In Our Hands: A Maker's Manifesto for Changing the World Through Creative Practices

by Bonnie Smith Whitehouse

Genres: Nonfiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 29, 2026

Reviews

[Jim Razinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty one years ago I was a charter subscriber to Make Magazine and in Volume 1, creator Dale Dougherty introduced the world to the modern definition of “maker”, and making.

This is not that kind of making. But it does fill a need. It is “about the healing work of making things with our hands during difficult times.” I see Dougherty’s making as an obsession fueled by passion (IYKYK), and Dr. Whitehouse’s making as decompression fostered by compassion. Compassion especially for oneself. Put on your oxygen mask first, before helping others.

She feels the pain of the world resulting from the devastating election of 2024 this is more than an art manifesto, a personal manifesto,…it’s a call to action. Not so much as what to do (some, though, peppered throughout) as just do, and while you’re doing, don’t forget making.

You’ll get synopsized histories along with her stories. There are several artists mentioned that I have started to look into. They are lesser known, which is unfortunate as I explore some of their work. You’ll also get short histories of the crafts she ties in to her credo*. And some rather brilliant manifestations of the different crafts (one involves embroidering things a certain someone onto textile squares - look up art Diana Weymar’s Tiny Pricks Project.)

I really hope this reaches a wide audience. And I hope if the reader is older, they share it, and the suggestions within, with younger folk. For me, this might be four stars, but because the author most definitely satisfies my confirmation bias, and I think it important…five stars.

————- * Her credo:
Making things with our hands reminds us of our humanity and instills hope for and curiosity about what is possible.

Art is not just what we behold in a museum, a gallery, or at a craft exhibition.

We are inherently playful, curious, and creative creatures.

Art and craft materials belong in prominent places in our
homes.

We are spiritual beings, and participating in artmaking helps us connect to the world beyond, as well as to our own spirits and souls.

Our hands are tools of possibility that can make something from nothing, and they can bring real change to the world in unexpected ways.

————- A few curated highlights

The writer Madeleine L'Engle once said, "I am not an isolated, chronological numerical statistic. I am sixty-one, and I am also four, and twelve, and fifteen, and twenty-three, and thirty-one, and forty-five, and...and...and... If we lose any part of ourselves, we are thereby diminished. If I cannot be thirteen and sixty-one simultaneously, part of me has been taken away."
{Love this”

In the midst of what feels like a hellscape, the first step in shaping a new reality is having the capacity to actually envision it.
{Envisioning can be hard. For some - most? - very hard. Don’t let analysis paralysis block you.}

For [Louise] Bourgeois, art was not a luxury. Art, she claimed, "is a guarantee of sanity."
{I may not create art, but I do consume it.}

[Georgia O’Keeffe] famously said she painted flowers in extreme close-up because we stampede through our lives at such a breakneck speed; she wanted to offer work that could make us pause, let everything fall away, and allow the flower to become our "world for a moment."
{There’s a metaphor there. You have to step back to view the art. Take a step back from the stampede.}

What [Václav] Havel called for then [the time of 1980s communist regimes] is also important for us now. To live in truth here, now, today is to resist the forces that would like nothing more than to isolate, numb, and commodify us.
{This.}

————-
My review copy came via NetGalley and the page numbering wasn’t set in the Table of Contents or Notes section. And unfortunately, the notes format is my least favorite… even less than no notes. They are unkeyed endnotes. Unless you look there first, you stumble across them after you have finished. And then, if you want to check any, you have to search the page for the sentence fragment header. A small superscript does wonder for follow-up, and does not interrupt the flow. But that’s my peccadillo.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the dust jacket: "Whitehouse has written a manifesto for crafting space for ourselves in a troubled world. To make things with our hands is to participate in creation and, therefore, hope. When we create—especially in moments of pain or disempowerment—we remember that we belong to a lineage of those who have used their hands to claim and shape their lives. Through crafting, we are beckoned to slow down, listen inward, and create not just objects but autonomy and legacy."

Included are stories from history and literature and research from the interdisciplinary science of NeuroArts. We craft to keep ourselves calm, to keep our brains from wasting away, to take our minds off the turmoil of the present-day world, much as women down through the ages have knitted, or sewn, or sketched or grew flower gardens. This book is not a how-to book. It gives us the rationale for why it's important to do these things, to have an outlet for our anger and frustrations, to create something for ourselves. By creating something, we have also created and expanded our abilities to recharge and go forth stronger than when we started.

I started reading this while attending a fiber weekend, which featured a number of various crafts, and several hundred women and a few men, who were all intent on learning new crafts and skills, or improving on things they already knew how to do. Her words resonated with me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Running Press/Running Press Adult, in exchange for a review.

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. Actually, I’m not sure what I expected, but was hoping it would be inspirational. Unfortunately, it was not for me. I liked the fact it was deeply psychological and philosophical, telling how important it was to create and why humans felt the need to do so. Yet disliked the fact it was also a political and social protest book, which I found tiresome from the beginning. I wasn’t looking for a book framed by politics and social issues, as this one was from start to finish.

Nothing wrong with the author doing that, but I personally no longer have the energy for the constant talk and writings about such issues. Hence, no energy, no inspiration in exploring the crafts mentioned in the book. Not that some weren’t truly astounding, such as quilts by those like Bisa Butler; but I was hoping more for finding inspiration and crafts that help transcend everyday issues, that transcend the never-ending noise of politics and crusading by those who feel everyone should crusade like they do.

(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the author or publisher.)

[Barbara (The Bibliophage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonnie Smith Whitehouse opens readers’ minds to creative resistance in her upcoming book, In Our Hands: A Maker’s Manifesto for Changing the World Through Creative Practices. She explores many different kinds of art and craft activities, not in how to do them, but why to do them.

For her, it is a way to ground, cope, and find peace in a turbulent time. I found it inspiring and a fantastic reminder that putting my phone down and being 100% in the moment can feel revolutionary.

Smith Whitehouse draws from artists' lives, their work, and their motivations, as well as her own experiences. She then wraps it all in a wonderful fabric of gentle invitation to explore our own creativity through curious inquiry.

This is a book I will buy for myself and a few friends when it is released in September 2026. Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read it ahead of time.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonnie Smith Whitehouse writes about the healing work of making things with our hands during difficult times, and it could not have found me at a better time. After a season of deep grief, I have taken up crafts and drawing. But don’t get me wrong, this book is not about HOW to create things, it’s about WHY we need to. It was wonderful to sit and read about the art of decompressing by making things with your hands. It’s not just an art manifesto, it is also a call to action and that while you are fighting the good fight and doing all the things to help better our country, it is important to also make things, to create for yourself, and have that needed outlet to recharge. Her writing is inspirational, even if you’re not a natural artist, and I hope it finds its way into the right hands upon its release. Thank you to NetGalley and Running Press for the opportunity to read and review.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a time when it seems we can't do anything, Bonnie Smith Whitehouse provides a simple guide to finding resilience and empowerment.

In Our Hands blends personal stories, quotes, reflections on artists famous and not, and suggestions for using our hands to craft our own response to the world around us. I found the book comforting and inspiring. I took up my art journal and felt a spark of creativity that had been missing for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure about this book. I enjoyed the section on watercolour. An unusual style of writing. Thanks to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.