9 “People are getting tired of this throwaway society,” Scalise says. “It has become normal to buy something knowing it’s cheap and poor quality, but justifying the purchase because it’s so cheap you can buy more when it breaks. People like the fact that we’re producing heirloom-quality products. They actually get better with age.” Utilitarian Workshop isn’t the first retail space in town dedicated to selling handmade goods. Stuff opened in Brookside in 1996. Westport’s Mash Handmade has been around since 2009. Bon Bon Atelier, which operated on Westport Road from 2006 until January of this year, sold goods made by local artisans. But it’s a distinctly more stick-it-to-the-Man endeavor than its predecessors. Whereas Stuff’s mission statement plays up words and phrases such as “personality,” “unique character” and “filled with creativity,” the “about” page on Utilitarian Workshop’s website reads: “We instigate communal thought and collaboration. We insist on progression through action. We resist complacent satisfaction.” “It’s not like we are having Marxist roundtable meetings in here,” Anderson says, “but it’s very anti-establishment. It’s very anti-corporation, but not in an aggressive, revolutionary fashion.” Purchasing power is political capital, and creative workers should “We’re providing a platform for interaction have agency over their own designs, in a space between the client and the craftsperson,” where they can present those designs to a more Anderson says. enlightened consumer. Many of the Utilitarian Workshop vendors “We want to support the artists more have set themselves apart through their focus than anything, and give them leverage,” on building relationships Williams says. with customers. When a customer “It’s not like we are having “We’re not a huge force spends money at Utilitarian Marxist roundtable meetings in in a high-rise, with a plant Workshop, from 60 to 70 here, but it’s very in some random country percent goes directly to the p u m p i n g o ut g o o d s ,” maker. And while the retail anti-establishment.” Scalise says. “We get to space is equipped to handle do personal touches, from that monetary exchange, it’s also intended to encourage other types of personal e-mails to hand-written notes sent with each purchase. Most [people] aren’t transactions, especially those between makers used to a business being run like that. These and customers.
The Workshop puts relationships on view, too. connections are one of my favorite parts of this company.” Plans are in the works for Utilitarian Workshop to host resident makers, who would work on their crafts in the retail space during business hours, allowing customers to see vendors in action. Nelson, who started Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters in a garage last year with partner Holzhueter (see Fat City, page 18), plans to use Utilitarian Workshop’s Summit location to let potential clients sample his product. But he sees it as more than just a spot to make presentations.
R E M M SU CONCERT
Utilitarian Workshop vendor meetings have already led to creative collaborations that probably wouldn’t have occurred otherwise. Scalise fashioned a leather sleeve to fit around the steaming-hot Mason jars in which Thou Mayest serves its pour-overs. And the roasting company is in talks with ceramist Lea Griggs to design a line of drinkware. Nelson, who grew up in a farming family, recognizes that Utilitarian Workshop provides an opportunity for disparate makers to band together and pool their resources. “It is difficult, as a startup, to get traction,” he says. “I carry around these guys with me like we are all part of a team. I’m always selling them to other people. “At the end of the day,” he adds, “we want to have a cool fort to hang out in. We want a space where ideas can collide with each other.” It’s also a refuge from the lonely difficulties of making a living as a one-craftsperson show. Grater, who began Early Jewelry in 2004 and has grown it through wholesaling and craft fairs, knows this from experience. “Most indie designers who make their own products handle all aspects of the business — designing, fabricating the product, sales, bookkeeping, client relations,” she says. “This is taxing. Having a community of other designers to talk to about highlights and hardships of the lifestyle of a fulltime designer or crafter or artist is very important. The Kansas City area — Lawrence included — has a high level of contemporary artist-crafter entrepreneurs.” With Utilitarian Workshop opening, the level seems about to rise again. Starting this weekend, KC craftspeople have a new place to gather, meet and befriend clients, and sell their goods. Call the enterprise a political statement or a lifestyle choice or a social network — or all three — but Grater might put it best. “Inspiration,” she says, “is local.”
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