(FORTUNE Magazine) – Contemporary crafts, once disdained by art collectors, are now coming into their own -- and U.S. corporations are helping. With a $250,000 grant from Philip Morris Cos., the American Craft Museum in New York opened a retrospective called ''Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical,'' which celebrates the museum's 30th anniversary and its move into the new E.F. Hutton headquarters. The exhibit of 300 pieces, including furniture, ceramics, glass, and other decorative objects, is the museum's first comprehensive craft show in 17 years and will travel to six U.S. cities over the next two years. Art critics have hailed the quality of the work, saying it shows that craft is no longer inferior to painting and sculpture. Corporate art buyers, however, have not been waiting for approval from cultural dictators to invest in crafts. Some companies buy crafts exclusively. U.S. News & World Report has a collection of modern crafts that ranges from paper work to ceramics. Peat Marwick Mitchell collects baskets, glass, and fabrics. Corporations are also commissioning craftsmen to do pieces. Gannett recently installed a brass sculpture by Albert Paley, a Rochester, New York, metalworker, while Hyatt Corp. commissioned many pieces from Sheila Hicks, a New York weaver. Since most companies collect art for decoration rather than for investment, + craft has a particular appeal. Says Jack Lenor Larsen, president of the American Craft Council and a designer who has made fabric patterns for Pan American and Braniff airplanes: ''Crafts fit any purse.''