Hundreds attend annual Women’s Arts and Crafts fair

Showers Plaza was abuzz Saturday as hundreds of people participated in the fourth annual Women’s Arts and Crafts Fair.\nThe crowd was comprised of organizers, vendors, performers and shoppers, with a lot of overlap between those categories. The event was organized by and benefitted Fair Trade Bloomington, Girls Inc. of Monroe County, Middle Way House and Women Inspire, and served as a finale to Women’s History Month.\nAlthough jewelry and textiles were the most prevalent products available, table themes ranged from “Gretchen Clearwater for Congress” and The Peace Alliance – whose goal is the formation of a U.S. Department of Peace – to the Dark Side Tribal belly dancers and Exoskeleton Cabaret’s funky hair accessories created by local artist Libby Bulloff. \nBloomington resident Sara Shelton said she loved the originality of Bulloff’s work.\n“It’s colorful, but it’s also very original,” Shelton said as she purchased barrettes made of brightly-colored, springy, tubular crin for her daughters, Sylvia, 9, and Abbi, 14. Abbi Shelton said she definitely plans to wear her new clips to school.\n“I think they’re great booths,” said Mary Embry, director of Fair Trade Bloomington, whose own booth featured fair-trade crafts from around the world. Embry said the majority of fair-trade goods are created by women in Third World countries and added that she hadn’t yet visited each of the 70 booths.\nIntriguing artwork included the photography of third-grader Annika Gilbert, dating back to when she was 6 years old, and “Eeekological” reused and repurposed art wares created by Bloomington residents and IU alumni Erin Marshall and Cat Phillips, whose work includes lamps created from wine bottles and bowls made by melting LP records.\n“It is just our happy, on-the-side thing that we do,” Marshall said. “We’re totally crazy.”\nAt potter Barbara Lund’s booth, shoppers could pick up “kitty bowls” – circular bowls with two pointed tips in the rim and a cat face painted inside.\n“It was just one of those sudden inspirations,” Lund said, explaining that the bowls are a collaborative effort; she makes the bowls and a friend paints them. \nLund also said the bowls are one of her most popular items.\n“(Bloomington’s) such a kitty town,” she said, commenting on downtown shops Pygmalion’s Art Supplies and Howard’s Bookstore, both of which have a few felines roaming their stores.\nTextile artist Kelly M. Anderson’s booth included felt brooches finished with buttons and beads.\n“I take the fabric from the clothes I make and use the scraps to make brooches,” Anderson said. “I have virtually no waste.”\nAuthor Elsieferne V. Stout had a table with her books, “Dundy County Babe” and “Gitty Up – Whoa!,” written from her life and experiences dating back to the early 20th century.\n“We all are affected by the past, whether we acknowledge it or not,” Stout said.\nPerformances by Kaia, “The Sweetgrass” bluegrass band, Dark Side Tribal and HipHop ConneXion, jazz artist Monika Herzig and the Caravanserai Dancers helped keep the atmosphere fun and relaxed.\nWomen Inspire member Patricia Crouch said she found only one downside to the event.\n“I was asking someone, ‘Where’s the ATM?’” she said, laughing. “There’s so much stuff I want to buy.”