Circle of Hope’s 12th annual Art Shop, put together by our friends Lauren Stichter and Jenna Avellino, brought out a variety of craftspeople, artists, and photographers for an evening and morning to sell their work. It was a great bustle of activity and warmth as people perused through the over 50 different vendors that occupied Circle of Hope’s space on Frankford Avenue.
One such vendor was The Workshop School whose group came out for the second year! The Workshop School is a project-based school in Philadelphia, and this year the students sold a variety of wood items. The mission of The Workshop School is to “unleash the creative and intellectual potential of young people to solve the world’s toughest problems.” They do this by putting real world problems at the center of the curriculum, and evaluate students based on their progress in solving these problems. The students are responsible for the entire process, from production of the pieces to the business plan, looking at the costs, mark-ups, all of it. It is a school that is teaching students practical skills for their future, while still studying traditional disciplines. We were happy to have their unique vision and crafts at our annual bazaar.
More than just the Workshop School, however, Art Shop in general welcomed 500 attendees. Our first and second floor spaces were transformed, and you could find all types of work, from hand-carved knives, handmade soaps, prints, knits, to paintings and photographs. The work was affordably-priced for Christmas, providing an alternative for people to do holiday shopping outside the s
tandard big box stores and to support local ventures.
-Amanda Capasso, writing