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Exploring Life & Business with Danielle Lee of Craft Alliance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Lee

Hi Danielle, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Craft Alliance was founded in 1964 as a cooperative gallery by regional craft artists and soon began offering art classes. It moved into its iconic yellow building on the Delmar Loop in 1969 and spent decades there offering classes, community programs, and exhibitions. It also expanded its community outreach through a satellite facility in Grand Center’s Kranzberg Building. In 2020, Craft Alliance consolidated and moved to a state-of-the-art facility in the Delmar Maker District. From this current location, it offers classes and member open studio time in seven studios: blacksmithing, clay, fibers, glass, metals, print & paper, and woodworking. Craft Alliance’s community outreach programs continue strong, including ArtSmarts, Crafting a Future (CAF), Free Family Saturdays, and School Residencies. The organization also presents a robust slate of contemporary artist exhibitions, gallery talks, workshops, and lectures in its Staenberg Gallery. This programming ensures that high-quality arts education and experiences are more accessible to the St. Louis community.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We had the unfortunate timing of moving to our new facilities in 2020. So, we need people to know we’re still here and to come find us! Our new studios are beautiful and welcoming, and we’re excited about how our neighborhood, the Delmar Maker District, is thriving with restaurants and entertainment like Esca, Steve’s Hot Dogs, and the Lobby by Union Studio.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We really have something for everyone! We’ve been fostering community and creativity in St. Louis for over 60 years through adult & youth classes, community programs & events, exhibitions, and our Gallery Shop. We have many class options, including for beginners who’ve been curious about flexing their artistic muscles but may be feeling a little shy. Our teaching artists are both warm, excellent teachers and skilled professional artists.

For the more experienced artists, our classes provide a community of peers with whom to stretch and grow, along with opportunities like our Artist-in-Residence program and Student/Faculty sales. We have similar offerings for children, with camps and classes for novice artists to our Crafting-A-Future program for kids who know they love art and are ready to learn more intensively.

We’re also dedicated to ensuring that high-quality arts education and experiences are accessible to the whole community. We offer free events and exhibitions for the public, including our monthly Free Family Saturdays and Third Fridays. And our community programs help support schools and communities that may not have funding or access to as much arts education as they’d want.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
We discovered how strong the craft arts community is. They were adamant about getting back together as soon as possible! When we returned to in-person activities, the community bonds were even stronger than before. Those new to Craft Alliance were also eager to build community. We see many friend and family groups coming together for activities like our Craft After Hours workshops to have fun in an intimate, relaxed setting. The flexibility and agile thinking required during the pandemic also stayed with us. We’re constantly self-evaluating to meet our community’s needs better.

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