There’s a rule in pottery stores – mostly unwritten - if you break it, you buy it.
Thankfully, after three days of watching a steady stream of customers and browsers checking out the brightly-glazed, hand-crafted bowls, cups and plates she brought to her Clay Works North booth for Studio Fair at CN Centre, Joanne Mikkelsen had no breakages to deal with.
What stood out for her was people showing their excitement at being able to gather again indoors at a craft show, an entertainment option that wasn’t allowed to happen through much of the previous 20 months with all the COVID health restrictions that prevented public gatherings from happening.
“We’ve got a lovely booth with lots of space and everyone is just happy to be here, feeling like it’s a bit normal this year after the last couple years” said Mikkelsen. “It’s more local than most Studio Fairs and people are just happy to be out and at an event. I’ve really noticed in the last year or so that people are really wanting to really buy local and that’s been visible this weekend, absolutely. It’s been a great event for us, it’s been very steady.”
Dave Bodner lives off the electrical grid north of the city at Salmon Valley and he’s developed a knack for using his carpentry skills to create hand-made chairs, bowls and utensils out of birch wood that grows on his land for his business, Silver Tree Woodworking. Bodner likes the versatility of green birch wood, which he says bends easily. Hs started carving bowls and smaller items to use up smaller pieces of wood too small to make into chairs.
“We’ve lived off-grid for 10 years and it’s pretty important that whatever I do it had to be hand-tool friendly and the chairs, you don’t really suffer for not having power tools,” said Bodner.
Studio Fair was the first craft fair he’s participated in for several years and he was impressed with the whole experience of meeting people who came up to his display booth in the three-day event. He paid a $250 vendor fee and said while it might be a few months before he can truly gauge how it’s helped his business but he would certainly do it again.
“I was pretty amazed they were able to make it happen, with all the restrictions happening right now,” said Bodner. “There’s lots of space so people don’t feel so cramped. It’s a bit more relaxed enjoyable atmosphere. I think people are pretty happy to be out and about. You sort of get to see people again, at least from the eyes up.”
Everybody was required to wear a face mask and the building was limited to half-capacity - no problem in a rink that seats nearly 6,0000.
Traditionally held at the Prince George Convention and Civic Centre, an alternate site had to be found because the Civic Centre is still being used for the Northern Health vaccination clinic. Vendors and customers raved about the new location at CN Centre, which offered plenty of space and ample parking and Studio Fair organizers are already planning to bring it back to the arena next year.
Margaret Jones-Bricker was selling oil paintings and Christmas card prints produced by her husband Gene and there was no shortage of people who wanted to know more about the artwork. UNBC cancelled its Artisans of the North craft fair for a second year and Jones-Bricker says there aren’t many opportunities for crafters selling giftware to meet their sales targets during the usual two-month leadup to Christmas.
“Some people have outlets through the internet and they’ll market online or potentially with their own website, but for those of us wo don’t have that outlet we rely on word-of-mouth and friends and previous customers,” said Jones-Bricker.
“The plusses here is the parking is excellent and I personally like the brighter atmosphere because it’s easier to see and it’s roomy, so it’s not as crowded, so overall I’m pleased with the shift to here. They didn’t have it last year and for a lot of people who have a huge amount of inventory and nowhere to show it, it’s been a struggle.”
Admission for the three-day crafts fair was by donation and hundreds of people also dropped off non-perishable food items to give to the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s food bank. Organized by the Community Arts Council, the event was put together after just two months of planning. COVID restrictions limited the main floor booths to 87 vendors and there were 30 vendors set up in the CN Centre concourse.
“The vendors ae absolutely thrilled,” said Arts Council program director Lisa Redpath. “Because of COVID, we did a non-juried show, showcasing local and regional artists as well as some out-of-town. A lot of our bigger artists couldn’t travel this year or they were limited for a host of reasons. We really felt there was a need to get markets like this open for the Christmas season and we knew we could do it and CN Centre stepped up.
“We’ve got to kick the door open and get back to our lives and feeling comfortable and in this beautiful venue the comfort level is there for the vendors and the customers.”
Redpath said next year’s fair will be juried, meaning each vendor and what they sell will need to meet the approval of the Arts Council to be included on the main floor. Those who don’t meet the standards will still be able to market their goods from booths set up in the concourse area of the arena.
