Handmade Arcade showcases local art

Handmade Arcade Nov. 10, 11 a.m – 7 p.m and Nov.11, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Construction… Handmade Arcade Nov. 10, 11 a.m – 7 p.m and Nov.11, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Construction Junction 214 N. Lexington St. Point Breeze

Jeanne Cherry defines her hand-made crafts company’s name, JuNxtaposition, as the art and placement of junk for design purposes.

The name seems to define her work, along with more than 80 other crafters who will be displaying and selling their work at Handmade Arcade this weekend in Point Breeze.

Whether they are dyed, knitted, bound, sewn, weaved or taped and glued, the crafts at Handmade Arcade are more than just a showcase. They represent a flourishing movement of resourceful, creative and sometimes subversive DIY (Do It Yourself) and indie crafters.

Handmade Arcade held its first, now annual, event four years ago on the belief that, despite the fact the Pittsburgh region was lacking any major DIY or indie-oriented craft fair, the area had an untapped and vast amount of crafters eager to show and sell their work.

Having been a vendor at Handmade Arcade for the past two years, Cherry has seen the growth and interest in indie crafts increase exponentially in Pittsburgh.

With more than 5,000 people in attendance last year, Handmade Arcade was so crowded you couldn’t even get to all the booths, according to Cherry. In an attempt to manage the skyrocketing influx of people interested in art-infused crafts, Handmade Arcade expanded its fourth show to a two-day event.

Along with the numerous crafters’ work being on display and for sale, Handmade Arcade also features several food vendors from local restaurants, music from DJ Pete Spynda of Pandemic and interactive workshops.

The workshops include hands-on screen-printing opportunities with Artist Image Resource and also “make and take” projects by Pat-Catan’s and Knit One yarn dying.

The growth of Handmade Arcade is causing many crafters, such as Cherry and Jessica Manack, to celebrate.

Manack, who partners a crafting company called Miss Chief and helps run Handmade Arcade, sees Pittsburgh’s interest in indie crafts as part of a national trend.

“I think people are ready for something different,” said Manack. “[Over the past four years] Handmade Arcade has become more than just a craft fair, it is a social event.”

Manack’s business, Miss Chief, is exactly the type of crafting that extends beyond things that are just handmade. She refers to her work as having a feminist slant and her buttons, magnets and collages all have a way of provocatively challenging both new and old stereotypes.

She and her partner, Erin Wommack, often juxtapose black and white images of ’50s-era housewives with subversive and often humorous quotes in their crafts.

Along with these crafts, which often carry a political message, many people share an appreciation for buying things locally-made and are environmentally conscious. For example, most of Cherry’s work makes use of repurposed materials, such as typewriters and pages from old books.

Cherry refers to herself as an “old-school hippie,” considering herself a little older than the new generation of crafters predominately younger than her, in their 20s and 30s. But she sees many similarities between her generation and this new, emerging group of young people who enjoy art, the environment and a strong sense of community.

“There’s a sense that it’s the same thing coming back around again,” she added.

Handmade Arcade fittingly takes place at Construction Junction, Pittsburgh’s only nonprofit building material reuse retailer, in Point Breeze.