The Makers Guild in Wales policy document on the Craft Centre Shop, Old Library, Cardiff, 1989-1995

Description

This document from the Managing Committee of The Makers Guild in Wales for the Craft Centre Shop states that the shop is acknowledged as one of Europe's leading galleries. Run by the MGW, the gallery is open six days a week. It explains that the craft centre shop has one paid employee but otherwise runs entirely on voluntary manning by members of the Guild. The members are asked to work for one day a month. The duty of a volunteer at the Craft centre includes watching the space and generally assisting.

The Makers Guild in Wales was established in February 1984 as an independent charitable organisation. The Guild was designed to bring together the talents of Welsh craftsmen and women. The organisation toured the UK and even Europe and other countries with their work - promoting Welsh craft. It is a membership organisation of individual crafts people, encompassing all mediums and skills, from wood carving to textiles and jewellery-making. All members must be living and working in Wales and must apply to become a member and then are vetted by a panel for their artistic skills and originality. The aims of the organisation are to introduce works of excellence to the public eye, to encourage the development of networking with crafts people and the general public and to strengthen the standards and professionalism of crafts in Wales. The beginning of The Makers Guild in Wales saw the organisation being wholly run by voluntary staff, no positions were paid until mid to late 1990s. To this day the MGW still relies on the help of volunteers to work in the gallery space; they have played a vital role in the sustainability of the craft organisation. From 1989 to 1995 the Guild was homed at the Old Library Craft Centre, this was before it established its home at Craft in the Bay which has been located in several buildings in Cardiff Bay. The guild is now based in Craft in the Bay (partly in the reconstructed D Shed from the old docks), on The Flourish in Cardiff Bay, a retail and exhibition space which holds a yearly programme along with educational and crafts workshops, which is run by both paid staff and volunteers.

Craft in the Bay Gallery
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