Craft Year 2015 continues to grow, with over 300 events registered, 691 followers on Twitter, and 1,020 on Facebook. #CraftYear2015 and #craftselfie Saturdays are making waves online, but it’s more than a virtual celebration. There are special exhibitions, book launches, workshops, demonstrations, fairs, and so much more going on right now across the country.

And we’re not the only ones paying attention. The CCF is honoured to have had 2015 officially declared as Craft Year!

British Columbia was the first to confirm the honours back in January, with an official declaration from the province, and another proclaiming January as “Craft Month” in the city of Vancouver. Declaring craft as “an art form that is reflective of society” and “a significant key player in Canadian culture and the heritage of British Columbia”.

The celebrations then travelled east, where the province of New Brunswick declared 2015 as the Year of Craft during the opening reception for the New Brunswick Crafts Council’s provincial travelling exhibition at the Saint John Arts Centre. On March 13th, Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister Bill Fraser made the official declaration public, welcoming all New Brunswickers to celebrate their culture through craft. The province’s capital city also made a public declaration, as the Mayor of Fredericton, Brad Woodside, delivered a special presentation during the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design’s exhibition at Government House gallery, and again at Fredericton’s city council meeting on April 13th, 2015.

Most recently, the Yukon government recognized Craft Year 2015 in a tribute presented at the first session of the Yukon Legislative Assembly on May 21st, 2015. There, the Honourable Elaine Taylor, Deputy Premier and Minister Responsible for Tourism and Culture, presented the official declaration, and announced that in honour of Craft Year, the Yukon’s annual permanent art collection’s acquisitions for 2015 will focus exclusively on works of craft. In attendance at this tribute included representatives from the government alongside volunteers from the Yukon Art Society, Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism Association, Adäka Cultural Festival, the Teslin Tlingit Council, Yukon Artists at Work, and nine individual artists representing the craft sector in the territory.

These declarations bring Craft Year to a broader audience, while also setting the events in the history books as part of official provincial and territorial records. We hope to see more declarations in other regions across the country before the end of the year.