The Walker has gathered some of the best local makers to offer goods ranging from handmade chocolate to hand-stitched shoes. Bring a friend, grab a local brew from the new pop-up cash bar, shop for gifts, and enjoy this not-to-be-missed event.
The Makers Mart features 21 local makers each presenting their original, hand-made designs. All proceeds support the Walker’s artistic and educational programs.
Featured artists include: EMdsign, Mill City Fineries, Les Bags, Mademoiselle Miel, Namakan, Tandem Made, Makwa Studio, byrd & belle, Adam Turman, Nbaxter Pottery, Minny & Paul, Stangler Works, Julia Elise Bath & Body, Hemlocks Leatherworks, Homesteading Bliss, Lisa Rydin Erickson, Melty Stuff, Solid Manufacturing, Claire Abitz, Desdamona Doolittle and Linda Zimmermann.
WALKER ART CENTER’S MAKERS MART:
Saturday November 3, 2018, 11am–4 pm
Skyline Room, Free
MEMBER MIMOSA PREVIEW: MAKERS MART: 10AM–11AM
Members see it first! Walker members can enjoy complimentary mimosas and first pick of the wares. RSVP online or call 612-375-7655. Walker members receive a 10% discount on all purchases.
FEATURED MAKERS
All photos courtesy of the artists
Claire Abitz – Hortonville, Wisconsin
Claire Abitz is an artist and maker based in Hortonville, WI. Her background in sculpture has informed her work in accessories, furniture and interiors. Her practice focuses on the combination of salvaged materials, geometry and the history of trades.
byrd & belle – Angie Davis, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Founded in 2008 with a single, small sewing machine and
few yards of wool, byrd & belle has grown from a one-woman operation to a fully equipped design studio and manufactory. They specialize in cut and sew design. Over the last decade, their work has been recognized for its modern aesthetic and high quality construction and materials. Each byrd & belle piece is designed, made and shipped out from its studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Desdamona Doolittle – Burnsville, Minnesota
Desdamona Doolittle is a unique accessories line handcrafted from repurposed leather. Made from scraps, remnants and other discarded items that would otherwise crowd landfills, each piece is one of a kind. Desdamona Doolittle believes that small changes in our everyday choices can result in a significant environmental impact.
EMdsign – Emma Carroll, Minnetonka, Minnesota
Product and jewelry designer Emma Carroll is interested in materials and design processes that combine hand-made and ready-made. Apprenticing with a German silversmith at a young age gave her a solid foundation in construction and Bauhaus philosophy. This influenced her later decision to obtain a Masters in Product design and jewelry at The Peter Behrens school of art and design in Düsseldorf Germany.
When asked about her design process, “I am inspired by the possibilities of geometric form and the idea of reducing them to their truest form.” Her methods include unusual material and color combinations. Best-known pieces have been showcased in Europe and published in FRAME magazine’s “Master Class” book series. Her newest series highlights the materials plastic, leather and copper along with her desire to create work that is wearable and lightweight.
Lisa Rydin Erickson – Saint Paul, Minnesota
With Minnesota Nature as a four season muse, Saint Paul artist Lisa Rydin Erickson is inspired to create graphic and botanical images from local summer greens, winter whites and all of the other colors that make up life in Minnesota. Lisa works in a variety of mediums. Her art has been part of Nature Based Therapeutics program at the MN Landscape Arboretum and her prints and cards can be found around the Midwest.
Hemlocks Leatherworks – Candace La Cosse, Duluth, Minnesota
Hemlocks Leatherworks is a one-woman operation based in downtown Duluth, Minnesota. Drawing inspiration from Lake Superior’s North Shore, the vast history of traditional shoemaking, and cultures around the world, Candace LaCosse crafts each leather good one at a time, with the finest materials and greatest care.
Homesteading Bliss – Bliss Benson, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Bliss Benson and her bees live in Minneapolis where she has been practicing Api-centric beekeeping for five years. Benson also partners with a local school teaching urban students beekeeping in a local setting; a project she is passionate about. When she is not teaching or selling, Benson continues to improve her beeswax skills in crafting her candles, lip balms, and salves.
Julia Elise Bath & Body – Julia Miller, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Julia Elise natural & herbal body care products are created by Julia Miller. She has been creating healing body products for six years and her mission is to make people feel beautiful, healthy & strong by drawing on the healing & supportive properties of plants. All Julia Elise products are handmade by Miller in small batches in Minneapolis using high-quality ingredients, including organic healing herbs, pure & natural oils & butters, locally-harvested beeswax, and essential oils.
Les Bags – Laurie Sorenson, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Les Bags are handmade by Laurie Sorenson, a maker with over a decade of experience in making bags, totes, purses, and jewelry. After her two sons moved out of the house, she began creating her signature line of waxed canvas tote bags and merino wool felt, experimenting with different styles, designs, and unique touches to create a bag that was beautiful to look at and hardworking enough to stand up to daily wear and tear
Mademoiselle Miel – Susan Brown, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Susan Brown is a creative confectionaire / beekeeper and founder of Mademoiselle Miel. Bees residing on Twin Cities rooftops provide the innovative filling for award-winning honey bon-bons. Mademoiselle Miel also crafts chocolate bars from farm-sourced cocoa beans which are ground in-house, with locally sourced organic maple sugar as the sweetener. Most products are dairy and gluten-free and all are paleo.
Makwa Studio – Maggie Thompson, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2013. As a textile artist and designer she derives her inspiration from the history of her Ojibwe heritage, exploring family history as well as themes and subject matter of the broader Native American experience. Thompson’s work calls attention to its materiality pushing the viewer’s traditional understanding of textiles. She explores materials in her work by incorporating multimedia elements such as photographs, beer caps and 3D-printed objects.
Melty Stuff – Ryan & Anna Brink, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Melty Stuff was born from an educational background in visual art, a short-term job in woodworking, and a personal practice in design. Working in a community woodshop in Northeast Minneapolis, Melty Stuff focuses on the material items of lumberyard walnut and hand-pigment dyed epoxies, a material generally used to patch up boats, creating a unique mixture of natural wood, alongside a viscous, bright, and unnatural compound.
The two come together to create an unexpected, Snoopy and Woodstock-esc friendship, but continues to blur the line of art versus product. The traditional practice of ‘bow-tie’ inlays is used in an abstracted format to create a collage-like feel for each piece. The end result is an object that you can use as your flat surface to fork and knife a pile of spaghetti, wash up, and then hang on the wall before guests arrive.
Mill City Fineries – Matt Brunnette and Brad Wellman Minneapolis, Minnesota
What began in 2013 as an apartment operation in south Minneapolis between college friends, with little more than a handful of beautiful fabrics acquired while traveling through New York City, then sparked what would become Mill City Fineries. Born out of a passion for hand-making small-batch menswear accessories, Mill City Fineries continue to travel to the far-flung corners of the world to personally acquire the most unique and highest quality fabrics
Minny & Paul – Laura Waldman, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minny & Paul was founded with a vision to elevate gift giving and make it easier to share high-quality local products. You pick the box, we handwrite your gift message and send directly to the special person in your life. We are here to help spread gratitude through local gifting.
nBaxter Pottery – Nicole Baxter, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nicole Baxter is a potter living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She creates functional pottery that is food, microwave, and dishwasher-safe, and also difficult for small children or cats to knock over.
Namakan Fur – Maggie Davis, Molly Mogren Katt and Liz Doyle Skophammer, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Namakan Fur bridges the gap between winter style and comfort, from the head down. Their first product is their original fur ruff– a stunning, American-made faux fur ruff that attaches to any hood with a magnetic design, adding a luxe and personal touch to any winter coat.
Stangler Works – Ross Stangler, Golden Valley, Minnesota
Ross Stangler is best known for his simple yet luxurious modern furnishings often made from urban trees sourced locally. His love of color pops up in playful ways in some of his minimalist designs like the Ding Box, a contemporary piece of storage furniture. With a furniture degree from MCAD and past work ranging from restaurant design to a stint at BDDW in New York, Stangler is a jack of all trades. He has an admiration for both humble materials and exacting craftsmanship, and his influences range from George Nakashima to Sean Sherman
Solid Manufacturing – Dan & Alex Cordell, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Solid Manufacturing Co. is a Minneapolis based home and leather goods company. Founders Dan and Alex Cordell believe that quality, handmade products can be manufactured in the United States and built to last.
Tandem Made – Erin & Nate Moren, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tandem Made is comprised of a husband and wife duo, passionate about making premium, beautiful objects that seamlessly blend function and aesthetics. Furniture, sculpture, built-ins and interiors, they work together collaboratively to design and build custom one-of-a-kind pieces.
Adam Turman – Golden Valley, Minnesota
Adam Turman is an illustrator, muralist, printmaker, and artist from Minneapolis, MN, whose bold style offers colorful takes on beloved landmarks and the great outdoors. Adam’s illustrations & murals, can be found throughout the Midwest, and his prints in collections worldwide. He works with major brands, independent businesses, and private collectors alike to make art part of our everyday.
Linda Zimmermann – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Linda Zimmermann, the youngest daughter of working class immigrants, learned early how to make lemonade from lemons, not only making due with what one has, but making better (and cooler). Armed only with a sense of style that skews a little off-center and a passion for cashmere, she finds inspiration in everything from nature to history to art. She has been repurposing cashmere, along with other fine/found materials, since 2001— hand stitching every one-of-a-kind piece.
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