Contemporary Applied Arts, often called CAA, was established in 1948 to support and encourage the making of fine crafts in Britain – and to keep them firmly in the public eye.

CAA acts as a vocal advocate for the crafts in Britain generally. We offer to the public examples of the richness of craft in Britain today, highlighting the huge, often unnoticed role which the applied arts have played over centuries – and continue to play – in both our domestic lives and in the wider, built environment.

CAA is registered charity and a membership organisation which supports its members in various ways. This includes a programme of innovative and thoughtfully curated exhibitions, retail activities and a bespoke commissioning service. CAA currently represents around 350 designer makers, spanning the entire spectrum of the applied arts. Our Bankside gallery shows a diverse and frequently-changing selection of one-off work, ranging from decorative to functional pieces and including ceramics, glass, furniture, jewellery, metalwork, textiles, wood and paper. 

Paramount to everything we do is the act of making. Our members often use ancient, traditional skills, many of which are in danger of being lost forever. With experience and creative vision, these skills are interpreted by the makers and expressed in their own unique voice and in contemporary idiom. The results are often both stunning and thought-provoking.

We are fundraising to raise money to help pay for educational workshops which will be free to diverse local audiences. Participants from Southwark will be paired with a CAA maker member, who will work intensively with them on a craft project. All involved will learn, make and do! Each participant will be exposed to new materials and techniques, new artistic styles and approaches and will have a rare opportunity to learn in a social and encouraging environment.  At the end of the project, each person will take away an object which they have crafted themselves.   

We would also like to make much-needed upgrades to our website, which is sorely in need of redesign and rebuild. This is essential work, which will enable us to better support our makers and to fulfil our historic role as a leading advocate for the crafts in Britain. The website is now one of the most visible and effective ways in which the public can learn about the applied arts, about our talented membership and about the wide range of work presented by CAA – both in our Bankside gallery and online. To do this properly, we must have more images of makers’ work and a wider range of objects online, as well as informative information about how the objects are made, what is most interesting about each discipline, enhanced technical information and stories about the makers and their artistic vision. It will also provide us with a platform for learning: we will put debates, audio files of makers in conversation, videos and more online. All of these improvements to the website will excite, engage and educate the public about fine craft in Britain today.

Please support us to make the richness of contemporary British craft better known and understood….!