> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Farahn Morgan > Reference:: Morgan, F. (2026). Inside Charleston's craft renaissance: Young artisans are defying AI. _UnHerd_. https://unherd.com/2026/04/inside-charlestons-craft-renaissance/ > Date:: 2025 > Tags:: #warp/article #USA > WeftLinks:: [[Cultural value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft strengthens relationships between members of a cultural group]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > The American College of the Building Arts in Charleston trains students in traditional crafts like carpentry and blacksmithing to preserve historic skills. The school combines hands-on work with liberal arts to prepare students for a future where human creativity matters more than machines. Graduates help create beautiful, lasting buildings that connect culture, history, and community. ### Highlights American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) — the only accredited four-year college in the United States that combines a liberal arts curriculum with hands-on training in the traditional building trades. The idea is to prepare students for the coming era of technological disruption by helping them develop a deeper understanding of those qualities that have traditionally shaped the built environment: empathy, patience, humour, and an appreciation of beauty. When Hurricane Hugo tore through Charleston in 1989, damaging 80% of the city's homes and businesses, local leaders discovered that there were not enough traditional artisans in the nation, let alone the state, to make necessary repairs to historic properties. Meyer has watched people walking through Chicago, her hometown, with their heads tucked into their chests and their eyes cast down on the pavement. "When there's nothing worth looking up at," she says, "then people just don't look up anymore. The world becomes tragic."