LOS ANGELES, CA.- Tools of the Trades: American Handmade Implements & Devices is the first exhibition of its kind to highlight beautifully designed, hand-crafted tools made by contemporary toolmakers in the United States. It will also be the first in a series of exhibitions for Handwork 2026, a nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.

This is a chance to see age-old devices that in some cases have not fundamentally changed for centuries, yet are interpreted anew by makers of today who are passionate about their craft and its history. Even in this age of convenience and mass production, there is a thriving network of craftspeople who labor in their workshops to produce small batches of tools to be bought and used by other makers and connoisseurs.

These are enduring tools that will be used for a lifetime and can hardly compare to the kind readily available at a hardware store. A particular hammer head, the grip of a saw handle, the reliable, perfect cut of pliers; tools are the essential, behind-the-scenes factor in a maker’s process. They are often overlooked by the uninitiated, and yet critical in the specialty fabrication that is at the core of a creative process. The highly crafted objects in the exhibition pertain to a wide scope of disciplines: ceramics, textiles, hot glass, wood working, and metal. Viewers will gain insight into tools engineered for niche fields like jewelry making, book arts, and glass blowing.

Inventors and makers since time eternal have always relied on hand tools to successfully go about their work and creative people will routinely fabricate their own. Tools of the Trades celebrates the resourcefulness born of necessity and expands on the history of artisanal tool making in America. Vintage tools from various collections will show the early precedents that inspire today's makers.