Taking old furniture pieces and transforming them back into timeless pieces, with lots of care and hard work, is the mission of The Artisans Markets Minnesota collective. Created four-and-a-half years ago by Lori Gravink of LaDeeDa Design and Laura Johnson Hernandez of Vivid Furniture Designs, this successful, online collective is for artisans to come together with a common goal and a commitment to raise market quality for furniture.
The 40-plus artisan collective, with more than 20,000 members, uses Facebook as their platform to list their wares. From the page, members can view furniture listings—which change daily—and deal directly with the artisans. Members are promised first grabs at pieces since they won’t list items on any other website for the first seven days. If a piece is purchased, artisans offer personal delivery of the item.
“Artisans are all unique and do this for different reasons,” Gravink says. They can structure their production based on their lives; it’s a unified mission. Each artisan has his or her own page and can post anytime, produce as often as they want, and can leave or enter anytime. It’s a flexible, highly motivated group of individuals. And, Gravink says, it’s a “worth-while adventure because it gives me the opportunity to be a part of different generations.”
Gravink runs the collective out of a spot in White Bear Makerspace. She also has a second group, The Artisan Markets Minnesota Too, which features home décor, art, jewelry and accessories.
Interested in joining?
Head to The Artisan Markets Minnesota and The Artisan Markets Minnesota Too on Facebook and request to join. If interested in becoming an artisan, reach out to Gravink or Johnson Hernandez on Facebook about the application process.
