Curating Community {Made at CRAFT}

A Blank Canvas of Communal Space is Awaiting Creativity.

Words Deven Wilson | Photos Baptiste Despois

Fueled by a desire to take a craft store and turn it into a community space for anyone to enjoy, Eli Winkelman is a trailblazer connecting people through colorful creations.

After mourning a sudden loss in her life, Eli Winkelman changed her trajectory by quitting her job and returning to the art of crafting. Wandering the aisles of craft stores such as Michaels, Eli became frustrated by the excitement of wanting to try new art forms but swayed against it by the cost and hassle of storage.

“I just wanted to use the [art supplies], and I thought, ‘If I feel this way, surely other people do too,” Eli explains. She took on a Field of Dreams mindset in 2013, and she decided to open the first iteration of CRAFT with a collection of paints, stamps, fabrics, and other crafting materials accumulated over time. After two more moves, CRAFT finally found its current home in Canopy Austin.

To put it simply, CRAFT works as an adults only gym for anyone wanting to exercise their creative muscles. And like a good gym, their space encourages anyone who feels they “aren’t artists” to come in and find inspiration to try something new. Visitors pay an initial five dollars for entrance, and once they produce their art piece, a second donation is collected for what they think is fair for the items used. With a significant emphasis that anyone is welcome at CRAFT, the contribution beyond the initial five dollars is up to visitors’ discretion, so any budget can come in and craft up a concoction. Beyond shifting the mindset that creativity is innate or lost with age, another unexpected impact of CRAFT is the community it forges.

After years in New York, Chanda Hopkins moved back to Austin with very few connections. She first stepped into CRAFT with the expectation of having a creative outlet. As a fashion designer in Austin with her own line selling on Shein, Chanda only expected to spend an afternoon at CRAFT. After experiencing the novel concept for herself, she recalls, “It literally changed the course of my life.” Chanda gushes,“There are no words to describe its impact on my life.” She reminisces, thinking about all the mediums she has dabbled with, thanks to the variety of choices, like leather burning and many others, housed inside CRAFT.

Chanda quickly made friends with each visit, which seems to be par for the course. Eli notes she frequently witnesses visitors leaving with a new group of friends. It started as a means for her and other creatives to have the space to try new things, and now CRAFT has built a formula not only for adults to get back in touch with their creative side but also get in touch with each other.