Craftacular event spotlights local crafty artists

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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star

“Craft” has become somewhat of a dirty word, no?

A dubious little label that evokes images of sweet-faced old ladies in cat sweaters working in popsicle stick, cotton ball and glitter mediums.

But at Thursday night’s first Holiday Craftacular Sale & Cocktail Party at Zen’s Lounge, a dozen or so local artists showed that arts and crafts need not be mutually exclusive.

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Erika T. Eden, right, talks with Jenni Brant at Thursday night's Holiday Craftacular Sale and Cocktail Party at Zen's Lounge. The two are local artists who took part in the event. (Micah Mertes)

Erika T. Eden, right, talks with Jenni Brant at Thursday night's Holiday Craftacular Sale and Cocktail Party at Zen's Lounge. The two are local artists who took part in the event. (Micah Mertes)

And none of them were wearing cat sweaters.

“I think the label of ‘craft’ has a different perception with a new DIY era,” said Jen Lukas, a local artist and designer, “and everyone wants the handmade stuff.”

The idea for Craftacular came from Lukas. She’d been collecting the cards of fellow local artists for a while and thought it’d be a good time to bring a few of them together for an off-the-cuff gallery of sorts. Thirteen artists from Lincoln and Omaha set up booths of  their work.

The crafts included handmade items like T-shirts, artwork, ceramics, accessories and ornaments. At least 100 people stopped by to sip wine, munch hors d’oeuvres and buy the occasional piece. And if the items had more class than most crafts, they also carried less of a price tag than most art. Works ranged from $1 to $80, making Zen’s the temporary hotspot for lovingly handmade but affordable Christmas gifts. 

“There’s a really interesting movement going on right now with alternative crafts,” said Jenni Brant, a Lincoln artist who participated, “and with people who are working outside the fine art system of galleries and gallery representation and banding together like this to get their work out there.”

The Craftacular artists, she said, “do their work very seriously and take traditional things and put their own spin on them. And I think that takes it to a little bit higher level of art. But I could have a whole different discussion with you about what art and craft really are.”

Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.