“Crafted” Syracuse into a City of Art and Innovation "Crafted" Syracuse into a City of Art and Innovation

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)—“There are only two types of people in upstate New York: artists and art appreciators,” founder of the Crafted Series event, Michael John said. “Crafted and Crafted Series are at the intersection of both.”

Fifty-eight local artisans gathered at the handmade market on Feb. 1, and made the underground a shopping destination for art appreciators. Unique jewelry, house decorations, clothes, band music and more attracts many weekend fun-seekers and local business supporters. Hundreds of art lovers came to this award winning event.

It’s not only a place for buying handmade art, crafts and food, but also a tribute to the community’s innovation tradition. “There are a lot of fun things here and I want to support downtown businesses,” a customer said.

The Crafted event took place at the McCarthy building, which has a history of more than 120 years. And the road next to the building is where the first attempted streetcar once ran through. So the McCarthy building is not only famous as “the heart of Syracuse”, but also is an icon of creativity in this area. “Innovation tradition has been always surrounding this downtown core. This is creativity once was, and we are going to bring creativity back to this place,” John says.

John also says, Syracuse always has a lot of pocket talents, basically hidden over all Central New York. A lot people are crafting artworks in addition to other jobs. Crafted is a kind of event that they can came out for and become weekend warriors. Artist Cayetano Valenzuela has been with the event since the very beginning. He says the price and the arrangements are right, so he decides to be part of the event.

John will continue to build the community and inspire a better quality of life in the Salt City, with the following crafted events throughout this year. For more detailed information of the next event, you can visit their website.

Reported by

Yuhan Zhao

Yuhan Zhao (Jaynee) is a graduate studying Broadcast & Digital Journalism at Syracuse University.

Other stories by Yuhan Zhao

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