The Art Craft Building Annual Sale

Artists have shared a co-operative studio on the 6th floor of the ArtCraft Building since 1987 when Cleveland Institute of  Art graduates Andrea Serafino, Susan Weir, George Bowes, Dan Postotnik, Angelica Pozo and Susan Gallagher first shared  the 5000 square feet of empty space. Although the co-operative studio artists have changed throughout the years, the  annual ArtCraft Open Studio Show ihas continued and is now in its 25th year.

The seed of what became the ArtCraft Open Studio Show was the Bohemian Department Store, an event from 1981 held in  artists’ studios in the Tower Press Building. This was a collection of Cleveland Institute of Art students, alumni and  teachers who had a shared goal of creating their own kind of exhibition experience for both artist and patron. Out of this  grew the Eat at Art’s exhibit at SPACES in 1982. The artists moved the sale as they changed studios before moving into  ArtCraft in 1987, but they kept it on the first weekend of December.

The vision and purpose of the ArtCraft Open Studio Show has remained the same and is two-fold. It is an event for artists  and craftsmen, at any stage of their career, to exhibit and sell handcrafted artwork, and an opportunity for art patrons to  see affordable artwork often not exhibited in area galleries. An eclectic collection is gathered each year, from furniture  to 24K gold jewelry, bold paintings to subtle handmade paper cards. But the focus is always fine craft that expresses the unique vision and talents of a studio artist.

The ArtCraft Building 6th Floor Co-op is currently shared by Barbara Chira, Linda Goldstone, Jennifer Liston Dykema,  Diane Bjel, Janet Luken, Alan Mintz and Mark Yasenchack. This group of ceramic and installation artists, painters and  educators share the small creative community of the co-op and are proud to be part of the growing community of  Downtown artists. Just over 50 artists have called this floor their studio over the last 25 years, and while the residents  have changed, the space and purpose have remained the same. The 6th Floor Studio is to the Cleveland art community  what the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is to Hollywood. Without the continued support of our landlord, Bruce Madorsky,  this studio would not have the life it has! Our fellow artists at Terra Vista Studios and Zygote Press, 1400 East 30th  Street, Studio 401, open their studios up to invited artists for their Holiday Shows the  same weekend as ArtCraft.