Local makers, handmade goods and the kind of things you don’t find in a regular store

One of the things we love doing whenever we’re travelling, attending an event or visiting another community is checking out the local artists’ and crafters’ market. You never quite know what you’re going to find, and that’s part of the fun.

This weekend, we’re visiting the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation 42nd Annual Traditional Pow Wow, and we’ve loved looking through the different craft booths. There’s a great mix of things to look at, from hats and shirts to ribbon skirts, beadwork and other handmade crafts.

Pow wows really are some of the best places to find local and authentic items. They’re also a chance to meet the people behind the work and see the skills, time and creativity that go into making something by hand. Whether it’s a beautifully beaded piece or something as simple as a great hat, these are the kinds of things you remember because you found them somewhere rather than simply ordering them online.

That connection between making something and finding a market for it is a big part of what interests us in our own programming. Arts and creative entrepreneurship are closely connected, particularly in smaller and rural communities where artists and makers often have to find their own opportunities to share and sell their work.

A big part of our program involves the arts and creative entrepreneurship, and that will be a major focus of our fall and winter programming this year. We’re interested in the whole process—not just making art, but figuring out how creative skills can become projects, products, experiences and sustainable opportunities.

For now, though, we’re happy just to be looking around, talking to makers and seeing what people have brought to the pow wow. There’s always something worth stopping for.