Maria Marable-Bunch to Serve as Honorary Chair of the Smithsonian’s 2019 Craft2Wear Show

Maria Marable-Bunch will serve as the honorary chair for the Smithsonian’s 2019 Craft2Wear show. Marable-Bunch is the associate director for museum learning and programs at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. She leads the museum’s national education mission to change the narrative about Native Americans, educate the museum’s audiences and create a more informed and empathetic citizenry through formal and informal learning opportunities.

Smithsonian Craft2Wear, held at the National Building Museum, begins Thursday, Oct. 3, with an opening night benefit and preview party from 6 to 9 p.m. The show continues Friday, Oct. 4, from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Daily admission tickets are $13 online and $15 at the door. The National Building Museum is located at 401 F St. N.W., in Washington, D.C. For information and advance tickets, visit www.smithsoniancraft2wear.org; for groups of 10 or more, email austrpr@si.edu.

Marable-Bunch served as director of education and public programs at the National Archives from 2012 to 2018. There she oversaw the organization’s national education plan, an initiative designed to use National Archives collections to expand public interest in civic education and engagement.

Prior to joining the National Archives, Marable-Bunch was the public programs coordinator at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, where she managed public programs for teachers, students from pre-K to college and visitors. She oversaw the training of visitor assistants and evaluated the success and effectiveness of the Visitor Center’s programs. She also has held managerial education positions at several museums across the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena, California. She also served on the staffs of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, the Newark Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Marable-Bunch received her bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and her master’s degree in museum education from George Washington University. She also earned a certificate in painting and printmaking from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

She is the recipient of the 2018 EdCom Award for Excellence in Practice from the American Alliance of Museums. The award recognizes an individual who demonstrates exemplary service to the public through the practice of education in a museum.

About Smithsonian Craft2Wear and the Smithsonian Women’s Committee

Smithsonian Craft2Wear is produced by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee. The proceeds from the committee’s two annual signature events—the Smithsonian Craft Show in April and the Smithsonian Craft2Wear show in October—support outreach, research and education programs across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums and the National Zoo.. To date, the Smithsonian Women’s Committee has funded more than $12 million in grants and endowments.

The 2019 Craft2Wear show is co-chaired by Susan Block, Fran Hamberger and Susan Labovich.

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Note to media: To request an interview with Marable-Bunch, please contact Becky Haberacker at the phone number or email listed above. For all other inquiries about the 2019 Craft2Wear show, please contact Heidi Austreng.

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