April Adventures at Craft Alliance!

After this frigid winter, we are ready to get out of the house and have some creative fun this Spring! Here is a rundown of Craft Alliance's events this month:

April 2nd - In conjunction with our exhibition, Storylines: Contemporary Embroidery, The St. Louis Poetry Center will be hosting "Poets Thread The Line" from 1-3 pm in our Delmar Gallery space!


April 8th- ARTrageous Costume Ball! Join us for a glamorous evening of art and fashion at The Palladium honoring Jeigh Singleton Associate Professor at Washington University Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. The night will feature Fashion Shows from local designers Michael Drummond and Katie Kantley, a Three-Course Seated Dinner, Silent and Live Auctions, and an After Party beginning at 9:30 pm!
Purchase your tickets now and Peek at our Auction Items!

April 9, 10 and 16th- Glass Casting Workshop with Patrick Blythe! Learn the art of lost wax casting of glass on a small scale from a master of large glass castings. You can make a detailed casting of your hand or other small object that you would like to replicate in glass! FREE Artist’s talk Sunday, April 10, at 5pm, “The History and Techniques of Glass Art” in our Delmar Studios. Call our Registrar for more information!

April 26th and 30th- The Delmar Gallery shop is having our annual Mother's Day Trunk Show featuring Enamel Artist Jenn Bell and Local Hat Maker Miriam Wiegand! Meet Artist Miriam Wiegand on April 30th from 12-2pm to get your handmade hat just in time for the Kentucky Derby!

April 29th- Crafting-A-Future Opening 6-8 pm at our Delmar Loop location! This special exhibition features artwork created by students in Crafting-A-Future, a community outreach program providing instruction in metal, clay, glass and fiber arts through training and mentoring on a scholarship basis.

Don't forget to visit our Grand Center location to see the amazing exhibition Breathe by Carrie Scanga! Stop by our Delmar Loop location and sit in our reading library and explore each book in the unique exhibition Let's talk about Love, baby. Breathe and Let's Talk About Love, Baby will be up through April 24th.

March Madness!

We have so many great events coming up this March and we couldn't be more excited!

This is your last chance to catch the exhibition Multiple Personalities at our Delmar Loop location! The exhibition runs through March 6th and features six artists who explore aspects of the psyche and the human figure in various states of being.


Fashion Lab cordially invites you to the first lecture in its Yarn lecture series Featuring New York designer Timo Weiland! The event will be held on Thursday, March 11th from 6-8 pm at Washington University’s Kemp Auditorium in Givens Hall, One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130


Visit Whole Foods Market in March and support Craft Alliance ‘One Dime At A Time!’ Whole Foods offers 10¢ per bag to customers who use their own bags, The money saved on bags will go directly to Craft Alliance to support our education, exhibition and outreach programs.

Join Craft Alliance artist, Michael Parrett on Friday, March 11 from 12-3pm for a free in-store demo at the Brentwood Whole Foods, 1601 South Brentwood Blvd. Watch Michael bring fire into contact with metals to create stunning pieces of jewelry!


Opening at our Delmar Loop location on March 18th is Storylines: Contemporary Embroidery
Six contemporary artists explore narrative works in thread – stitch by stitch. The artists featured were selected because their works challenge conventional ideas about embroidery and explore the potential of this traditional art form to communicate their ideas.

Concurrently in the Charak Gallery: Let's Talk About Love Baby in conjunction with Washington Universities Printmaking Confrence, "Love Librarian" Jana Harper brings Chido Johnson's Love Library Project to Craft Alliance.

Artist Ray Materson’s miniature, narrative embroidery work will be part of the upcoming exhibition, Storylines: Contemporary Embroidery, opening March 18 in the Delmar Loop Gallery. Ray will give a two day workshop March 18 and 19 at the Delmar Loop studios where participants will turn discarded items into wonderful narrative art pieces in the form of mosaic and collage. Ray has lectured and taught workshops to artists and community groups throughout the country and is the author of a book about his life journey titled Sins and Needles. You can find out more and register for Springtime, Stories and Socks on the website.

To find out more about our upcoming events, visit our website www.craftalliance.org

Our Busy November!

Both locations of Craft Alliance will be bustling with events this November and we can't wait!

The second round of fall classes has started and students are enjoying our brand new wood turning studio in the Kranzberg Arts Center! We will be having an open house where you can tour the studio on Friday, November 19th!
David Charak, Steve Novik and his wife Cathy Barancik have generously provided funding to build a spacious, well-equipped studio designed to accommodate the tools and the work space needed for an optimal learning and working experience.
Special thanks to Keith Baizer for launching the Craft Alliance woodturning program by donating six lathes since 2007. The Charak/Novik Studio will be the only woodturning studio in St. Louis to offer the public the opportunity to learn this classic art!


On A Roll: Artists’ Toys opens Friday, November 12 in the Charak Gallery, Delmar Loop. Local artists were challenged to create a toy with wheels, some artists used traditional approaches and others a more conceptual interpretation of the classic plaything.
This exhibition features the work of Corey Ackelmire, Cathy Barancik, Dan Barnett, Michael Bauermeister, Nathan Dube, Robert Ebendorf, Melody Ellis, Cameron Fuller, Matt Keim, Dan Krueger, Robert Longyear, Roger Rimel, Will Rimel, Rimas VisGirda, Bernhard Voss and Karen Woodward.


As the Holidays approach and our Glass Ornaments arrive, remember to Save the Date for our Member Appreciation Weekend!
November 11th - 14th the Craft Alliance Gallery Shop on Delmar will be having its annual Double Discount Member Appreciation Weekend!
New and Current Members will receive 20% off their purchases in the shop. To find out more about becoming a member, check out our website!




Thanksgiving weekend wouldn't be complete without our Student/Faculty Sale! Featuring ceramics, fibers and more made by our skilled faculty and students, you can purchase all kinds of handmade holiday gifts! The sale will be outside of our Delmar location on November 27, 9 am - 5pm and November 28th, Noon - 5pm.

Hope to see you at all of our events!

Delmar Clay Studio Renovations!

Craft Alliance's Clay Studio on Delmar had the patina of 40 years of constant use. Every year, 17,000 students spend hours throwing on the wheels, sculpting at the hand-building tables, glazing their pieces in the glaze room, loading and unloading the kilns, engaging in the long and careful process of turning clay into art. Over time, heavy use has taken a toll on the conditions of our studio. We have cleaned out the studio space and begun our renovations to enhance the experience of the students and artists who learn and work in our studio. We will be repairing and painting the walls, refinishing the floors, repairing the potter's wheels, replacing the blinds, stools and the spray booth! We are very excited about these renovations and can't wait to see the finished studio!

The History of Craft Alliance & The Buildings We Call Home

Craft Alliance started as an Artist Co-op in 1964 promoting the production, enjoyment, and understanding of the craftsman artist. A gallery space in the Central West End held monthly exhibits, showing work from regional artists in glass, metal, jewelry, sculpture, wood, and textiles. In 1968 classes were offered to kids aged 12-16 and were held at the Second Presbyterian Church.

Image copyright University City Public Library Circa 1960

In 1970 Craft Alliance moved into the Bond Building on Delmar Boulevard, the oldest surviving building in the Delmar Loop. It was build in 1910 by Max Bond for his tailoring shop. A pharmacy, salon and Italian restaurant were among a variety of businesses that called this building home before Craft Alliance settled in.

Image copyright University City Public Library Circa 1970

In 1976 Craft Alliance renovated space next to its Delmar location creating room for the ceramics studio we have today.

A vintage photograph, from a marketing publication of builder H.B. Deal from buildstlouis.net

In 2008 Craft Alliance opened its second location in the old Woolworths Building. A new Exhibition Gallery, expanded Outreach Programming, and Education Programming with Artist Residencies provide the St. Louis community with greater access to contemporary studio craft art.

Located in the new Big Brothers Big Sisters building right next to the Fox Theatre, Craft Alliance is part of the Kranzberg Arts Center. Classes are offered in Clay, Metal, Fibers, Graphics and more. Craft Alliance and the buildings it occupies have a rich history and a promising future.

Craft Alliance Video by the Vital Voice!

Check out the new Craft Alliance video on the Delmar Loop You Tube Channel. Thanks for yet another great production Andrew Baumgartner and the Vital Voice!

Portrayal of Another

Opening the same night as Setting The Mood: The Arful Table was Benjie Heu's solo ceramic exhibit: Portrayal of Another. This talented local artist's sculptural work hangs from our walls in the Charak Gallery.

The pieces presented are a narrative of the evolving hero and his many trials and tribulations. The hero's journey is a voyage of self-discovery, an expedition whose true destination is the realm within each of us, where we must find our own unique center with all its strengths and weaknesses. The journey is not just physical, but a spiritual one, as the hero evolves from ignorance and innocence to experience and enlightenment. The most outlandish adventures are accounted with an eye fixed on the bare essentials. Battles against time, against the obstacles that prevent the fulfillment of desire or the repossession of something cherished but lost are themes that provoke me. Revealing truth and humor in the face of horror and the seemingly absurd is my answer. - Benjie Heu

Setting The Mood

Friday night was the opening for Setting The Mood: The Artful Table juried by Bruce Hoffman, Director of Snyderman - Works Gallery in Philadelphia. Of the more than 120 entries, Hoffman accepted 50 pieces to be included in the exhibition. 15 local artists were chosen for the show including John Baltrushunas, Clinton L. Berry, Matt Keim, Kitty Mollman and many more! Unfortunately Bruce could not make it to the opening but many of the artists did! The show is up through July 11th in our Delmar Whitaker Gallery.

When Craft Alliance asked me to jury Setting the Mood: The Artful Table, I immediately said yes. Viewing the submissions was like looking at photos of old friends. The functional world has somewhat escaped me the past few years, and it was a joy to meander through the images of cups, bowls, platters and serving utensils. I hope this exhibition inspires everyone to throw a dinner party, pull out the family heirlooms, or better yet find a craftsman you love and commission something that your grandchildren will remember as fondly as your grandmother’s warm hug. -Bruce Hoffman