general public.