Winter 2013 Applications Now Open.

Citizens! The time has come!

Applications are now open for City of Craft 2013 to be held December 14 & 15, 2013 in Toronto.

Interested parties are advised to make their way on down to the application page where they can find the all-important application FAQ (a must read for all applicants) and the web-based submission form.

The deadline to apply is August 31, 2013 at Midnight EST.

Some cool tips:
1.Watch your images sizes. Big images are the #1 thing that makes the form crash.
2. Why delay? Apply today!

Get on it, guys! We can't wait to see what you have been making.

2013 Applications open on Friday!

Citizens,

August is just around the corner, and you all know what that means. City of Craft winter applications are just about to drop!

Applications will open this Friday, August 2nd, 2013 and will remain open through the month of August.

While we all toil behind the scenes to get the apps ready, please feel free to fill the hours by perusing all of our new artwork and our redesigned website courtesy of the inimitable Selena Wong.

Happy Crafting!

Call for Youth Vendors!

 

Willy Brown at City of Craft Spring 2012. Photo by Serena McCarroll.

Hear ye, hear ye!

Due to some very incredible venue support from Pemberton Group and The Theatre Centre, we have ended up with enough space to open a small last-minute call for Youth Vendors at our upcoming show.

In fact, we will have a whole dedicated space for vendors 15 and under at the Theatre Centre Pop-up (1095 Queen Street West). This is a rare opportunity for young makers to get involved in our holiday show. In fact, it is unlikely that we will have the space to do this again in future years, so we are delighted to be able to offer this very special entrée into the holiday craft fair world to our craft stars of tomorrow (and today).

Requirements:
Youth Vendors must be 15 years of age or younger
Youth Vendors must make their own crafts
Only handmade goods are appropriate for this show
Youth Vendors must be accompanied by an adult on site at all times
Youth Vendors must be available for both days of the event including load-in and load-out

Details:
City of Craft 2012 runs December 8 & 9, 2012 (11am-6pm and 11am-5pm, respectively)
Youth Vendor spaces are 4ft (half and 8ft table)
The Youth Vendor fee is $40 for the two days
The Youth venue (1095 Queen Street West) will not be ticketed - entry is free for shoppers!

Applications:
Applications will not be juried
Youth Vendors will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis
There is no fee to apply as a Youth Vendor
Space is extremely limited, so get your materials together quickly if you would like to apply

Wanna hop on board? Apply HERE. We can not wait to see what you are making!

December 2012 Applications Close Tomorrow!

Artwork by Caitlyn Murphy

Greetings Citizens,

Just a nudge to remind you that our winter 2012 applications close tomorrow (Friday), August 31st at midnight EST. Do not miss out on the action! As always, we can not accept late submissions so get yer craft on, folks!

2012 Application and FAQ can be found here.

Good luck, y'all!

Applications now open for City of Craft 2012!

Citizens, the time is upon us again, applications are now open for City of Craft's 2012 winter fair!

This is it, the big one, the end-of-year blowout event, it's all happening.

So hop out of that lake, towel off, get your photos and write-ups together and apply today.

City of Craft 2012

December 8&9

The Theatre Centre

Toronto

Applications Deadline: August 31, 2012, Midnight EST

Artwork by Caitlyn Murphy

Bloorcourt Applications Close Tomorrow!

Greetings, Citizens!

Just popping into the blog to remind you all the applications for the Bloorcourt Arts & Crafts Fair close tomorrow night at midnight EST.

The response to our call, thus far, has been nothing short of astounding. The jury is already going to have a tough job ahead of them. That said, I still want to get the word out to all interested parties because someone always misses our calls and feels sad. That is not okay! We must spread the word to all who need to know in these final days.

I would also like to dissuade all of you who are interested in applying from waiting until the last minute. It always makes for stressful moments, especially for those who have technical difficulties (see below). Do it now, cross it off your list, feel the feeling of accomplishment wash over you, kick your shoes off, then go drink on a patio. It will be great!

Big Note: Some people have reported difficulty with the web form not going through. So far, it has been as issue of images size 100% of the time. It seems that, for some, even if your images are below our 2mb limit they can time out the application on slower internet connections. All we need for jurying are images 1000 pixels wide or tall at 72dpi. If you resize to those dimensions, your images should easily be small enough to send and big enough to view for us. Huzzah!

Applications are here! The wonderful vendor FAQ is here!

Yours very truly,

Becky Johnson
Ring Leader
City of Craft

Applications open for Bloorcourt Arts & Crafts Fair 2012 (Deadline: July 20).

 

 Hear ye, hear ye!

Applications are now live for the illustrious Bloorcourt Arts & Crafts Fair.

This annual event shuts down and takes over Bloor Street from Dufferin to Christie for one awesome Saturday in August. And it's not just about the crafts! The entire twelve block Street Fair also includes a kids zone (complete with bouncy castle), green zone, live bands, wrestling, sidewalk sales from local businesses and more! It's a real once-a-year blowout.

Vendors of handmade and vintage are being sought through July 20, 2012. Apply here today (and be sure to read the FAQ).

Bloorcourt Arts & Crafts Fair
Saturday, August 18, 2012
11:00am - 7:00pm (vendors may stay open as late as 10:00pm if they so choose)
Bloor Street from Dufferin to Christie
Toronto
Admission is FREE

Looking for a Few Good Youth Vendors.

Ella nearly sold out at the workroom's Holiday Trunk Show 2008.
Photo by Alison Westlake.

Although there was no general vendor call for the upcoming, first-ever City of Craft Spring show (vendors were invited from the Winter 2011 waiting list), we do have a few very special spots to fill. With this Spring show being all about first-evers, we will be supporting a brand new initiative: a special section for vendors 14 and under! Yup, we are creating space for the plucky upstart youngsters who will someday supplant us.

Details:

4ft of table space

$40 ($41.50 incl. payment fees)

Youth vendors must be selling work they make

Youth vendors must have an accompanying adult on site at all time

City of Craft Spring

Saturday, April 21, 2012
11am-6pm
Trinity St. Paul's United Church
427 Bloor Street West
(one block West of Spadina)
Toronto, ON

Applications will be accepted on a first-come-first served basis. We will only reject submissions if they do not fit in with our criteria (handmade by the applicant, applicant must be 14 or younger, adult must agree to being on site). Collaborations are also entirely acceptable.

To apply, please copy-and-paste and answer the following in an email to cityofcraft@gmail.com

Name of Applicant:

Age of Applicant:

Email of Applicant (if any):

Website, blog, shop (if any):

Phone Number:

Adult Contact Name:

Adult Contact Email:

Phone Number:

Does this adult agree to be on site for the duration of the event (including set-up and clean-up):

Type(s) of Crafts Made:

Do you make these crafts yourself?

What process do you use to make these items?

Price Range:

Anything else you would like to add?

Please also attach 2-5 images of the work. If accepted, these images may be used on our website, blog and other online outlets.

For this event, we have an incredibly limited number of spots (8) and have no idea what the response will be, so get those emails in quickly (but make sure to fill out all questions). Don't worry, if the response is huge we will see what we can do about making youth opportunities again in the near future.

We really look forward to seeing what everyone is making!

We would really like to thank our friends at Crafty Wonderland in Portland, Oregon, for inspiring us to this and for providing guidance. If you are ever in the Portland area, you should check them out!

Phew! (Or Applications are Now Closed for 2011).

Whoa, Citizens! Last night's application deadline was totally bonkers! 2011 has shattered every single record for application volume and I was up all night making sure that everything was in its place for the jury.

There is still a lot of work to do to get ready for the jury session. And I am currently strategizing ways to keep the process under eight hours even with an extra 50+ applications to go through.

It is hard to communicate the work involved in jurying - or how truly massive the process is. On the actual day the the session, the five of us will spend what amounts to an entire work day looking through applications. We will view something in the neighbourhood of 1500 images and read what I can only imagine to be millions of words (but I haven't counted). We also might go through some serious amounts of coffee and tea. And maybe eat a cupcake or two (thank you, food applicants).

Over and out,

Becky

PS - That image up there is from the treasure trove of downloads that Sandi has been making. Feel free to teef any and all of them and plaster them about the internet.

Applications About to Close for the 2011 Show.

Citizens, do not get snowed. You now have four days left to apply for City of Craft 2011 (including today).

Look here for all details and the online application form.

Bubble bubble!

Two weeks left to apply to City of Craft 2011.

Photo by the workroom

Greetings Citizens,

You now have two weeks left to get your vendor applications in for City of Craft 2011, our ever-awesome December show.

Get on it, dudes! All the info you need and the online submission form are here.

Hey, why not tell your friends who might be interested, too?

One month left to apply for City of Craft 2011.

Photo by Trip Print Press

I am sorry to break it to you all, citizens, but summer is entering its last month. You know what that means? There is now one month left to apply to City of Craft 2011. Do not dally and do not delay. We feel terrible every year when we have to tell folks they missed the jurying deadline. Do not be one of those people. And hey, why not tell your interested friends, too?

Online applications and an FAQ can be found here.
Applications close August 31, 2011 at Midnight EST.

Applications now open for City of Craft 2011.

2011 Vendor Flyer by Sandi Falconer

Boo! The online application is now up for our 2011 December show and will stay live until the end of August.

Want to apply? First, you should read through the 2011 Applications FAQ. Really, it is full of useful information. Then APPLY!

We can't wait to see what you have been up to, Toronto!

As Applications Approach - Some Tips.

2008 planning meeting with Jen and Leah

Applications for the 2011 show are currently in the works and, barring any calamity, should be up by the 15th - maybe even sooner! So this seemed like as good a time as any to share a few tips on submitting successful applications. Years of sitting on craft juries have taught me a lot about the art of application-making and it is time to share some of my insights with you.

First, I would like to share this excellent recent post on craft fair applications by the equally excellent crew at Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. Although tastes differ from fair to fair, the basics they run down of professionalism and clarity are bang on.

I have little to add to their reflections except for specifics that pertain uniquely to City of Craft. Those (and a few key point that bear repeating) are submitted for your consideration:

1. Photographs
Our jury sits for up to eight long hours. We review the hundreds of submissions we get visually through a projected slide show. When thought of in those terms, the need for clear and striking images becomes obvious. There is also more than just your craft on display in a submitted image. Your styling and visual ability communicate a lot to the jury. After all, you are not submitting your work to a store, you are submitting to set up your own space at a group show. On the days of the event, you will be responsible for your own display and strong photographs do a lot to communicate your abilities to have a strong presence at the show. Product photographs are also a key way to subtly communicate your personality as a maker and that's a good thing!

2. Long Answers

The jury also employs readers to read out the written materials in the applications. At City of Craft, we like to curate a show that is more than just a sales-based event. Yes, helping vendors sell their wares is a central focus for us, but we also mandate the support of work that is thoughtful, reasoned and executed with quality. This is why we ask we questions about the process and reasoning behind the things you make. The best answers are short, clear and to the point. These questions offer a huge opportunity to let the jury into your studio practice and into your creative process. It is worth giving these answers some thought and then boiling your practice and rationale down to their essential elements.

3. Knowing us, knowing you

New to City of Craft and/or the indie craft fair circuit? If so, it will serve you well to do some research - see what kinds of vendors we tend to book and what sort of programming we run. Knowing our organization and events better will help you put together an application that is more likely to appeal to the jury. When it comes to spying on our past, you are in luck! City of Craft maintains an archive of all our past programs. You can check them all out here.

Now, back to pushing code and getting the applications up.

Happy crafting!

Becky

Ring Leader

City of Craft

Mending and Midway (calls for submission close tomorrow night)

Photo by sweetie pie press

Just a quick note to let you all know that our last two calls for submission close tomorrow (September 15, 2010) at midnight.

1. The Midway
In search of ways to make City of Craft even more interactive, Becky Johnson (that's me) is curating a little collection of midway-inspired interactive booths. Got an amazing idea? A crazy booth or interactive project? Send it in!
Read more (and find the submission form) here.

2. For Keeps: a mending show
With a respectful appreciation of things mended, Jen Anisef is curating this group show. It's easy! All you have to do is part with a mended item for two weeks and you get a photograph of it in return.
Read more and apply here.

Well, that's the update for today. It's blustery, it's fall and it feels a lot like Toronto out there. Let's start thinking of ways to warm up the winter with art, craft and gatherings.

Yours truly,

Becky

Hang in there.

Just a quick note to all hopeful City of Craft vendors,

Notifications will be going out on Wednesday, September 15, 2010.

Back to the drafting board,

Becky

Last Call.

Photo of Rosalyn Faustino's lovely City of Craft pennant by sweetie pie press

That's right, vendor applications close today at Midnight EST for City of Craft 2010.

Get on it, citizens!

One. Week. Left.

Photo of 2009 event by sweetie pie press

It is true; you now have one week left to apply as a vendor for the 2010 show.

Just...you know...sayin'.

Apply here!

Kintsugi (or Mending Gone Amazing).

Tara found this wonderful introductory video on the Japanese art of Kintsugi while thinking about Jen's show, For Keeps: a mending show.

Does anyone in Toronto practice anything like this? Submissions for For Keeps are still open for a few weeks. How amazed would we be if a local Kintsugi practitioner came out of the woodwork (claywork?)? The answer: quite.

Love and Money, Last Call!

Photo by sweetie pie press

Okay, cowpokes, for those of you thinking about submitting work to the Love and Money group show curated by Tara Bursey at the Ontario Crafts Council Gallery, get on it! you now have a day left.

Submissions will close tomorrow night, Sunday, August 15, 2010 at Midnight EST.

Here's the link.