Ato Ribeiro Featured in Craft in America's Handwork PBS Episode and Exhibition
Ato Ribeiro in his studio. Still from Craft in America SOUTH episode. Courtesy of Craft in America.
Ato Ribeiro (MFA Print Media 2017) is one of the featured artists in SOUTH, one episode in a four-part special from Craft in America. Ribeiro’s segment takes viewers inside his studio, where he works with reclaimed wood to make quilt-inspired sculptures that draw on his African American and Ghanaian roots. Craft in America describes SOUTH as an exploration of craft artists building an inclusive and hopeful future, with stories that include the costumes of New Orleans masking societies, mosaic stained glass in Miami, and the artist community rebuilding after Hurricane Helene. The NORTH and SOUTH episodes stream on the PBS app beginning November 13, 2026, and premiere nationwide on PBS on December 18, 2026 (check local listings). EAST and WEST are currently streaming on YouTube and the PBS app.
Ribeiro’s work is part of Craft in America’s celebration of America’s 250th Handwork 2026 beyond the broadcast. The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery opens Handwork: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery on November 13, 2026, an installation that includes new acquisitions made possible through Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, an initiative organized by Craft in America. Ribeiro is among the artists with new acquisitions, and the museum lists his Asafo Flag #864 (2023) in the exhibition. The Renwick’s free open house on November 13 names Ribeiro among the artists whose work is on view.
Born in Philadelphia in 1989, Ribeiro spent his childhood and adolescence in Accra, Ghana, and is now based in Atlanta. His wooden assemblages reference Ghanaian strip-woven kente cloth and the quilting traditions of the American South. He works with discarded pieces of wood, a material he has described as conceptually paralleling the way people of African heritage have been treated throughout history.
Ato Ribeiro is among the Academy artists included in Cranbrook Art Museum’s current exhibition, Labyrinth/Laboratory: Selections from the Cranbrook Collection. In addition to Cranbrook Art Museum, his work is also in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery, the Detroit Institute of Art, and Phoenix Art Museum.
Learn more:
Print Media at Cranbrook Academy of Art
