Today, people may still express surprise when they see a woman at the anvil. But it’s a symptom of historical omission, not historical fact. Women, as well as people of color and queer folks, have held a presence in building trades for centuries, albeit unrecognized.

Through the diverse representation of craftworkers in the Next Generation Artisans in the Traditional Building Trades program at the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, we sought to challenge the long-held association of the building arts as a man’s world. There on the National Mall, we could clearly see the intersectional and diverse histories of those who have shaped the built environment.

From blacksmiths to stone carvers, decorative painters to carpenters, the craftswomen featured at the Festival not only carry forward the knowledge of those who have mentored them but the legacy of those who were written out of history yet have always been here. In this article, we highlight six Festival participants who were invited to represent their field—not only as women in the trades but as skilled artisans.

Zoe and Isabella Riccio

Born into a lineage shaped by hard work and craftsmanship, decorative painters Isabella and Zoe Riccio believe their family business represents more than tradition—it’s living proof of the American dream. In the 1970s, their grandparents immigrated to the United States from Scotland with their mother and her sisters, and, not long after, their grandfather John Canning founded John Canning & Co., an architectural arts firm which now spans three generations.

“This trade has been passed down physically and orally,” Isabella says. “And now, so has our generational success.”

Growing up steeped in the family legacy surrounded by stencils, gold leaf, and scaffolding, Isabella and Zoe have carved distinctive roles within the business, each taking a unique path. Earning dual degrees in songwriting and electronic production from the Berklee College of Music, Isabella pursued audio work in Los Angeles. When film industry strikes halted that path, she returned to something older and deeper: the family trade.

“I want to continue the legacy that my grandfather and father and mom mapped for me,” she says. “My brushstroke has several hands behind it. It feels ancestral. It makes you want to do better.”

Now a conservation technician and foreman, she consults with clients, runs gilding and stenciling projects, and manages crews—most of them women. “On our sites, gender doesn’t matter—good work does.” Tattooed, pierced, and proudly outspoken, Isabella often defies expectations, creating work that speaks for itself. “When we’re in those rooms looking at the work my crew and I have done, those differences are set aside.”

Zoe, after attending art school for photography, now serves as a production artist at John Canning & Co. Her role bridges digital and traditional techniques by sourcing historic patterns and using an industrial laser cutter to produce custom stencils. These are then hand-painted onto domes, arches, and ceilings in places like the Georgia State Capitol.

“People don’t realize all that goes into it,” she says. “To now be a woman restoring spaces I once wouldn’t have been allowed into, it’s empowering.”

One of her favorite projects involved restoring an old chapel in Newport, Rhode Island, using design motifs originally inspired by the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. “Bringing life back to something that was neglected—that’s what I love.” 

Hope Benson

Founded in 1705, the John Stevens Shop was owned and operated by the Stevens family for more than 200 years. Since 1927, the shop’s standard of perfection has been carried forward by the Benson family. A fourth-generation stone carver, Hope Benson—the first woman in her family to carve at the historic shop—began at eighteen under the guidance of her father, stone carver and letterer Nicholas Benson. Though she initially hesitated, she was drawn to the shop’s deep history.

Hope often reflects on the misconception that stone carving is a male-dominated field. “People assume it’s a man’s world, but it’s not,” she says. “Most of my colleagues are women.” That said, she embraces breaking the public’s perception in a centuries-old trade while honoring the legacy of her ancestors.

This year, Hope helped complete the lettering on the same piece of slate her father began carving at the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival—a symbolic moment bridging generations. “Seeing the photo, it really affirmed that the shop, this work... it is so much bigger than me. And that’s why I do it.”

Through her business, Hope Benson Rocks, she takes on more experimental projects, blending tradition with creativity, adding whimsy and personal expression. Her artistry has been featured in two exhibitions (so far), in Atlanta and her hometown of Newport, Rhode Island.

Karina Roca

For Karina Roca, a Boston-area native, blacksmithing is more than working with metal—it’s an act of remembrance, transformation, and intention. After years in food justice and sovereignty work, she found deep resonance in the forge, where fire becomes both alchemical and ancestral.

“What led me into my love of ironwork was not iron itself but stewarding the fire,” she reflects. “My mother taught me this through cooking. There’s this intimacy with fire that she raised me with. It’s all about honoring our ancestors, their medicines and ways of being.”

In 2020, Karina decided to pursue her dream: “I’ve always wanted to be an ironworker. It was this little secret dream of mine.”

A decade earlier, she had seen a PBS program on master blacksmith Darryl Reeves, a founding member of the New Orleans Master Crafts Guild. Determined to learn from him, she bought a one-way ticket to New Orleans, enrolling in the Louisiana Green Corps, where she now serves on the board. Upon completion of the program, she marched to Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop, which Reeves has owned and operated since 1990. “The first thing he said was, ‘Let me see your hands.’

Now, five years later, Karina continues to learn the trade under Reeves while pursuing a master’s in historic preservation at Tulane University to better document the stories of those who came before. Her blacksmithing work includes restoring the 1863 fence at St. John the Baptist Church, the iron cross at St. Augustine Church, and fencing at the Cabildo.

Thinking on the ancestral legacy—of both women and people of color—in her work, Karina reflects, “The world is anti-Black, anti-woman. If people really knew the history, they’d know women have always been here [in the trades]. They just weren’t talked about.”

Tatum Connor

Originally from Duluth, Georgia, Tatum Connor is a senior at the American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) in Charleston, South Carolina, studying architectural stone carving. She began her academic journey studying computational media at Georgia Tech, but was drawn toward something slower, more tactile, and deeply human. Soon enough, she found herself at ACBA, where she fell in love with stone carving. “It opened my eyes to the longing I had of working with my hands,” Tatum says.

Not only has the craft changed her skillset, but it has shaped the way she sees the world. “To have my work outlive me is a reminder of how fleeting my time on earth is,” she says. “If I can make the world more beautiful with the pieces I carve, then that is alright with me.”

As one of four students in her year studying stone carving, and the only woman, she sees the need for more skilled artisans. Though the craft may seem daunting at first, Tatum encourages others to join the world of building arts.

“Just do it !” she urges. “Find someone who’s willing to teach you—it might take digging, but they’re out there. Just start and practice as much as you can.”

Isabel Wood

For Isabel Wood, classical architecture isn’t just a design philosophy but a way of seeing the world with intention. Originally drawn to historic preservation, she transferred to ACBA for a more hands-on education. “They were actually using their hands and producing the things we talked about in preservation,” she says. “That really clicked for me.”

At ACBA, Isabel studies human-scale design alongside traditional trades. “You can have a blacksmith, mason, and timber framer all at the drafting desk. You learn from their perspectives—that changes how you approach design.”

At the Folklife Festival, Isabel collaborated with Jeff Poree, a master plasterer with the New Orleans Master Crafts Guild, to create a watercolor rendering of the Smithsonian Castle on a plaster slab. This work highlighted how architecture and trades are deeply interdependent. “The trades are classical, and, in the past, architects were trade workers. It’s important that we recognize that.” Isabel has interned at Spitzmiller and Norris creating watercolor renderings and is currently working on an urban design project in the Netherlands.

Her advice to young people, especially young women, entering the field: “Draw every day, and don’t discount your work. We’re conditioned to be more submissive, but you have to know your worth. You belong there.”

Lydia Desormeaux is a program intern at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and a graduate student in historic preservation at Tulane University. Her internship received federal support from the American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

The Next Generation Artisans in the Traditional Building Trades program received generous support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the 1772 Foundation, and the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee and the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. This program received Federal support from the American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. In-kind support was provided by the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center.