Art and Craft Cooperative in Charlottesville, Virginia

A few months ago I went to spend some time with my family in Virginia, and as usual I visited one of my favorite shops, Charlottesville Arts Cooperative Gallery, located in the centre of beautiful Charlottesville.

I have been researching business models of Artists Cooperative for some time, and this is one of the best examples.

The gallery shows products of up to 60 artists and makers. As a cooperative, they work together to operate the store, helping keep their art affordable. Twice a month each artist or maker has a selling duty in the shop. The cooperative is managed by a small group of people and they employ a part time bookkeeper.

Each member of the cooperative designs and makes the display for their own section of the gallery. Here are some of the examples:

And here is my favorite display:

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you would like to learn more about Charlottesville Arts Cooperative check their website here.

Art and Craft Cooperative in Charlottesville, Virginia

The Colour Factory Studios in Winchester

Last week I went to Winchester for a few days with my husband, and I came back inspired. It is interesting how we are drawn to places that will give us the answers to our inner questions and point us in the direction we should take. I experienced this when I visited The Colour Factory in Winchester.

For a long time I have been dreaming about collectively setting up (or joining) a cooperative of artists and makers,
a place where we could work together, inspire each other and sell the products of our creativity. The Colour Factory Studios and Gallery is such a place.

The Colour Factory is an artist's studio group of six professional artists: Rachael Alexander (visual artist),
Linda Miller (machine embroidery), Jill Maguire (glass and ceramics), Jenny Muncaster (visual artist), Clara Sanjar (graphic, watercolour, book and textile artist) and Rama Gurung (jewellery artist and repairer). Under The Colour Factory they work together producing imaginative community and educational projects. You can find more information about them here.

Here are some images from their downstairs shop:

I found my visit to The Colour Factory very inspiring. It gave me the impetus to take my dream seriously. I will write about this in my next blog post.

The Colour Factory Studios in Winchester