Booth envisioned a school dedicated to the English Arts and Crafts movement, where artists and craftsmen would teach students through the example of their own work.
[3] The school was first headed by Saarinen, who integrated design practices and theories from the Arts and Crafts movement through the international style.
Carl Milles left the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm to lead Cranbrook's Sculpture Department.
[10] The school continues to be known for its apprenticeship method of teaching, in which a small group of students—usually 10 to 16 per class, or 150 students in total for the 10 departments—study under a single artist-in-residence for the duration of their curriculum.
[10] The entire campus of the Cranbrook Educational Community was designed by Eliel Saarinen in the style of the Arts and Crafts movement.
[12] Notable artists, architects, and designers who have studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art include Adela Akers,[13] Olga de Amaral,[14] McArthur Binion,[15] Peter Bohlin,[15] Nick Cave,[16] Niels Diffrient,[15] Charles and Ray Eames,[15] Edward Fella,[15] Gere Kavanaugh,[15] Florence Knoll,[15] Jack Lenor Larsen,[15] Donald Lipski,[15] Fumihiko Maki,[17] Myra Mimlitsch-Gray,[15] Annabeth Rosen,[15] Ruth Adler Schnee,[15] Nancy Skolos,[15] Toshiko Takaezu,[15] Lucille Tenazas,[15] Harry Bertoia[18] and Anne Wilson.