Back in time for the holiday season, the handmade craft show HOMESPUN is returning to Santa Barbara at the Community Arts Workshop on December 7 for a holiday craft fair. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be over 50 new and returning artists who will be showcasing and selling their art. All of the art is designed and created by the vendors, creating a space that will be full of creativity and the love of art and handmade craft.
The event is curated by Beth Kuttner, who has been organizing and running HOMESPUN since its first show in 2015 at the Dos Pueblos Orchid Farm.
“At the time, the community needed a platform for artisans in town,” Kuttner said. She wanted to create something like the West Coast Craft Market in Los Angeles and began to reach out to artists to curate a lineup of vendors. She explained that each year, it takes a long time to gather all the vendors, design a layout of the show and ensure that there is enough marketing to the community. But the outcome is worth it. The first HOMESPUN was hosted in the 5,000 square foot greenhouse and with its growing success, moved to Casa De La Guerra in 2017 to create more space for vendors and browsing community members.
The show seemed to grow in popularity by itself, with Kuttner calling it a “natural evolution.” To her, it was important to open up a space for vendors without having to pay a large amount of money for commission or consignment. The last show was in 2019 during the holiday season just before the start of the COVID Pandemic. Bringing back HOMESPUN in 2024 is equally exciting and stressful.
“It’s like a family reunion in a way. I haven’t seen some people since the 2019 show,” Kuttner said. “It’ll be nice to be together and share this experience.”
To create a space for artists of all ages and at different points in their artistic career to reach different demographics, part of relaunching HOMESPUN is for Kuttner’s daughter, who, during the COVID pandemic, taught herself silversmithing. She continued to hone her craft and her work is now being sold in stores in Australia and New York. She will be one of the vendors at HOMESPUN.
Other vendors include Laura La Rue, a young mom from Ojai who uses plants to make hand dyed clothing, Elizabeth Poett from Rancho San Julian who will be bringing farm products and her cookbook, and Kate McMahon who handmakes knits and women’s wear in Santa Barbara. Part of what makes HOMESPUN so unique is that Kuttner herself reaches out to all the artists to curate the vendor lineup. In the first few weeks of outreach, she reached out to former vendors and ended up filling up about two-thirds of the show.
The vendors’ excitement to return has also been echoed by the Community Arts Workshop, who Kuttner expressed has been very supportive of the show. To bring it back years later with the same, if not more interest, feels almost like coming home.
“That’s why I named it HOMESPUN, it’s a community event,” Kuttner said.
The event is free to the public and is family friendly. In addition to the number of vendors, there will also be kid-friendly activities run by one of Kuttner’s friends.
For a preview of the vendors who will be at this event and for more information about HOMESPUN, visit @homespun_santabarbara on Instagram.
