The Guild of Artists and Artisans will become Ann Arbor’s one-stop-shop for anyone who needs to find a handmade art piece for the holiday season this year. One hundred artists will be hosted at 118 North Fourth Avenue to show and sell everything from paintings, to jewelry, to sculpture, to photography.
“I do have an Etsy store, but I like to see the environment in which my work resides. It just makes me happy,” artist Kristine Cravens said. The Art Fair regular will be channeling the Polish grandmother who inspired a lot of the style in her exquisitely intricate pottery.
Cravens continued, “Most of my work is functional dinnerware. I like the idea of a piece that you can display, and pull it off the plate rack, and actually use. I like the element of surprise with it. No it’s not just a decorative piece—you actually use it. I feel like the communion of dinner should be just that. It should be a celebration and you should have beautiful dinnerware to serve family and friends.”
This is the sixth year for the holiday season-orientated artisan’s market. From Nov. 14 to Dec. 20, it will run every Wednesday through Saturday at the Gutman Gallery from 11am to 5pm.
“The best thing about the Holiday Artists Market is the totality of what happens when all of these incredibly talented artists come together in one space. They’re all incredibly talented, but there’s some magic that happens when everyone’s together and I find that really exciting,” Meredith Long, the Guild’s fairly new Gallery Director, said.
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Painter and print maker Jesse Richard is one of the artists who will be featured at the Holiday Artisans Market.
“The people that tend to come into my booth, and enjoy and follow my work, tend to be looking for something that’s different. They’re looking for an opportunity to be calmer, more thoughtful, for a way to cut through the noise,” Richard said.
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
