Arts and Crafts Fair fundraiser for Chipita Park Association coming up at Marcroft Hall
A tradition in Chipita Park, the 18th annual arts and crafts fair in Marcroft Hall is one of the first out-of-the gate shopping opportunities for the 2022 holiday season.
A fundraiser for the Chipita Park Association, the occasion is a showcase of local talent to include pottery, scarves, bird feeders, wood furniture, handbags, art, wall hangings, soaps, lotions and wind chimes, for instance.
“The fair is very festive; people see neighbors they haven’t seen for a while,” said DeeAnn Brown, who coordinates the fair for the association.
The event is an experience of camaraderie accented with homemade goodies to include pastries, breakfast burritos, soups, pulled-pork sandwiches and crafts.
Charlotte Lee is a regular contributor whose pottery attracts customers from around the region. Distinguished by her pine-cone designs, Lee’s pottery includes dinnerware, mugs, planters and carafes. “I like to create pottery for everyday use; the mugs are popular items,” Lee said.
Forty years ago, Lee launched her business in parking lots in Colorado Springs. “I’d sell pottery from my car,” she said.
Lee sells her works in the gift shop in Yosemite National Park and Poor Richard’s Bookstore in Colorado Springs.
The Pigeon family, Leah, Brian, Amelia and Carissa, upcycle and recycle to craft with ingenuity. From hand-molded crates and soap socks (pieces of soap in a sock) to bird cages from recycled fence posts, the family is environmentally artistic.
If it looks ready for the trash, the crafters go into rescue mode. From old T-shirts, they make hot pads. When not upcycling or recycling, Leah makes Mama Pigeon soap and takes time to knit slippers.
From junk bin to wall art, Kate DeGraaf recycles remnants of weathered cedar fences, flooring or decks to craft three-dimensional mosaic mountain scenes. With her eye for beauty, DeGraaf, known as the Mountain WoodChic, frames the pieces with recycled wood, enhancing the scenes with pieces cut into geometrical shapes of different shapes and thickness.
For accents, she uses metal trees, seeds or animals. She sells her work in a gift shop in Conifer and at Brazenhead Vintage Market in Woodland Park.
Another regular at the fair is the Ute Pass Historical Society, which sells books, many that tell the narrative of indigenous people and early settlers.
The Chipita Park Association a nonprofit organization responsible for the maintenance of the Marcroft Hall building as well as rental agreements on the facility.
“Marcroft Hall is the anchor of the community,” said Brown. “My goal is to offer a wide variety of products, without much overlap, and a variety of prices ranges.”
The fair is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 5 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 6 at Marcroft Hall at 9105 Chipita Park Road in Chipita Park.
From left, Charlotte Lee, Kate DeGraaf, Leah and Amelia Pigeon. The four are among the 25 artists who will display work at the Arts and Crafts Fair Nov. 5 and 6 in Marcroft Hall.