By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Art Center (RAC) will play home to more than 50 arts and crafts vendors at the 61st Annual Holiday Arts Festival Sun., Dec. 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The popular annual event is free to enter.
That Sunday the RAC will come alive with a bustling marketplace of unique designs, artisanal products and handmade merchandise created by Bay Area makers.
Visitors will have an opportunity to shop for locally-made holiday gifts at the festival that support independent artists and also small businesses, according to the RAC. A sampling of items in the lineup for this year include handcrafted leather dog collars, hand-bound sketchbooks, 3D papercut art cards and “mapkins,” which are organic linens with vintage maps. Add to that artisanal goods such as gourmet chocolates and handmade natural skincare products.
The festival’s Ceramics Studio Sale—which the RAC calls “the best deal on handmade, beautiful and usable ceramics in the Bay Area,” is a festival standout, with all works made by its students, teachers, and friends.
Other festival activities will span the gamut from live caricatures by artist Eli Africa, to free art-making activities to DIY cards and gift wrap paper, to a raffle of donated items artists/businesses to artist designed RAC totes and t-shirts for purchase and Richmond community partner pop-ups.
Participating organizations being at the festival will include: NIAD Art Center, The Latina Center, Native American Health Center and Asian Pacific Environmental Network.
For more info about the Holiday Arts Festival, click here. The RAC is located at 2540 Barrett Ave. in Richmond.
Participating vendors to date: Adrianna Gluck, Art of the African Diaspora, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Atomic K Designs, Bea Hartman Ceramics, Bird vs. Bird Designs, Brick Factory Designs, CeramicsByRegina, Chris Granillo Art, CMC Designs, Confetti This Lifestyle Boutique, Coralxpression, EGChu Handcrafted, Elishes Cavness III, Em’pirean Artwear, Eyes For Trees, Girls Curls Jewelry, Hats and Spats & Tinybully Knits, HK Ceramics, HollyPapercuts, Illustrations by SENDY, Iris Chiu Art, JenniferLindermanArt, Jenny Windler Jewelry, Kristi & Keena are Friends, Langfordcraft, Larry Craighill Ceramics, Lauren Ari, Leticia Javier, Liberación Gráfica, LSK Designs, Marisa Burman, MegParkesFinds, Menmin Made, Moon & Leaf, More With Less, Morning Cup Designs, Native American Health Center, NIAD Art Center, OntheQ, Pretty Fun Designs, Rebeca’s Art Prints, RYSE, S for Sparkle, S.Beaubrun, Shrine Jewelry, Skincare by Feleciai, The Latina Center, The Weekend Store, The Xocolate Bar, Untitled Cloth, LLC, Valerie Brown-Troutt, Vreni Michelini Castillo, Wiggle & Woof, YKS Ceramics and more to be announced.
