AllOtsego.com: Santa’s Cooperative

Santa’s Cooperative

11/20/09

Santa’s Cooperative

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

The time of shopping mania is upon us as of this week.
Though I’m not partial to the barrage of advertising and relentless hawking of items cooked up in the name of blind consumerism at this time of year, I really do enjoy looking for, and finding, just the right thing for those close to me.
I also like sharing the pleasure of finding places where that right thing is sure to be found.
I mentioned a fleeting visit to the Artisans Guild in Oneonta in this column a short while back. Some subsequent inspections of its wares compel me to expand on the subject.
In the first place, the Artisans Guild is a cooperative, founded 10 years ago by jewelry-maker Deborah Blake and potter Ellie Stromberg..
From 30 members in October 1999, the Guild now numbers 50, artists all, selected by a jury of five. They pay a nominal mem
bership fee and take an honorable percentage of the sales of their work. Each artist also works behind the counter on a rotating schedule.
To enter its precincts is to walk into an atmosphere of artistic celebration, communality and solidarity.
There is a huge number of exceptionally gifted artists in our immediate region and the Artisans Guild is providing an important forum for them, not to mention a dazzling emporium for the public.
The founders and all its supporters are to be applauded.
But let’s be a bit more concrete.
The discerning customer will be sure to find, as the French say, his or her happiness, especially at the community-friendly pricing. What is not on offer would make a much shorter list than what is.
The variety (and make no mistake, the quality is consistently first-rate) is staggering: whimsical mosaics, fabric arts, tramp art, egg tempera, furniture, painting, stained glass, basketry, pottery, jewelry, photography, book arts, weaving, knitting, musical instruments, toys, chocolates, soap, candles, calligraphy.
There’s more, much more, and you can discover these treasures for yourself by rushing to 148 Main St. Now.
When it comes to presents, is there any deeper and more lasting gratification than the giving and receiving of art?

Sam Goodyear’s column on the arts in Otsego and Delaware counties
appears weekly.

Labels: 11-27-09, art beat, Frontpage