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2025

Youth and the Future of Culture

A young woman with long brown hair in a low bun and safety glasses uses a power tool to carve a large piece of white stone.
Tatum Connor, a stone carving student at the American College of the Building Arts, uses a pneumatic hammer to carve a large fountain sculpture.
Photo by Lindsey Cockburn
A young woman and a man, both wearing navy work shirts, hold metal tools to a fire.
Master blacksmith Darryl Reeves and his apprentice Karina Roca heat metal in the forge at Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans.
Photo by Jonn Hankins, courtesy of New Orleans Master Crafts Guild
A man and a young woman pose next to decorative elements of a stone building, including heads of a fish and a dragon.
Head stone mason Joe Alonso and journeyman stone mason and carver Brianna Castelli with a grotesque that Castelli repaired at Washington National Cathedral.
Photo by Marjorie Hunt, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
A young bearded man works in a carpentry workshop, using a metal tool on the corner of a piece of lumber.
Joe Zemp, a preservation carpenter at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, is a recent carpentry graduate of the American College of the Building Arts (class of 2023) who honed his woodworking skills as an intern at Mount Vernon in 2022.
Photo courtesy of George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Two young people work on a piece of lumber outdoors. One holds a level above the wood, and another holds a power drill.
Traditional Trades Advancement Program interns with the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center work to measure and mark a beam for a carpentry reconstruction project on a historic structure at Manassas National Battlefield in Virginia.
Photo courtesy of NPS / Lochart

Next Generation Artisans in the Traditional Building Trades

“I think it’s so important that humans create beautiful things for other humans to enjoy. It’s an expression of our human nature. It’s something that connects all of us together.”
—Tatum Connor, stone carving student, American College of the Building Arts
“I love to see these young people—the kids in our community—get on in the craft. We want to keep the tradition alive.”
—Jeff Poree, master plasterer, New Orleans Master Crafts Guild

Skilled craftspeople in the traditional building trades play a vital role in preserving our nation’s built environment and cultural heritage. Through their knowledge and skill, their creativity and care, they help communities preserve historic places that hold memories, meaning, history, and identity. They create sustainable new architectural works of beauty and excellence that enrich us all. This crucial body of centuries-old traditional knowledge needs to be preserved and passed on to future generations.

The Next Generation Artisans program features inspiring examples of intergenerational teaching and learning in the heritage trades, highlighting the diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences of young people learning the building crafts and the master artisans dedicated to passing on their knowledge, skills, and traditions to the next generation.  

Through skill demonstrations, interactive workshops, hands-on activities, and narrative stage discussions, craftspeople will share the techniques, tools, and traditions of their trades and discuss the learning process. Festival visitors will learn about a wide range of innovative traditional trades training programs and exciting opportunities for meaningful careers in the building arts.

Below, meet the extraordinary artisans—stone carvers, decorative painters, preservation carpenters, stone masons, blacksmiths, ornamental plasterers, and many others—who will participate in the 2025 Festival and discover the traditional skills and values that shape and give meaning to their work.

We hope you will join us for this celebration of craftsmanship, creativity, and culture.

Training Programs

Mentors and apprentices from these programs around the country will share their skills and stories at the Festival. Click on a program to read about their missions and what they will present on the National Mall.

  • A young man and an elder man adjust a tool in a carpentry workshop.
    Architectural carpentry student Thomas Dezii works together with master carpenter Markus Damwerth, chair of the architectural carpentry department at the American College of the Building Arts. “It’s important for things to still be handmade because there’s inspiration and beauty in the handmade,” Dezii says.
    Photo courtesy of the American College of the Building Arts
    Two young people inspect something out of frame. One holds a pen and looks surprised.
    Architecture student Isabel Wood and her classical architecture professor Phillip Smith go over a drawing together.

    Photo courtesy of the American College of the Building Arts

    On either side of a large carving of a man’s face in white stone, a young woman holding a mallet and laughing and a man pose.
    Stone carving student Tatum Connor and master stone carver Joseph Kincannon, chair of the stone carving department at ACBA, have been working together to carve a large fountain sculpture. “You’re always learning from the people you teach. I find having students always expands my horizons,” Kincannon says.

    Photo by Lindsey Cockburn

    A young man and an elder man adjust a tool in a carpentry workshop.
    Architectural carpentry student Thomas Dezii works together with master carpenter Markus Damwerth, chair of the architectural carpentry department at the American College of the Building Arts. “It’s important for things to still be handmade because there’s inspiration and beauty in the handmade,” Dezii says.

    Photo courtesy of the American College of the Building Arts

    American College of the Building Arts
    Charleston, South Carolina

    “I really grew to like working with my hands, and I knew I didn’t want to work some kind of desk job after high school. My parents were like, no, you still should get a degree.”
    —Thomas Dezii, architectural carpentry student

    “I think what attracts young people to this craft is the physicality, working with your hands. We’ve strayed so far away from that, and we’re in pretty rough shape in this country because of it.”
    —Joseph Kincannon, master stone carver and chair of stone carving

    The American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) in Charleston, South Carolina, integrates professional hands-on training in the traditional building trades with a liberal arts core curriculum. Its mission is to foster exceptional craftsmanship and encourage the preservation, enrichment, and understanding of the world’s architectural heritage. Craft specializations for students include architectural carpentry, blacksmithing, plastering, architectural stone carving, timber framing, and classical architecture and design.

    At the Festival, stone carvers, architectural carpenters, architects, and historic preservation specialists from ACBA will demonstrate their skills, share their experiences teaching and learning the building arts, and discuss why hand craftsmanship matters to them.

    Website
  • A man points to a detail in a red stone wall as a young person observes. Both wear yellow hard hats.
    Students in a week-long masonry training made possible by The Campaign for Historic Trades, the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center, and the Keweenaw National Historical Park learn to repoint mortar from expert instructor Bruce Wright.

    Photo by Kelly Pratt, The Campaign for Historic Trades

    The Campaign for Historic Trades
    Baltimore, Maryland

    “You don’t have to have a lot of experience. It’s about introducing people and getting people who are enthusiastic about preservation involved in this career field.”
    —Emma Lucier-Keller, Traditional Trades Advancement Program intern

    The Campaign for Historic Trades is a dynamic workforce development initiative that works to expand and strengthen training and careers in the historic building trades. The campaign focuses on the skills needed to maintain, preserve, restore, and reconstruct historic structures in local communities. It seeks to develop statewide and national historic trades training opportunities, including partnering with the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center to promote and recruit for their Traditional Trades Advancement Program, which provides hands-on, historic preservation trade skills training to young people during an intensive twenty-week experience.

    Staff members with The Campaign for Historic Trades will provide Festival visitors with a wealth of information and guidance on training and career opportunities in the traditional building trades and historic preservation fields.

    Website
  • A young person a hard hat, safety vest, and yellow gloves uses a blowtorch along the hoof of a horse statue.
    A National Park Service TTAP intern makes metal work repairs to a monument at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

    Photo courtesy of U.S. Military / Smith

    National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center Traditional Trades Advancement Program
    Frederick, Maryland

    “TTAP was a fantastic experience for someone who wanted to get introduced to the preservation trades but didn’t really know where to start.”
    —Ben Lammers, intern

    “You’re able to continue the craftsmanship of people who have been doing this way longer than you’ve been alive and continuing down that path for history.”
    —Matt Jacobs, Director of Education & NPS-Mather High School Liaison, National Parks of New York Harbor

    The Historic Preservation Training Center’s Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP) is committed to providing aspiring young preservationists—especially those who are underrepresented in the preservation trades—with a unique opportunity to work on important, real-world projects and learn how to preserve historic cultural resources in the nation’s national parks. The program gives experienced National Park Service preservation craft professionals the opportunity to pass on their craft skills, ensuring national park histories continue to inspire and educate the next generation. “We do whatever we can to save these structures for future generations to enjoy and learn about the rich history of the United States,” one HPTC master craftsman said.

    Expert craftspeople from the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Maryland, will team up with TTAP interns and students from the Stephen T. Mather Building Arts & Craftsmanship High School in New York City to demonstrate traditional Appalachian-style log building, wood crafting, and historic wood color matching techniques. A master heritage mason and several of his craft interns with the San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico will demonstrate the traditional Caribbean masonry techniques and materials that they use to maintain and preserve this centuries-old UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    TTAP Website
    HPTC Website
  • A group of people pose in a line in front of an old building with rusted red roof.
    Jordan Lamar (center), a Tuskegee University architecture student, stands with community representative Ms. Dorthy Woody, the caretaker of Armstrong School, and members of the HOPE Crew Digital Documentation Fellowship team who contributed to the restoration of the historic school in Macon County, Alabama.

    Photo courtesy of Jordan Lamar

    National Trust for Historic Preservation HOPE Crew
    Washington, D.C.

    “My project focused on the Armstrong School. What I liked most was having conversations with Ms. Dorthy Woody and listening to her oral histories. I loved learning from her. Hearing her stories connected me to the past.”
    —Jordan Lamar, project participant, Tuskegee University

    “The thing that I always want to impart is the fact that opportunities don’t always come on the path where you’re looking. What is most important is being open to everything that comes, to explore every opportunity you can get to work with your hands and to learn something new.”
    —Jim Turner, historic window restoration expert and mentor

    In 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation launched HOPE Crew (Hands-On Preservation Experience), its trades training initiative, with the goal of bringing the preservation trades to a younger, more diverse audience. HOPE Crew links preservation projects to local youth organizations and communities across the nation. It brings the potential for thousands of youth participants to restore hundreds of historic sites, while learning preservation trade skills from master craftspeople. Since its inception, HOPE Crew has engaged over 3,700 volunteers, trained over 900 paid participants, and worked at over 200 sites.

    At the Festival, participants will share their teaching and learning experiences and provide visitors with information and guidance on hands-on preservation training opportunities and historic preservation careers.

    Web Page
  • A man and a young woman use brushes on a stencil to embellish the moulding on a wall.
    Master decorative painters John Canning and his daughter Jacqueline Canning Riccio use a stippling technique on hand-crafted stencils to restore decorative paint finishes dating to 1877 at historic Trinity Church in Boston.

    Photo by Marjorie Hunt

    John Canning & Co. Decorative Painting, Restoration and Preservation
    Cheshire, Connecticut

    “I love the research process. It’s like a treasure hunt. You have to search for answers.”
    —Zoe Riccio, third-generation decorative painter

    “It’s like being an archeologist—pulling away layers of paint and discovering the original decoration and the wonderful craftsmanship of the past and then trying to replicate that.”
    —John Canning, master decorative painter

    John Canning & Co. is a highly regarded preservation and restoration studio specializing in architectural arts, including decorative finishes, gilding, ornamental plaster restoration, and historic woodwork. First established in the early 1970s by John Canning, who learned his trade serving a rigorous apprenticeship as a church decorator in Glasgow, Scotland, before immigrating to the United States, John Canning & Co. has been a family-run business for over forty-five years. A master of decorative painting and a dedicated teacher, Canning has passed his craft skills on to his daughter Jacqueline Canning Riccio, his son-in-law David Riccio, and his granddaughters, Isabella and Zoe Riccio. The talented artisans at John Canning & Co. have restored many of our country’s most important historic buildings, including Grand Central Terminal, the U.S. Capitol Building, Radio City Music Hall, and the National Building Museum.

    Meet the three generations of the Canning-Riccio family at the Festival and learn about their decorative painting tools and techniques.

    Website
  • A young woman, safety glasses on her head and orange handkerchief around her neck, kneels as she uses a chisel on plank of wood.
    Linnea Carlson, a senior architectural carpentry student at the American College of the Building Arts, learned about eighteenth-century hand tools and techniques during her summer historic trades internship at Mount Vernon in 2024.

    Photo courtesy of George Washington’s Mount Vernon

    George Washington’s Mount Vernon Historic Trades Internship Program
    Mount Vernon, Virginia

    “Having the opportunity to use a hand adze, hewing axe, hand planes, and chisels right alongside a power saw and other machine tools, all with the purpose of preserving one of America’s most iconic houses, was an experience which I will never forget.”
    —Linnea Carlson, intern

    “There are young people out there who are gifted with their hands, and we need those people to take up the preservation trades.”
    —Amy McAuley, restoration manager and master carpenter

    George Washington’s Mount Vernon is committed to training the next generation of preservation artisans through its robust historic trades internship program. Undergraduate students learn the philosophy and skills of preserving an historic eighteenth-century building through on-the-job experience, working side by side with master craftspeople, particularly in the areas of preservation carpentry, timber-frame construction, and heritage masonry.

    Mount Vernon has embarked on a multiyear landmark preservation project from 2023 through 2026 to safeguard the mansion’s original building fabric, ensure its structural integrity, and preserve its important American story for generations to come. Skilled preservation artisans are playing a central role in this effort.

    Web Page
  • Two blacksmiths in navy work shirts form a piece of red-hot metal. One holds it in place while the other shapes it with a mallet.
    Master blacksmith Darryl Reeves and his apprentice Karina Roca work together at the anvil in Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans. “I’ve been training apprentices my whole career,” Reeves says. “The ones that want to learn, I train.”

    Photo by Jonn Hankins, courtesy of New Orleans Master Crafts Guild

    New Orleans Master Crafts Guild
    New Orleans, Louisiana

    “When I was thirteen my father told me, ‘If you want to learn how to plaster, then pick up them tools—come on!’”
    —Wilfred Holmes, apprentice plasterer

    “To be a part of this endless loop, this intergenerational knowledge, it’s really a blessing.”
    —Karina Roca, apprentice blacksmith

    The New Orleans Master Crafts Guild seeks to revive the traditional building trades of New Orleans and provide apprenticeship training for new generations of master craftspeople to maintain and preserve the distinctive centuries-old architectural landscape of the city. Founding members Jonn Hankins, master plasterer Jeffrey Poree, and master blacksmith Darryl Reeves are dedicated to passing on their knowledge, skills, and cultural heritage to young people in New Orleans—“the kids in our community”—so that their treasured craft traditions can continue. “I love to see these young people get on in the craft. We want to keep the tradition alive,” says fifth-generation plasterer Poree.

    At the Festival, Darryl Reeves and Jeff Poree will be joined by guild apprentices Karina Roca and Wilfred Holmes to demonstrate their blacksmithing and plastering skills and share their thoughts on why teaching and learning the traditional trades is important to them.

    Website
  • Two people in hard hats and safety vests move a carved stone ornament.
    Master stone carver Andy Uhl and journeyman stone carver and mason Brianna Castelli lift a restored finial into place on Washington National Cathedral.

    Photo by Colin Winterbottom, courtesy of Washington National Cathedral

    Washington National Cathedral Earthquake Restoration Project
    Washington, D.C.

    “I’m shaping and setting stones with skills passed down through the generations. The magnitude of it all constantly inspires me.”
    —Brianna Castelli, journeyman stone carver and mason

    “Passing on our trade, our knowledge, to the next generation is so important. Brianna is part of it now. She’ll carry the craft forward.”
    —Joe Alonso, head stone mason

    Washington National Cathedral, a magnificent fourteenth-century-Gothic-style cathedral in Washington, D.C., was severely damaged when a rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the mid-Atlantic region in 2011. Since then, highly skilled craftspeople have worked tirelessly to restore the cathedral’s damaged stonework—its elaborately crafted pinnacles, gargoyles, crockets, and flying buttress—and to reinforce and protect the nearly 120-year-old national treasure against future damage.

    Head stone mason Joe Alonso and master stone carvers Sean Callahan and Andy Uhl bring more than forty years of experience crafting and restoring the cathedral’s monumental stonework. At the Festival, they, and newly hired journeyman stone carver and mason Brianna Castelli, will demonstrate their techniques for restoring damaged pinnacle stones, discuss the on-the-job training in preservation craftsmanship that takes place at the cathedral, and share information about learning opportunities for young people interested in stone carving and heritage masonry. Master stone carver and letterer Nicholas Benson and his daughter Hope Benson will demonstrate their skills creating beautiful inscriptional work.

    Web Page

Sponsors

This program received generous support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the 1772 Foundation, the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, and the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.

Federal support comes from the American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

In-kind support comes from the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center.

Driehaus Foundation logo.
1772 Foundation logo.
Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation logo.
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