Talia Halliday supports Midwest artists

Talia Halliday stands in the middle of a small room, hands mapping out her vision for the space in the air, as she gives directions to the group of four artists in front of her.

Halliday is setting up to open her month-long, handmade pop-up shop, Gathering, for the holiday season. The store is set to open this Saturday.

“We just got the keys today,” Halliday said. 

With the help of contributing artists, Halliday was just begun that day to move in furniture and put displays of artwork together.

The artists volunteered their time to help in exchange for a higher percentage of the revenue from their artwork sold in the coming month.
 
A rug sits on the floor, waiting to be unrolled. Displays sit in various states of completion, and a few lone pieces of artwork hang on the wall.

Gathering is a work in progress, the creation of Halliday, the founder of the Bloomington Creatives Collective and the artist behind Conduit Press.

While Halliday works with recycled books and leather art, her store will feature a wide variety of work from 67 artists in the Midwest.

“This is more about the other artists for me,” said Halliday. “I don’t want to be front and center. I do try to bring in something of mine to each show, but it’s more of an after thought, to be serious.”

Halliday specializes in recycling books and making them hollow for people to store anything from a flask to an engagement ring. She also binds her own leather journals and makes other forms of art out of both leather and recycled books.

Laura Sparks, the knitter behind the online shop Lit Knits, is one of the artists to be featured in Gathering. 

Sparks said she likes variety, so at Gathering customers will see a rich mix of semi-reproducible styles and one-of-a-kind, knit items.

Halliday, who studied English at IU as an undergraduate, said her work with book art was a merging of the intellectual and the artistic into one.

“I’ve always just been crafty and I’ve always made things for people, but I never considered myself an artist because I can’t draw,” she said. “I can’t paint. I can’t do all those very specific, sort of stereotypical ways of art.”

When looking for materials to make her book art, Halliday has a detailed list of requirements in mind.

“I look for very specific titles,” she said. “They’re all vintage. They’re all being discarded. They’re all headed to the recycle bin.”

When Halliday began Conduit Press in 2009 after her son was born, she said she never imagined it getting as big as it has. She said she saw it as just a hobby.
 
Now, she has begun to hire help as her artwork gains more recognition.

“She manages to be both business savvy and incredibly creative — not always a common combination among crafters and artists, but surely something we should work towards,” said Sparks.

Halliday sells her work not only in the Midwest, but nationwide and in Canada.

“I still touch every single thing. I still design everything, but I’ve definitely had to get some help with doing things,” Halliday said. 

The handmade gifts in Gathering will range anywhere in price from $1 to $350, she said. 

“You can find anything, for anyone, at any price range,” she said.

Gathering will feature modern, indie, contemporary goods that you won’t see anywhere else, said Halliday. The motto for the business being “Hip meets classic in downtown Bloomington.”

During the month Gathering will be open, Halliday plans to hold different events each weekend. The store will kick off with its grand opening this weekend.

“I want to connect as many arts organizations as we can instead of us all being these separate art communities,” Halliday said. “I want us all to intermingle instead of being so separate, which is why we’re called Gathering.”