Students, faculty and affiliated guilds intermingled in the Crafts Center on the first floor of Thompson Hall Saturday to celebrate its 30th annual Craft Fair.
George Thomas, director of the Crafts Center who began woodworking at the age of 8, reminisced back to the first Craft Fair held in the old Talley Student Center back when he was still a student at NC State.
According to Thomas, the Crafts Center changes lives.
“The seeds we plant here will follow them throughout their lives,” Thomas said.
The event started small in the 1980s, but attracted about 1,100 people this year, according to Thomas.
“We look at covering the cost of the fair, and then the rest goes to the artist,” Thomas said. “It’s all about marketing.”
The event is a great way for people to see all the opportunities and resources available at the Crafts Center, such as the classes offered, according to Thomas.
Zack Pennington, an employee at the Crafts Center, sat in the noisy woodwork shop during the Craft Fair.
“I really enjoy people coming in to see what we do and see what the Crafts Center has to offer,” said Pennington, a senior studying technology, engineering and design education. “Students need to utilize the Crafts Center. Not many students even know it exists.”
Fahad Al Suwaidi, a junior studying nuclear engineering, had similar sentiments, as he proudly displayed his array of pottery for sale.
“When I have free time, I come to the Crafts Center,” Al Suwaidi said. “Whenever I get on the wheel, it’s like meditation.”
Sarah Parks, Sara Clark and Jenna Lagonigro, all of whom are seniors studying art and design, sold handmade leather items and knitwear at their booth. Lagonigro teaches leatherworking at the Crafts Center and Parks hopes to be teaching a class next semester. This is the trio’s first year at the Craft Fair, and they said they are amazed at the talent that NC State has to offer.
“It’s been a little overwhelming,” Parks said. “There’s been so many people coming through here, but we’ve sold a lot.”
The booth hosted an element that displayed the hard-earned sustainability so often promoted at NC State. Parks explained the process of using beeswax from the NC State Department of Horticulture’s bees to wax their canvases.
Lagonigro and Parks started a company together called Elme. Parks explained that Lagonigro’s experience with leatherworking at the Crafts Center lead to the birth of the company.
Stephen Odom, a senior studying environmental technology and management, attends a workshop specializing in turning handcrafted wooden pens and teaches classes for both students and the general public.
Odom said a great variety of people buy pens from him, for all different purposes.
“I love the range of generations at the Crafts Center,” Odom said. “We learn from the old and the old learn from us.”
Anne McLean, a senior studying polymer and color chemistry, has worked in every studio at the Crafts Center and now works at the front desk. She teaches bookbinding and jewelry making. According to McLean, bookbinding is a dying art, but she takes a lot of pride in her work and called the delicately woven and stitched notebooks “masterpieces.”
The Crafts Center also manages to attract a surprisingly younger crowd. Caroline Mueller, a 16-year-old member of the Middle College Program who also takes classes at the Crafts Center, proudly displayed her straw stars at her own booth. Mueller explained the straw stars are a German tradition, which pays homage to her own heritage.
The students at the Craft Fair encouraged other students to take a class at the Crafts Center, emphasizing that it is an amazing but little-known resource on campus. To help students de-stress before exams, the Crafts Center will host stress-buster events from 9 p.m. until midnight on Dec. 4 and 5.
Visitors appreciate and purchase the art of various artists on display and sale at the 30th Annual Crafts Center Fair and Sale held in Thompson Hall on Saturday. The Fair displayed a variety of artists from in and around Raleigh, offering shoppers unique holiday gifts.
