Exploring American Craft: Made in America Exhibit

A machine with red tubes in it.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
Close-up view of a pencil-manufacturing machine with yellow pencils aligned vertically in a row, surrounded by metal parts, rods, and red-tipped mechanisms in an industrial setting.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
Close-up view of nine unfinished wooden pencils in a row, showing the exposed graphite cores inside the flat, unsharpened ends. The pencils are neatly aligned on a dark surface.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
A person wearing gray gloves holds a large bundle of graphite rods, surrounded by scattered rods and graphite fragments on a work surface.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
A large metal container filled with many small, bright pink cylindrical objects, possibly earplugs, with more lined up around the container's rim.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
Hundreds of red pencils stand upright on stacked trays, forming a dense, organized pattern. The trays are layered, creating a geometric, abstract visual effect. Photo by Christopher Payne.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
A large stack of sharpened pencils with blue bodies arranged in neat diagonal rows. The pencil tips face outward, creating a repeating geometric pattern.
Photo ©Christopher Payne
Close-up of yellow pencils being sharpened by a large industrial machine, with wood shavings and dust visible in the air. Photo credit: Christopher Payne, General Pencil Company, Inc.
Photo ©Christopher Payne

See General Pencil Company featured at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in

MADE IN AMERICA: THE INDUSTRIAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF CHRISTOPHER PAYNE

Made in America brings together more than 70 large-format photographs captured by Christopher Payne over a decade-long photographic journey to learn more about the craft of both industrial and artisanal making in the United States. His images celebrate the combination of human skill and mechanical precision that transform raw materials into objects as diverse as pencils, semiconductors, pianos, and rockets.

Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne received support from Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional generous contributions have been made by Target and New Balance.

The exhibit is open through September 27, 2026

Learn more about the exhibit at https://www.cooperhewitt.org/channel/made-in-america

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