In 1983, the Circle Craft Co-operative asked me to sit on the board. Once I agreed, I found out we were bankrupt. So we pulled out of our gastown store in the middle of the night and went into hiding. But I agreed to continue running our yearly Christmas Market. After partnering with the Craft Council of BC, (formerly the Crafts Association of BC) and walking away from Expo 86 with significant profits, we booked the Vancouver Convention Centre for our future markets. Although we drew in huge crowds, it took a few years for us to create the ambiance we had when our markets were in the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. Those markets, as founder Yetta Lees would say, were intimate, hippy fairs with only three rules: no dope, no public breast-feeding and no big dogs (since they peed on the tapestries).
The CMHC on Granville Island offered support to our organization and asked us to put on a summer market because of the opportunities we provide for Canadian artisans. So we put up tents near the water park. This market was very quiet, until the day the wharf caught on fire. The smoke was so thick that it drove crowds of people over to us. We were eventually allowed to move over to a large space in the Net Loft. At the time, the Net Loft was pretty empty of craftspeople but full of cement blocks and dust. Everyone had to help vacuum, sweep and clean up before we opened. We extended our stay in the Net Loft until we were finally awarded a space there.
I like to think that we are now the most successful craft co-op in North America. Every year we give $9000.00 in scholarships to local craftspeople and students. We also put on the Circle Craft Christmas Market which attracts around 40,000 people.
In 1997, I became Circle Craft’s General Manager. A few years ago, the CMHC wanted to put a movie theatre on Granville Island. There was a public hearing after the papers were already signed. I thought it was fruitless to attend since it was a done deal, but my job was to put in an appearance and express our frustration. An artist David New-Small, founder of New-Small & Sterling Studio Glass, also located on Granville Island, spoke about the economic benefits of having artisans on the island. He quoted the founding documents of Granville Island that allocated a certain amount of space for artisans. Then he explained how craftspeople were being left behind as the island grew. Well, the mayor said nothing, but he looked up and listened hard. Phillip Owen was the mayor at the time. The deal was squashed immediately even though it cost the government a lot of money to get out of it. And you know what? It renewed my faith in democracy to think that people are actually heard now and again.
