Non Profit of the Month!
March 29, 2013
Patton McDowell & Associates deemed HandMade in America in September of 2012 and somehow we didn’t find out about it until just recently!
“Patton McDowell and Associates’ mission is to elevate nonprofit organizations through careful planning, unique strategies, creative fundraising and dynamic staff and board development. The PMA Blog covers various nonprofit, fundraising and philanthropy news, in addition to thought leadership pieces and case studies. Our blog aims to explore the intersection of nonprofits, philanthropy, technology and innovation.”
We are all so proud to be a part of an organization whose work is truly creating opportunities and affecting economic change all across WNC and beyond. Recognition like this plays such an important role in helping us to connect to a wider audience who may benefit from the services of our organization, so Thank you!
CLICK HERE to read the article about HIA!
Craft Lab at HandMade in America Tomorrow!
August 13, 2012
Our Executive Director, Gwynne Rukenbrod is going to be teaching Best Practices for Artists tomorrow from 6-8pm here at HandMade. If you have never hear Gwynne speak, then you are really missing out. I have lamented for many years that I didn’t have a true mentor in the world of Art and Business. Now that I am at HandMade and work for Gwynne, I have found a strong woman who is a mentor and role model. I will be attending the Craft Lab to learn from her, and I hope that you come and join too.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Every person in her last Craft Lab checked the “Very Useful the Me” box on the evaluation. The participants said, “Very glad I attended” and “Face pace, not boring. The presenter knew everything we needed.” One person even said it could be improved by “Being Longer.” I know this sounds like shameless self-promotion, but I think it’s important for our members to know what a great resource they have and how your chances of success can be greatly improved by taking advantage of Craft Labs. In this economy, a crafter can’t just have good work at their craft anymore. It takes time, education, and business know how. Come let us help you and your business!
- Gwynne Rukenbrod, My Mentor and Role Model
Gwynne’s accomplishments include being the Curator of Fine Craft at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, a nonprofit founded to advance education about he process, product, and history fo craft, from 2007-2010. She is an accomplished glass artist, but has also served as Exe. Dir. of the International Society of Glass and Beadmakers, Art Curator of The Works, and the Director of the Short North Neighborhood Foundation. Gwynne currently serves on various boards including, Energy Exchange, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the Public Art and Cultural Commission for the City of Asheville, American Made Alliance and the World Craft Council of North America.
Hand made in America is happy to announce a new display at the I-26 Welcome Center!
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, American Craft Week + Crimson Laurel, all have new displays, as well as our Appalachian Women Entrepreneurs.
I created a Business Directory for all the members, so visitors know about so many of fantastic women business owners in WNC. Thank you to all the women who contributed work to the display. I think it looks fantastic!
- Helen Sullivan
- Lisa Gluckin, Linda Labelle
- Victoria Rose
- Connie Molland, Cathy Green
- Susan Seidman
- Krista Allison
The address is I-26 @ mile marker 6 Mars Hill, NC 28754 and the phone number is 828.689.4257, if you want to go see it!
Local artist and author will be speaking at our AWE meeting in Asheville on Monday, July 9th! She is going to be giving a short talk on our topic- “Finding Your Target Market”
She has been very successful at what she does and I am really excited to hear what she has to say. Please Join us from 6-8 pm at our offices on Hilliard offices at the corner of Church and Hilliard Street. Any woman who has a craft based business (include craft makers/artists, natural products, food/farm, services, tourism, handmade retail). Let your friends know!
Alena is also having a fantastic workshop and party at Malaprops bookstore next Thursday. Check it out!
“CULTIVATING YOUR CREATIVE LIFE” PAINTING WORKSHOP WITH
ALENA HENNESSY — REGISTRATION REQUIRED
| Join us for a workshop by visual artist Alena Hennessy, author of Cultivating Your Creative Life: Exercises, Activities, and Inspiration for Finding Balance, Beauty and Success as an Artist. The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Please bring a journal, pen and pencil. Other art making supplies, as well as a $5 gift card toward the purchase of Alena Hennessy’s book, are included in the $20 cost of the workshop. You will learn how to make a simple and colorful India Ink painting, along with other mixed media techniques on a small wood panel. All levels welcome. Register on-line at www.malaprops.com, or in person at the store. After the workshop, come to a party and booksigning with Alena Hennessy, 7 – 9 pm at Malaprop’s. |
ISBN-13: 9781592537860
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Quarry Books, 7/2012
HandMade in America Events Feb. 13-17!
February 10, 2012
We want to share three HIA
events with you!
There is a big week ahead for February 13th-17th and we want to invite all to come join us at the HandMade in America Gallery Monday for HIA’s Craft Lab series, Wednesday for HIA’s Textile Study Group, and Friday for the Opening Reception of In Our Own Words: Language as Craft.
*Also don’t miss out on the 25th National Grove Park Inn Arts & Craft Conference and the Arts & Craft Heritage Week February 12-18th. Mayor Terry Bellamy recently signed an official proclamation designating the week of February 12th-18th as Arts & Crafts Heritage Week. Follow the link above to find the schedule of Arts & Craft Heritage Week.
Monday Feb 13 Craft lab 6-8pm @ HandMade in America Gallery
– How to Tell Your Story.
Telling stories is how we identify, learn, and share our history. If your goal is to educate, persuade, or simply connect in a meaningful way with a particular audience, storytelling is the single most powerful communication tool available to you and can be your best selling tool.
Come learn how to tell your story as a craft maker. Executive Director Gwynne Rukenbrod will teach you the importance of learning how to tell your unique story and hone your skills at story telling. Gwynne will talk about the three steps in a good story and group exercises will lead you through each step of YOUR story.
Wednesday Feb 15 Textile Study Group 5:30-7 pm
Tencel, Bamboo, Rayon, Modal…What are they really?
Led by Karen Donde
Manufactured, regenerated fibers come from natural plant sources, but are extruded as filaments in manufacturing. This presentation will focus on the content of these yarns, how they are processed, and the performance properties of each. It will include samples of the yarns and products woven with them.
Karen Donde weaves garments, accessories, and home textiles for sale and teaches a variety of weaving classes and workshops at Sutherland Handweaving Studio in the Cotton Mill Studios in Asheville’s River Arts District. All are welcome.
Friday Feb.17th 5:30-8pm @ HandMade in America Gallery .
–In Our Own Words: Language as Craft Opening Reception
Artists describe finished works with carefully selected language, but can craft depict language when words are chosen before the act of physical expression? Inspiration was found by a community of local WNC artists, by asking just that. February 13 through May 4, 2012, HandMade in America presents a collection with distinctly different artistic process. In Our Own Words: Language as Craft features eleven local craft artists that share the results of this creative experiment.
Personally-resonant words chosen by each artist as the impetus for making the object. “We find not the phrasing to describe our work, but rather the craft to depict our language”, says one of the artists. From fine furniture and woven sculpture to exquisitely created wall pieces, In Our Own Words is a playful exhibit with visual, verbiage and vital messages.
Artists featured in this exhibition are: Fatie Atkinson, Caryl Brt, Hayley Davison, Melissa Engler, Carla and Greg Filippelli, Wayne Fowler, Susan Link, Journel Thomas, Jenna Weston, and Jamie Womack. Opening Reception will be Friday February 17 from 5:30–8 pm at the HandMade in America Gallery at 125 South Lexington Avenue, Suite 101, beside Storm Restaurant on Hilliard Avenue.
Here is a sneak peek of some words and definitions that inspired a few of the exhibit’s pieces
"Inspiration"by Fatie Atkinson and Wayne Fowler
Inspiration: [in-spuh-rey-shuh
n] stimulation to do creative work: stimulation for the human mind to creative thought or to the making of art.
"Unfettered" by Caryl Brt
Unfettered: [uhn-fet-er] to release from fetters. to free from restraint; liberate.
"Disclosure" by Melissa and Yvonne Engle
Disclosure: [dih-skloh-zher] To make known; reveal or uncover: allow to be seen; lay open to view: open up or unfold.
"Fire" by Susan Link
Fire: [fahyuhr] 1. kindle, ignite 2. stir,enliven (the imagination)
Talk to the artists and get their explanations and perspectives at the Opening Reception Friday February 17th, 5:30-8pm. See you soon!
In Our Own Words: Language as Craft
February 3, 2012
Unique Inspiration for Craft
HandMade in America Presents a Display of Verbal Expression through Craft
In Our Own Words: Language as Craft Exhibition
February 13- May 4, 2012
Artists describe their finished works with carefully selected language, but can craft depict our language when the words to describe it are chosen before the act of physical expression? Inspiration was found, by a community of local WNC artists, by asking just that. HandMade in America is excited to present a collection with a distinctly different artistic process. In Our Own Words: Language as Craft features eleven local craft artists that will each share the results of this creative experiment at Handmade in America February 13 through May 4, 2012.
In a reversal of the usual process of making an object and then explaining it in words, a personally-resonant word was first chosen by each artist as the impetus for the making of an object. “We find not the phrasing to describe our work, but rather the craft to depict our language”, says one of the artists. From fine furniture and woven sculpture to exquisitely created wall pieces, In Our Own Words is a playful exhibit with visual, verbiage and vital messages.
Opening Reception will be held Friday February 17 from 5:30 – 8 pm at HandMade in America offices at 125 South Lexington Avenue, Suite 101, beside Storm Restaurant. Please plan to join us as we continue to support craft artists living in WNC.
Here is a sneak peek of some words and definitions that inspired a few of the exhibit’s pieces
"Inspiration"by Fatie Atkinson and Wayne Fowler
Inspiration: [in-spuh-rey-shuhn] stimulation to do creative work: stimulation for the human mind to creative thought or to the making of art.
"Unfettered" by Caryl Brt
Unfettered: [uhn-fet-er] to release from fetters. to free from restraint; liberate.
"Disclosure" by Melissa and Yvonne Engle
Disclosure: [dih-skloh-zher] To make known; reveal or uncover: allow to be seen; lay open to view: open up or unfold.
"Fire" by Susan Link
Fire: [fahyuhr] 1. kindle, ignite 2. stir,enliven (the imagination)
—————————————–
Talk to the artists and get their explanations and perspectives at the Opening Reception Friday February 17th, 5:30-8pm. See you soon!
What do we do? Craft Labs
December 21, 2011
HandMade has consistently offered business training to craft artists since our inception. In one six-month period in 2011, for example, we presented a progressive curriculum of 17 educational programs, attended by 147 artists. Topics in the series included “How to Get Your Work Seen (by galleries and collectors),” “Writing an Artist’s Statement,” “Pricing Your Work,” and “Why Buy HandMade.” In designing these programs, we keep abreast of current tools and trends—social media and Internet marketing, for example—and shifts in current market conditions that can give attendees a competitive edge in their businesses.
If you would like to help support HandMade programs, please visit our fundraiser on Indiegogo.
What do we do? Appalachian Women Entrepreneurs (AWE)
December 18, 2011
HandMade’s Appalachian Women Entrepreneurs program serves women who are creatively fashioning their livelihoods through small, craft-related businesses in rural areas of Western North Carolina. HandMade has organized women’s business networks in communities throughout the area to connect these entrepreneurs with each other and with resources and markets. These networks provide access to business support services, from business plan development to joint marketing projects, that the women might not be able to locate, afford, or access individually.
What do we do? Craft, Architecture, and Design
December 15, 2011
WNC hosts more than 200 second-home and retirement communities, offering consideration potential for craft artists to capitalize on this trend. Through a variety of increasingly sophisticated projects, HandMade helps craft entrepreneurs expand their business to include custom work for the building trades. Simultaneously, we work with construction, design, and property sales professionals to raise their awareness of the craft resources available to them and their clients, and to facilitate their access to craft artists. Some highlights of HandMade’s recent CAD projects include:
- With The HandMade House at the Ramble, a unique partnership between HandMade and Biltmore Farms, we created a showplace residence that demonstrated the value of integrating the ideas of builders and artists. More than 100 craft artists from Western North Carolina worked with architects, designers, landscapers, and construction crews to create a model that can be easily replicated.
- Our Toolkit for Integrating Custom Craft into Building Projects serves as a “how to” manual for effective collaborations between artists and professionals in the building trades.
- Two HandMade publications, Handcrafted Architectural Elements and Handcrafted Home Furnishings and Design Elements, serve as resource manuals for architects, interior designers, and homeowners, offering ideas for utilizing fine craft of the region in their building and renovation projects.
- The Western North Carolina Craft, Architecture & Design Expo invited the public to join artists, builders, and designers to learn about successful collaborations between craft artists, homeowners, and industry professionals. More than 1100 visitors attended the workshops and exhibits of this two-day event, which emphasized craftsmanship and design for both high-end and mid-range home markets.
If you would like to help support HandMade programs, please visit our fundraiser on Indiegogo.
Help us Promote our fundraiser and you may win an I Buy Handmade for the Holidays Sticker!
December 12, 2011
Hello friends and readers! We hope you’re having a happy December! Here at HandMade we’ve been busy promoting our year end fundraiser at www.indiegogo.com/handmadeinamerica and we need your help!
We’re giving away some of our “I buy handmade for the holidays” stickers for your help in promotion. Visit our web site or Rafflecopter to start promoting! You will receive entries for each promotion you do, and ten winners will receive a sticker at the end of this week!
What you can do to help:
Get 2 entries for answering a question: What handmade gifts have you bought this holiday?
Get 2 entries for “Liking” HandMade in America on Facebook
Get 1 entry for following @handmadeamerica on Twitter
Get 3 entries for tweeting about our fundraiser
Get 2 entries for visiting http://www.indiegogo.com/handmadeinamerica and contributing or even sharing our fundraiser with your friends!
Get 2 entries for watching and rating our youtube vide0
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