Some things are inherently New Orleanian by nature, and one of those things is: glitter! At NOLA Craft Culture, owners Lisette Constantin and Nori Pritchard have found a way to turn that New Orleanian love of glitz and glam into a community and culture.
In October, the craft store hosts a glitter pumpkin patch, which is their spin on a fall tradition that features glittered faux pumpkins, a pumpkin-glittering table for kids, and an art market with a variety of vendors that sell things from jewelry to stickers to tie-dyed clothing.
“It’s so quintessentially New Orleans to put glitter on everything, so why not pumpkins?” Pritchard said. “They last year after year, and who doesn’t love a good fall fest?”
Although they host art markets a few times throughout the year, Constantin and Pritchard said their favorite is during the Halloween season, as it has become a destination holiday for the city, which provides for greater turn-out and participation in the event.
Loyola alumna and NOLA Craft Culture event coordinator Valerie Meyer said their goal is to cultivate and support the New Orleans arts community.
“We just really want to support the local art community,” she said. We don’t charge a vendor fee or anything because we want people to just come out here and be able to sell their stuff and make some money.”
Loyola alum and market vendor Storm Wells said they started selling their work under the name Nervous Kid Art at an arts market hosted at Loyola.
Wells said after graduating, they were able to maintain their business through no-cost markets, like the ones hosted by NOLA Craft Culture.
“It’s nice to have a space to meet other artists, and they’ve helped me so much,” Wells said.
Constantin and Pritchard consider themselves a resource to local makers.
“We have this amazing community of artists, and we wanted to showcase our people, give them an audience, and bring everybody together,” Constantin said.
Beyond being a craft retailer and hosting seasonal art markets, NOLA Craft Culture also offers a variety of “crafty classes,” which includes Specialty Glitter 101, and provides an open-to-the-public craft workspace in the shop for people to create at their leisure. Constantin said the workspace is BYOB-friendly, and people bring food, snacks, and have even had pizza delivered while they were working.
“It’s a fun community, and we love the way it feels. When it’s buzzing with all the excitement, there’s this cross-pollination that occurs, and everybody enjoys themselves.” Constantin said. “It’s just a real fun, at-home atmosphere while you’re glittering or working on a project.”
