Hi all! StuPaco Frenchie here!
Last night, I took a walk in the rain, but not just any walk in the rain, a saunter through the streets of downtown Muncie as I surveyed the wares of so many makers, artists, and business owners during the First Thursday Artswalk and Yart.
First stop on my journey was Sea Salt and Cinnamon. A kid needs a full tum-tum to prepare for shopping! Anytime I'm in downtown Muncie, I have to drop in for a fancy beverage and a treat. On this particular evening, I grabbed a Gooey Gobbler, a Surely Temple, and a jack o' lantern sugar cookie. Everything was delicious as always, but I got to enjoy my meal with some newly purchased goods from fellow kids: fashionable pins by Oscar's Buttons, and a delightful handmade slug figurine by Desk Buddies.
With my tummy full, I headed down to the Maker's Market where I found The Pie Lady, Susan Danner. After admiring her beautiful cat jacket, I knew this lady had good taste, so I bought a pie. A French Crunch Peach Pie aka THE BEST PIE I'VE EVER HAD! I look forward to sampling all of her flavors in the future. Beside The Pie Lady, was The McHellyeah Workshop. We stepped in and mom was delighted in the aromas of leather goods. Hats, satchels, wallets, and more, all meticulously crafted and gorgeous. My mom bought a sign that says "thou shalt depart and consume a satchel of Richards." I don't know what that means, but she seemed to think it was funny. She's weird sometimes.
Next, I headed down to Plyspace to check out Soup d'Amour and meet the artist/clown in residence, Carmen Nikae. Carmen allowed me to craft the perfect disguise and have a little fun clowning around. I really liked her and she had the best costumes! It was my absolute favorite part of the evening. I was also able to meet Erin Williams, the executive director of The Muncie Arts and Culture Council. She told me about the light display in Dave's Alley and clowned around with me too. I wanted to stay and see the lights, but mom said it was happening past my bedtime, so we had to miss it.
From there, I headed down towards Canan Commons to see the main even, Yart! This year was set to be HUUUUGE, with over 200 artists, crafters, and makers. The rain made things a bit difficult, but so many vendors showed up despite the less than ideal weather. Donning my disguise, I grabbed some tacos from La Patrona with my dad. We're always happy to find them set up around town and like to buy one of every option! Everything is so tasty!
As we made our way through the booths, I saw so many items I had to buy! Disclaimer: I was so busy trying to buy all the things while maintaining my disguise that I didn't get the name of every shop. I have included all those I could remember. If I mentioned your products and you would like to be tagged, please use the contact form to send my mom a message with a link to your page so she can add it.
First, I grabbed a wonderfully priced, crocheted mushroom guy and mom bought a crocheted chicken nugget! Perfect! Next I found some mushroom earrings for when I get my ears pierced. Mom offered to wear them until I can. Then we found some evil eye earrings and a keychain...anyone that knows me, knows that I really love anything with eyeballs, so those were one of my favorite finds. Then dad found a great addition to our Halloween decorating: A STAINED GLASS SPIDERWEB from Grow With Me Glass. There are a lot of spiderwebs on our porch already, but this one is much more beautiful! Next door, at Ashanti's Garden, a work of art with a mushroom and an eyeball caught my eye. Mom bought some hand dipped beeswax candles and a lotion bar that I'm thinking about "borrowing" because it smells so good.
At the end of that section of booths, I found the MOST WONDERFUL SHOP OF MY DREAMS: Tulatoons. If you know me, you know I have a thing for cats. All cats, every cat, all the time. At this shop, I was able to adopt my very own miniature bean bag cat and add accessories to make sure my cat (now named Grace) can live his best miniature life. Next, I found a different booth with a tiny ghost cat painting by Wendy Neal! It included an equally tiny easel and I thought this would be the perfect Halloween decoration for my new cat's house.
Making our way around the circle, mom found an artist that we've been admiring for a long time: Mel Morris! Every time we go for boba tea at Positivitea, we talk about the gorgeous floral paintings on the walls. They're lovely to look at as we sip our boba. Mom bought a painting from the artist, then after that, Mel let me paint on a canvas that everyone who visited could paint! How cool is that?!?!?! I hope we get to see the finished work of art! Next, mom headed to Muncie Map Co. to grab some funny Muncie magnets. She always needs more magnets to hold up all my artwork on the fridge. I make a lot.
It was starting to get dark and we were running out of time to visit everything at the artswalk, but we managed to squeeze in a couple more Yart booths. Mom was delighted to find a little shop called Whimsy and Wonk that had terrarium necklaces and tiny glass sculptures. She bought me a mouse as a friend for Grace. I'm still trying to think of a name for the mouse. Anyone have any suggestions?
The next shop we found, Tha Kandii Shop, drew me in with a perler bead snail necklace! Then I saw a perler bead witch bracelet! If you know me, you know that when I'm not thinking about cats and eyeballs, I'm thinking about snails and witches. So many of my favorite things were at Yart! The owner was very nice and friendly, and let me make my own bracelet from an assortment of cool beads. I gave it to my mom and she loves it!
At this point, it was getting dark and some shops were packing up, but I managed one more booth! The nice shop owner, Clarence used their flashlight to help us see all their goodies! Mom bought me a bracelet and some plier earrings. After we left there, we stayed a few more minutes to take in the lovely sounds of musician Jerry Barker and then headed home since it was getting close to my bedtime.
Overall, it was the best night, despite all the rain and I don't think anyone could see through my disguise at all. Now that the rain is gone and the sun is shining, I got most of my loot together (except the pie, I ate the pie) to admire in the sunshine! I love it all even more!
Thank you to all the grown ups who put so much work into curating such an awesome experience for kids like me to enjoy! Looking forward to the next Artswalk and my next adventure!
StuPaco Frenchie, signing out!
Nice article !keep up the great work!