Thriving Antique and Arts Centre brings the creative community and vintage collectors together. The old, the new, the loved the re-loved and the soon to be loved all under one roof. Can even be enjoyed with a slice of cake.
The Nottingham Craft Mafia form part of the Craft Mafia Familia founded in Austin Texas where a group of 9 like-minded women, united by the love of craft and an ethical approach to business, established a network of creative individuals working under the Craft Mafia banner. The Craft Mafia founded in 2003 soon spread across the US and further to the UK, where three Mafiosi craft collectives have been established so far.
You will find the Nottingham Craft Mafia based in the beautiful Hopkinson Antiques and Arts Centre, 21 Station Street, Nottingham. We were invited to stock some of our products in the new shop space, intrigued by the project and with a clump of mushrooms needing to be delivered, I had to pay them a visit!
The Hopkinson building, ideally situated opposite the station, strikes an impressive form directly neighbouring other creative ventures with beautifully mosaiced exteriors and interesting architecture. This part of the City holds a vibrant artisan feel, no doubt influenced by the presence of such an eclectic creative hub. The outer walls are bedecked with brightly coloured street pieces and the front window display winks at passers by, an inviting spot for a slice of cake and a browse for vintage treasure, ‘if it’s old it’s sold’ and that’s just the first floor. The second floor is home to The Class Room Gallery, The Craft Shop, Vintage Clothing, a Tailor and a Guitarist. The third floor is comprised of art studios, providing affordable studio space for local artists. Hopkinson is the brainchild of a fine artist with a passion for collecting vintage items and creating new jewellery out of old items of intrigue. This happy marriage of Art and Vintage collections makes for an interesting place to visit, a good project to support and I did get some shopping done. With an ethical approach to business and incubation opportunity for the creative community it’s great to see a successful project of this nature in full-swing.
On the second floor I met and chatted with Izzy whose job it has been to set up and develop the new Craft Shop and the Class Room Gallery next door. Izzy, a creative herself, became involved when she bumped into a university friend who manages the Hopkinson space, the university friend in question asked Izzy to come on board and develop some new areas of business. She was offered two spaces in need of new direction back in January; the Class Room Gallery has been hosting exhibitions for a while and the Craft Shop was opened over the bank holiday weekend. The Class Room Gallery will eventually play host to a workshop programme focusing on art provision over the school holidays. The Craft Shop is open every day from 10-5 and 11-4 on a Sunday. The Shop stocks an extensive range of products including anything from jewellery to hand knitted fruit and veg. Izzy is open to approaches from interested individuals who may want to run workshops in the space or to sell interesting items in the shop. Izzy’s boundless enthusiasm is infectious and she is working hard putting in many voluntary hours to get this part of the project off the ground. There are volunteering opportunities at the Hopkinson of you are interested and local to Nottingham you can get in touch via the website. Or contact Izzy if you feel you are interested in getting involved in the Craft Shop or the Class Room Gallery.
http://www.nottinghamcraftmafia.org
http://www.hopkinson21.co.uk
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