Craft Mafia: A Well-Organized Syndicate
April 14, 2007
by Danielle Murphy-Cannella
Local artists have faced many challenges after Katrina. Some have overcome these challenges with collective power and a technology-driven business to reach new audiences.
And that is how the New Orleans Craft Mafia came to be. The NOCM is an artists’ collective fashioned after the model of Austin’s Craft Mafia with an internet-based shop. It is one of many around the country, yet it has its own distinct legacy.
The group formed in summer of 2005 just before Katrina and has remained solid ever since. Membership in the NOCM currently includes eight businesses comprised of local artisans. Each artist contributes nonpareil crafts with a New Orleans flair.
The businesses include:
greenKangaroo.com by NOCM founder Rachelle Matherne, dismantled designs and Miss Malaprop by Mallory Whitfield, art by mags! by Margaret Coble, Unique Products by artists Heather McFarlane and Mark Kirk, Jeremy the Alien Designs run by Jeannie Detweiler, Ms. Placed by Elli Diaz and Allie Siegel, and lastly Claverie Crafts by Kelly Claverie.
Many of the artists had known each other pre-merge from vending at various markets around the city. Others joined after the storm. Membership is open to any professional artist from New Orleans who is willing to become an active associate of the NOCM.
The current condition of New Orleans has played a large role in facilitating the collective; now more than ever it is necessary to pool resources and aggregate business capacity with like-minded individuals. And for the artists of NOCM it has always been more about making art than making profit.
“There was a group-held belief that we’d all do better as a one or two person-run business if we pooled our resources together,” says Margaret Coble of art by mags!, “but a co-op of eight to ten micro-businesses doing similar but uniquely different things might have more of a chance. And so far, that theory has really worked.”
The online collective is at times the only thread to unite the group. The NOCM web shop was critical in keeping the collective together in the months after Katrina and provided an internet retail presence for the artists to continue selling their art.
Furthermore, getting back into production and marketing proved to be daunting tasks when the NOCM got their feet back on the ground.
Much of the NOCM’s success can be attributed to their overt expressions of solidarity for their city and striking “do-it-yourself” designs that make local art accessible to the public. Products such as iconic water meter and crescent moon designs, houseware and accessories made from recycled materials, and vintage relics central to New Orleans culture have “struck a chord with the buying public” according to Coble.
“Shopping wasn’t exactly high on folks’ lists of things to do. Many of us, post-Katrina, came up with new designs and new products that were New Orleans-centric,” says Coble, “People were hungry for items to proclaim their pride and belief in the city and its possibility for rebuilding, revival.”
There is no storefront but the mafia sets up shop at the monthly Crescent City Craft Market at the Big Top Gallery every second Sunday of the month from 2-6pm. Members will also appear Wednesday at Lafayette Square on May 2nd (the week between Jazzfest events).
Here’s a quick rundown of products offered by the various NOCM member artisans:
greenKangaroo.com: Rachelle Matherne makes handmade resin jewelry, magnets, altered clothing, and more. She is the founder of the New Orleans Craft Mafia.
dismantled designs: Mallory Whitfield makes one-of-a-kind, handmade, reconstructed clothing and accessories, mostly from used or vintage clothing, fabrics, and trims. http://www.dismantleddesigns.com
Miss Malaprop: Also run by Mallory Whitfield, MissMalaprop.com is a blog whose tagline is “indie finds for your uncommon life,” which focuses on independent artists and businesses, both in New Orleans and beyond.
art by mags!: Margaret Coble makes spray-paint-stenciled art clocks out of recycled vinyl records with original designs, as well as silkscreen and stenciled tshirts and other clothing. She also creates signs out of recycled wood and other building scraps, picked up off the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Unique Products: Heather MacFarlane and Mark Kirk make funky, eclectic housewares, lighting, jewelry, tshirts, and accessories using recycled materials, including their famous fused Mardi Gras bead lights and blue tarp messenger bags.
Jeremy the Alien Designs: Jeannie Detweiler makes fine art paintings, stuffed toys, handmade faux-fur purses, funky throw pillows, and more.
Ms. Placed: Elli Diaz and Allie Siegel make handmade jewelry and accessories from recycled and other materials.
Claverie Crafts: Kelly Claverie makes a wide variety of handmade crafts, from clothing to note cards to housewares, accessories and more.
Click here for more information on the Craft Mafia of New Orleans and for membership requirements.