The Pioneer Craft House of Salt Lake City has sought since 1947 to preserve and teach the hand crafts of a bygone era. Housed in the Scott School (built 1889) in the Mill Creek neighborhood, the organization provides instruction, tools, and examples of weaving, needlework, pottery, jewelry-making, glasswork, and more, and its collections include a treasury of antique puppets, hand looms, and a pottery kiln. The public is welcome to take classes, schedule meetings of private artisan groups, tour the gardens, and shop at the outdoor market (in season).

The new directors of the Pioneer Craft House are pushing forward with efforts to modernize the cataloguing and conservation of priceless artifacts, and to preserve and restore physical facilities. During that process, they have recently discovered an access panel to an attic storage space, covered for generations by a false ceiling.

Preliminary investigation showed that the attic space was stocked with a number of student desks – perhaps original to the building. Yesterday while measuring to be certain that the desks could be brought down through the existing access panel, volunteers discovered that the attic also contains maps and school-related papers, dating as far back as the 1890s!

Nothing has yet been brought down from the attic. That has all been saved for a public event scheduled for this Saturday, November 14, beginning at 8:00. Other museums will have representatives there, a BYU museum class will attend, and the public – you – are invited to watch as these artifacts are brought again into the light.

Pioneer Craft House
3271 S. 500 E. (parking on east side)
14 November 2009 (this Saturday)
8:00 a.m.

Bundle up – it will be cold, even indoors.