JULY 2008

Not Your Grandmother’s Craft Fair

Festival Pavilion

Crafting is enjoying a global renaissance, with many hobbyists learning new skills for do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. Now there is a Renegade Craft Fair just for DIY crafters. Fort Mason Center welcomes the first West Coast version of the fair in mid-July.

The Renegade event features a wide variety of crafts — from comic books and craft kits to silk screened posters and reconstructed clothing. Quilting, knitting, art posters, T-shirts, toy animals, hand-spun fibers, ceramics, ‘zines, and more are all part of the Renegade experience.

Veteran crafter Sue Daly founded the fair in Chicago in 2003. Within five years the fair has expanded to Brooklyn, NY and points west with more than 200 DIY artisans participating in each fair. Renegade DIY craft artists travel from many parts of the US and the world to shop and sell items at the fair.

The young and hip factor at Renegade fairs is quite high. Nearly all of the exhibiting artists have web sites and much of the word of mouth about early fairs circulated via blogs and YouTube videos. Many of the crafters spent time working at stationery shops, galleries, clothing stores, and the like — inspiring them to try their own craft ideas.

As a result of its youthful crafters and clientele, Renegade Craft Fair offers unique items not ordinarily seen at other craft fairs. The emerging craft artisans contribute fresh perspectives to the world of crafts with very limited-run or one-of-a-kind objects that make personal statements about creativity.

Daly built on Renegade’s success by opening a Chicago store to sell crafts from the fair artisans year round – the Renegade Handmade store. Word continues to spread about the Renegade phenomenon in intriguing publications such as Design Sponge, Daily Candy, Croq Zine, Adorn Blog, and Punk Planet.

Meet crafters on the cutting edge of the creative process at the Renegade Craft Fair and pick up some new ideas and gifts.

Admission is free on both July 12 and 13. See July 12 in the calendar for more information about the event. Visit www.renegadecraft.com for details about the artists and the fair.

— Claudia Willen