The history of the crafts disciplines could be traced to Pattern Design Department of National Academy of Art. In the summer of 1960, “Department of Crafts” was officially established with initiative and organization by Professor Deng Bai. It had three majors: Ceramics, Commercial Art, Dyeing and Weaving. It made remarkable achievements in recovering crafts of Longquan celadon, Dehua white porcelain, official ware in Southern Song Dynasty and contemporary ceramics creation and research.

The Department of Ceramics was established in 2003. It incorporated glass and jewelry program in 2007 with its name changed as Department of Ceramics and Crafts and it belongs to School of Public Art. School of Crafts was officially established in 2015 when a huge discipline adjustment happened. The School of Crafts has four majors, namely Ceramics, Glass, Jewelry and Lacquer Art Design with well-constructed professional teaching studios. It has undergraduate, master and doctoral programs. With an emphasis of research on crafts theory and creation, it combines development of international horizon and local humanistic spirit. Crafts Discipline is the Zhejiang provincial key discipline and key research base for humanities and social sciences. It shares a platform of national experimental teaching demonstration center with School of Crafts. It has received two provincial awards for teaching.