The Renegade Craft Fair happens in Los Angeles and San Francisco in December! And it all started off with an artist who couldn’t find what she was looking for.
In 2002, Renegade Craft Fair Co-Creator and Director Susie Daly was making jewelry. She’d made enough inventory to start selling her work in new contemporary-crafts venues.
The only problem was, no such venues existed at the time.
So, Susie accepted the challenge. With 70 crafters chosen in a juried selection process, she coordinated Chicago’s first Renegade Craft Fair, in River Park!
Susie recalls that inaugural event as being simple, low-key–and refreshing. Crafters enjoyed offering work they loved to create, in a setting designed especially for them. Within two years, the Renegade Craft Fair was branching out to Brooklyn, New York.
“I was there on a trip and walked past McKinley Park, which reminded me of River Park,” Susie explained. Inspiration struck, and Brooklyn became a “Renegade” city–soon followed by San Francisco, Austin and Los Angeles.
“I just basically grew (Renegade Craft Fair) to cities that I love to travel to,” explains Susie, “and that I think have a very good scene for this sort of thing.”
London became Renegade Craft Fair’s first international “scene” last year. And Susie says she has some thoughts about expanding, but nothing is set in stone.
“I’m going to look at Seattle and Denver, but I’m keeping an open mind,” she says. And franchise-style expansion isn’t the idea here. “I’ve looked at other cities, in the past, that haven’t always worked out,” Susie comments. “I’m just going to see how it goes, and just grow it, kind of organically, from where it is right now.”
That organic growth has included some “regulars”. “Ex Libris Anonymous has done every single one of the Renegade Craft Fairs throughout our history,” says Susie, referring to the unique creator of handmade journals from vintage books.
Meanwhile, Susie and husband Mat continue with a unique–and fun–artistic pursuit. They handcraft cuckoo clocks! Their inventory includes both silent varieties of the wooden classic you remember from your growing-up years–and the standard, “whong-cuckoo!” versions.
Want to see the talented artists of Renegade? Their Los Angeles appearance is set for December 8th and 9th. If you’re further north, mark your calendar for December 15th and 16th: that’s when they’ll be in San Francisco!