KEEPING IN TOUCH
FROM THE MAKERS OF THE HENRY FORD
We asked artisans within Greenfield Village’s Liberty Craftworks community why they like to make things with their hands Compiled by Jennfer LaForce
MAKING A LIFE: WORKING BY HAND AND DISCOVERING THE LIFE YOU ARE MEANT TO LIVE The Henry Ford Magazine asked author Melanie Falick to contribute to this issue, understanding her love of and appreciation for makers and their inner motivations. This summer, you can find Falick’s latest work, Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live in The Henry Ford gift shops. A carefully curated compilation of maker stories, this book is a treat to digest — formatted as individual profiles for easy scanning and reading. A maker and entrepreneur herself, Falick is passionate and eager to explore with readers the role building with our hands can play in making a good life.
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JUNE-DECEMBER 2021
Joshua Wojick Crafts and Trades Program Manager Mediums: Glassblowing, Mixed-Media Sculpture Years at The Henry Ford: 16 A student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit in the 1990s, Joshua was interested in industrial design, thinking about going into the automotive industry. Then he decided to take a glassblowing class. “I was hooked instantly,” he said. “It spawned my love of craft, of materiality and the honesty of material, of making.” He changed majors and has never looked back. At The Henry Ford, he appreciates the boutique expression of production afforded by the Liberty Craftworks community. “It’s a tough world getting into strict production craftmaking. It takes specific focus to make the same things over and over again. When you get to see it in a smaller setting — where artists are working, controlling, understanding the material moment by moment — it draws you in. That is what’s unique to The Henry Ford.” He is also grateful for the guests he can interact with in Greenfield Village during daily demonstrations. “I have always looked at this interaction as the driving force of the Craftworks community. As artists, we have the opportunity to meet unique people and hear their life journeys, which can help you think differently throughout the day.” Joshua never stops making things, creating award-winning art inside as well as outside of The Henry Ford. See more of his work at joshuawojick.com.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOSHUA WOJICK
