Buffalo History Museum, Roycrofters at Large Association announce 'Carrying the Craft Forward: The Roycroft Renaissance'

Press release

The Buffalo History Museum and the Roycrofters at Large Association present "Carrying the Craft Forward: The Roycroft Renaissance" in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding the Roycrofters-at-Large and its landmark conservation and preservation work to reestablish the Historic Roycroft Campus of East Aurora in 1976.

“Carrying the Craft Forward” opens to the public Friday, Oct. 16, and is on view through May 9, 2027, at the Buffalo History Museum, offering items of historical interest, records, ephemera and documents dating from period Roycroft canon, together with the earliest days of RALA and the conservation work on South Grove.

The public is invited to celebrate the opening of this exhibit at 6 p.m. Friday. Admission to the opening night at the museum is free, but advance registration is required. RSVP online at www.buffalohistory.org.

“RALA50 in 2026” is a celebration of the founding of the Roycroft Renaissance in 1976, when a group of East Aurora and WNY residents with a common interest in the struggling Roycroft campus set in motion a plan to preserve those ideals that had made the campus a center of the arts and crafts movement.

Some of the founding members of this core group were: Nancy Hubbard Brady, granddaughter of "Fra" Hubbard; Charles Hamilton, a historian and frequent author on Hubbard and the Roycroft; Kitty Turgeon, then inn keeper at the Roycroft; and Rixford Jennings, a local artist who grew up as a paper boy on Hubbard’s' campus who, along with a meeting room full of others, decided that the legacy of South Grove Street was something too important to let slip into the dust of an attic-bound history book.

After several meetings and energetic discussion, the Roycrofters-at-Large Association (RALA), was formed. Through the efforts of Turgeon and the RALA founding board, the beloved Roycroft campus became a National Historic Landmark. The founding of RALA began the conservation and landmark designation work that was responsible for the restoration and eventual reopening of both the historic Roycroft campus and The Roycroft Inn.

This conservation and landmark designation went on to birth a new movement of its own, the “Roycroft Renaissance,” that now upholds the Roycroft standards in the modern-day American arts and crafts movement. Today, nearly 100 modern Roycroft artisans and masters continue to honor and innovate Hubbard’s ideals across the U.S. A display of archive and educational materials are being catalogued and amassed under the “RALA50” anniversary and archive committee’s guidance.

For 50 years, RALA has carried forward a legacy rooted in craftsmanship, creativity, community, and a belief in the enduring value of making things well. “Carrying the Craft Forward” celebrates that living legacy. As RALA marks its 50th anniversary in 2026, this exhibit looks at the people, artistry and ideas that have shaped the movement – and the makers who continue to carry its craft, spirit and vision forward.

Additional programming at the museum surrounding this exhibition includes lectures of interest through the winter and into spring.

For more information on additional opportunities to engage with this exhibit, visit either organization’s events calendars online at www.buffalohistory.org or www.roycroftartisans.org.

Other upcoming “RALA50” programming includes “Fifty Years of RALA” at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, on view now through March 2027; and “Modern Masters: Roycroft for a new Century,” opening Nov. 11 at the Springville Center for the Arts.

“RALA50” programming, made possible thanks to The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, the Aurora Historical Society, the Starks family trust, and the family of the late Roycroft master Suzanne H. Mair in her honor, provides free exhibition and educational opportunities to the public both within East Aurora and the broader Western New York arts communities through June 2027.

Follow the Roycrofters-At Large Association and The Buffalo History Museum’s social media pages for additional information and new events as they become available.