I went to the second annual
Rock and Roll Craft Show this weekend (twice actually), held at the former Junk Junkie store in south Saint Louis. I didn't make it last year, but based on the amount of hype this year I felt like I couldn't miss it. And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm planning a Makers show for December at
Mad Art Gallery so I wanted to troll the vendors and see who was worthy of inviting to our show. Overall, the event was a lot smaller than I had expected. I found out that
Bust magazine was one of the sponsors and I had assumed it would be as big as
Readymade's Holiday Craft Show in NY or something like a
Renegade Craft Fair (I went to Chicago's two years ago and dropped nearly $200 on some kick ass merchandise...), but it was much smaller, almost entirely local, but extremely packed. The gear was pretty varied in quality, but most (if not all) was under $100 and since the coordinators weren't taking a cut at all, the show must have been a real success to the makers involved. I rarely saw a person exit the building without at least one of the small brown paper bags with the RRCS logo stamped on the front of it in hand (nice touch guys). I think the venue was way too small for the amount of stuff they had available--it was hard to move around, and trying on clothes was impossible unless you wanted to do it over what you had on--but that's just a sign that they've outgrown their location and need to find a bigger space for next time.
Pros:
- Marie Oberkirsch's textiles
- Squasht clothing and hats
- Dinosaur Kewpie handbags
- the Design Deli lamps
- Big Headed Bluebird, Red Anvil and LaLaLori jewelry
- Janice Wallace cards, Secret Leaves books
- Anchovy's re-designed stuffed animals were pricey but really funny
- Live music
- Vintage iron-on transfers on-the-spot
- Well run and extremely organized, if not too many volunteers standing around
Cons:
- Some of the merchandise was not very good
- Very cramped space, hard to move around
- No bathroom!
Kudos to the organizers. This event must have been a lot of work. Look forward to seeing it in a larger venue next time.
