The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen has, just today, launched their fourth annual Handmade for the Holidays catalog. This digital look-book features artwork, hand crafted gifts, designer jewelry, and more. It's the perfect place to start your holiday shopping to get ideas for those who appreciate something different and artfully made (read: made with love!).
The Cultural Arts Center began the catalog in 2020 in response to Covid shutting down retail establishments and cancelling art festivals and markets where local makers would typically sell their goods. The catalog gave artists a way to show off their goods even if they couldn't be in front of customers themselves.
Lollie's Mad, Mad World artists have been part of the catalog since the beginning and are excited to share both old favorites and brand new products for the holiday shopping season. For instance, J2's popular art print, Schrodinger's Cat, is now available as a tote bag and Lauren has introduced a one-of-a-kind set of apatite jewelry.
While we're honored to be part of the catalog, we're also excited to see what others have been making. Leather artist, Xander Lutz, offers a wolf messenger bag that has tons of pockets, fits a laptop, and even has a leather key fob and a snap inside to keep your key fob and keys safe and easy to locate, when you need them. The embroidered wolf design on the front seals the deal, making it a statement piece that is utilitarian and a work of art!
Then there is B. Younger's accessories featuring her colorful paintings. She has socks, scarves, and even a crossbody bag available with her work on it.
If you're gearing up for the holidays, One Little World's ornaments and Christmas decor are a must-see. One Little World is a fair trade company based here in the Richmond, VA area. The owner, Jodie, travels to different countries where she has met the artists and works with them to develop products using what is natural to them and their locale. Every purchase from One Little World not only supports Jodie's family, but helps put food on the table for another family in Nepal, Uganda, or Ecuador. Jodie offers cute felt ornaments, a festive garland for your mantle, and even a sweet angel tree topper made of copper wire.
The upcoming holidays are the perfect time to appreciate the makers around us and to help support them as they build their businesses, grow their families, and get the joy of sharing their craft with others. Purchases made from the Center's catalog do just that and, as a bonus, they help the Center, a non-profit organization whose goal is to be an arts partner and to help encourage creativity and support artists in their endeavors.
If you want to digitally flip through the catalog and see all the goodies to be found, check it out on the Center's website at: https://www.artsglenallen.com/holiday-shopping-catalog
Happy shopping!