ABOUT THE CORRAL
We're reviving the
artisan trades.
The Corral is the infrastructure for a slow renaissance. A curated home for the jobs, apprenticeships, and opportunities that keep handcraft alive. We believe craftwork should be a visible, viable career path, not a vanishing one.
Lake Tahoe, CA — 35mm film
WHAT WE'RE BUILDING
Two halves of one mission.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The Corral
The first curated jobs board built for the artisan trades. We surface the roles, apprenticeships, residencies, and opportunities so makers can actually find them.
STORYTELLING
The Trades Show ↗An interview series filmed on location with modern artisans in their workshops. Every story is a way to amplify these crafts and the makers behind them.
WHAT IS AN ARTISAN TRADE?
Artisanship lives in the overlap.
An artisan trade is like the center of a Venn diagram between the fine arts — artistry, design, an eye for aesthetics — and the skilled trades — technique, process, and hands-on experience. Craftwork is the overlap.
FINE ARTS
Artistry, design, and an eye for aesthetics.
THE OVERLAP
Craftwork
The artisan trades
SKILLED TRADES
Technique, process, and hands-on experience.
THE TRADES WE SERVE
Hands-on trades that can't be learned from a screen.
WHY “THE CORRAL”
Named after a real corral.
In the pines outside Lake Tahoe there's an old corral that Briana, The Corral's founder, grew up hiking to. It's still standing, albeit with some falling rails and weathered nails.
It was built as a gathering place (for working animals) at a time when hands-on work was all there was. It serves as the inspiration for The Corral, a gathering place for working hands rounding up artisan opportunities. These photographs were taken by the founder on film on a recent trip to the site of the inspiration.
35mm film — Lake Tahoe, CA
CRAFT & TECHNOLOGY
Built by technology in support of craft.
The Corral is proudly both-and. We believe technology should support and uplift craft, not replace it. The logo was hand-painted, the photography was shot on film or in a workshop, the design was sketched and then meticulously poured over by a human. AI is used for the tedious parts (finding, sorting, and translating scattered opportunities). It's using the most advanced tools we have to protect the most ancient work we do.
TECHNOLOGY HANDLES
The search
The automations
The busywork
ARTISANS KEEP
The craft and creativity
The judgment
The connections
HOW THE BOARD WORKS FOR ARTISANS
01
We find the work
An AI pipeline curates artisan jobs, apprenticeships, fellowships, residencies, and other opportunities all in one place to help make craftwork a career.
02
You find the right fit
Browse by trade and location directly on the board or we'll send you opportunities in a digest. Find what fits, and go straight to the source to apply.
03
Together, we build the next generation of craftworkers
With every match, we create the succession plan to carry on every one of these trades.
In the workshop — shot on location
FROM THE TRADES SHOW
The stories behind the trades.
The Corral grew out of The Trades Show — our original interview series filmed in the workshops of working artisans. New conversations, on location, every other week.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
What we believe.
01
Craftsmanship — Build with the same integrity, precision, and beauty we seek to revive.
02
Accessibility — Open the gates to craftwork by making artisan pathways visible, viable, and attainable.
03
Connection — Create a living network between artisans, seekers, and workshops.
04
Innovation — Use modern technology and automation to support craftwork, never replace it.
A Note from the Founder
I started The Corral because it needed to exist (and didn't). I started The Trades Show to tell the stories of artisans and make their work more visible. While I believe storytelling is a powerful tool on its own, it needed infrastructure to not just amplify artisans, but build the pathway to craftwork as a career. Think of The Corral like the on-ramp to the artisan trades. It exists so that each and every one of these trades survives into the next generation.
— Briana Ottoboni · Founder
STAY IN THE LOOP
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Jobs, residencies, fellowships, and grants for makers — a curated roundup, delivered every other week. Free.