'Stronger than ever’

Before the first “action” is uttered on set — there are months of preproduction from Patricia Bischetti and her team.

As the director and executive producer of the PBS series “Craft in America,” it’s a necessary part of the job.

“We do extensive research,” Bischetti says. “My goal is to capture the honesty of the story, people explaining the process to their art and making that connection to an audience.”

According to PBS, “Craft in America” has explored the vitality, history and significance of the craft movement in the United States and its impact on our nation’s rich cultural heritage since 2007. The series captures the beauty, creativity and originality of craftsmanship, the film highlights artists and explores what they do, how they do it and why they have chosen a life of creating art.

The series has featured many New Mexico artists over the years and is back for another episode titled, “West,” which features the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. The episode will air at 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app after the broadcast.

Bishetti says the episode also takes a look at cowboy arts, Hawaiian Indigenous practices and Native American handwork.

“The episode looks at how traditional craft can be revived, reworked and reinvented,” she says.

Bischetti and Carol A. Clark, “Craft in America” executive producer, chose IAIA because many of the artists featured in the series were alumni of the institution.

IAIA is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, and is the sole national center dedicated to research, training and scholarship for Native Americans. It focuses exclusively on American Indian and Alaskan Native arts and culture. It was established in 1962 and oversees the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, which houses a collection of over 7,000 contemporary Native American art pieces.

Bischetti says New Mexico has been part of “Craft in America” for 20 years through the program’s nonprofit arm.

“There’s no other place where culture is at the core,” she says. “Crafts are visible in everyday life.”

Bischetti and crew found the featured artists based on the suggestions of alumni and teachers.

“We did nine interviews in one day,” Bischetti says. “We wanted to make sure that the IAIA community was represented. We also have footage that didn’t make the segment, and those are available to view online. One of them is on the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. We wish we would have more broadcast time.”

During the handful of days of production, Bischetti was able to film IAIA’s graduation commencement in May.

“It was so challenging to capture the vastness of this school and its importance,” Bischetti says. “We were there for three days and we wanted to fully capture how the school embraces culture within its ceremony. The graduation had a powwow and none of this could have been done without the generosity of IAIA staff and students.”

Clark says viewers will be amazed and surprised by the IAIA piece.

“We were able to capture Deb Haaland’s speech to students,” Clark says. “She wished the students well and at the end of her speech, she told them to ‘be fierce.’ That’s so correct. That’s the only way things are going to change. You can be fierce in many ways. These artists are going to move the needle internationally. Europeans continue to be fascinated by the American West. It was a culture that was once tried to be eradicated. Today, it is going stronger than ever.”