Our Story
We believe in sharing all the crafty goodness our community has to offer with real goods made by real people. We believe artists should be able to make a living doing what they love. We believe local street fairs and craft markets should always have a place in the Portland community, and that indoors (out of the unpredictable weather) is extra nice. We think anytime indie makers and the people who support them come together is its own special kind of holiday. So we set out to make this happen regularly, in a twice-a-year market featuring 200+ artists at the Oregon Convention Center, and in our brick-and-mortar store stocked exclusively with goods, gifts, and art created by Portland's best and brightest. Since its inception in April 2006, Crafty Wonderland has become the largest handmade craft show in the Northwest.
But deep down, Crafty Wonderland is simply what happened when two Portland artists, Cathy and Torie, decided to create a venue where they could sell their own handmade goods and help friends do the same. Both were members of the all-ladies craft collective Portland Super Crafty, and together they conjured up all the things they’d want in a perfect Portland fair: regularly scheduled, indoors, juried, with a kids’ area for budding artists and a free DIY section where artists teach guests how to work their crafty magic. Thanks to immense community support, this vision became not only a reality, but a huge success. Shoppers and vendors flock to our colossal spring and holiday craft market in the spirit of celebrating all things handmade.
It turns out, shoppers and tourists are super inspired by the creativity of Portlanders. They love it so much that the Portland Business Alliance and Portland Development Commission asked us to participate in their downtown pop-up shop program for the 2010 holidays. Our temporary, 10-week long pop-up went so well, we decided to keep it going. We leased the space next door and set up Crafty Wonderland’s retail shop so that visitors can always get their handcrafted fix with goods and art made exclusively by Portland artists. Now people can meet the makers and own something unique that can’t be bought in a big box store, and they can stop in anytime (that we’re open, of course).
Press Highlights
- Voted “Best of the City” by Portland Monthly Magazine
- Voted “Best of Portland” in by The Willamette Week
- Featured on PBS television series “Oregon Art Beat”
- Featured in promotional video for Portland film screening of Handmade Nation
- Interview in Portland Mercury’s Sold Out Column
- Featured in Willamette Week’s Finder
- Listed in Portland Monthly’s Off Hours
- Written up in Budget Travel & Sunset Magazine
- Online press includes CraftZine.com, Blog.UrbanOutfitters.com and CNN.com
- Listed as one of the eleven reasons why Portland is awesome on DigitalCity.com
- We were awarded the Small Business Spirit Award in 2014 by the SBA.