STUFF, a store located in Brookside, Kansas City, is joining more than 200 retailers and art institutions nationwide in celebrating American Craft Week, Oct. 5 through Oct. 14, 2012.
Sloane and Casey Simmons, co-owners of STUFF, will seal the week with a tailgate celebration Friday, October 12th in front of their store at 316 W. 63rd Street. Their 1964 Ford F-100 turquoise pickup, Taloolah, is hosting the event. She will oversee the pouring of hand crafted beer, grilled bratwursts and the marshmallows cooking on the fire pit in front of the store. The Nelson-Atkins will be part of the raffle and local artists have donated their work for a grab bag. Customers have been urged to bring their own chairs, join in the party and celebrate the amazing local artists STUFF represents every day.
American Craft Week, now in its third year, is the annual coast-to-coast recognition of the makers, retailers, collectors and exhibitors of handcrafted art. Diane Sulg, co-chair of the national campaign said, “We’re passionate about the exceptional value, enduring quality and cultural significance of handmade craft. In a society filled with machine-made things, we need to support the talented and dedicated people who create decorative and useful goods by hand.”
Casey Simmons, a STUFF co-owner, thinks, “You can’t raise enough public awareness of local artists and all that they and stores like ours bring to a community. We sell the hard work of 60 local artists every day. That’s before you add in the other incredible artistic sources we house.”
Three years ago STUFF began sponsoring “ARTober,” a month long celebration of local artists by hosting weekend events at STUFF every Saturday in October. The Taloolah Tailgate is just one of the 5 events planned in their celebration of American handcraft.
