Constraint and reproduction in an amateur craft institution: The conservative logic of the county fair

Abstract

In the last decades, scholars have developed a keen understanding of how institutional contexts shape the production of fine and popular art forms including music, visual art, and theater. We know less, however, about how similar institutional processes direct the production of creative goods understood as crafts, particularly amateur crafts. This study examines how American agricultural fairs (most commonly known as county fairs) recognize and reward craft goods including domestic wares, decorative items and foodstuffs, emphasizing how their distinct institutional logic encourages conformity to established norms. Based on participant observation of craft entry and evaluation procedures at Southern California county and district fairs, we reveal that both bureaucratic procedures and judges’ assessments reflect a resistance to reward novelty or innovation, and instead encourage mastery of established techniques in a relatively narrow range of applications. We suggest how this constraint of novelty and regard for convention facilitates reproduction of the institution in its traditional form, and expand upon understandings of the aesthetics guiding amateur craft production.