Farm to Craft

Farm to Craft is running at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego through November 15, 2026. It's an entry-level exhibition drawn from the museum's permanent collection, and it takes a look at grains as both a source of sustenance and an inspiration for human creativity. It's the kind of show that starts with something we all know—the basic staples that feed us—and follows them into the workshop.

Much of the exhibition centers on the tools of the trade: the implements used to harvest and process grains, and the containers used to store and consume them. There's a clear line here from necessity to design, showing how tools born of a practical need, shaped by a craftsman's eye, end up as clever, functional objects. It's a good way to see how the everyday things we take for granted often have a whole history of trial and error behind them.

Then there's the more imaginative side. Artisans work with straw, husks, chaff, hulls, and the grains themselves to make whimsical figures and fashionable creations, showing how even the humblest materials can spark a lot of creativity. It's a nice contrast to the tools—the same materials that sustain us also become the raw stuff for something purely decorative.

Farm to Craft sits at the center of the museum's 2026 program, which revolves around the theme 'Tend'—described as a gentle, intentional act of making, caring for, and sustaining objects, stories, and young learners. The exhibition runs from February 14 through November 15, 2026, at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.