The first time Lisa Degliantoni and Liz Cramer sat down for coffee together in 2017, Cramer told Degliantoni about the shop she wanted to open. Cramer had just left her corporate job and envisioned a local retail store selling original art and handmade goods.
Nine years later, the two are opening the first brick and mortar location for Evanston Made, the nonprofit arts organization of which they are co-directors. Shop Evanston Made is located at 822 Dempster St. and will host its grand opening on May 14.
Degliantoni said she founded Evanston Made in 2014 to fulfill “the need for visibility and opportunity for the artists who live in Evanston.”
“The bigger the organization got, the more evident it became that we needed a space to gather,” Degliantoni said.
Initially, the organization hosted studio tours, exhibitions and pop-ups. Evanston Made was “nomadic,” Cramer said, making it difficult for community members to fully understand what the organization did.
In October 2021, Evanston Made created an online store platform to sell the works of about 400 members.
According to Cramer, the new shop will be a “physical manifestation” of the online store, with a rotating, curated room of pieces to give more local artists opportunities to show their work.
“It gives them the opportunity to see the breadth of people’s work, even though all the pieces aren’t here,” she said.
The store will also have a kiosk where customers can connect to the online platform and peruse pieces, Degliantoni added.
Longtime Evanston Made volunteer and patron Anne Wolff said that while she is excited to see all the art in the shop, she is most looking forward to the social element.
Wolff said she appreciates that the organization allows patrons to engage with artists on a personal level by providing a space for events and social gatherings.
“It’s so much more fun to find a piece and connect with it when you can know the story about it, you can know the process about it, and Evanston Made allows you to just meet those people,” Wolff said. “They’re not off limits anymore. They’re right there and excited to teach you about it.”
She added the storefront was even more important because she said community members are not aware enough of the local artists in their neighborhoods.
The shop will be open Wednesday through Saturday, with Sundays reserved for trunk shows and pop-ups as the organization expands into the emerging, new artist market, Degliantoni said.
Evanston Made’s shop will complement existing businesses on Dempster Street, according to Main-Dempster Mile Executive Director Katherine Gotsick. She said the shop will be a “lovely addition” to the Dempster Design Row — a corridor of creative design and artisan businesses.
Gotsick added that Evanston Made and the Main-Dempster Mile have been partners for many years, and the shop’s grand opening will take place on the same day as the organization’s Evanston Arts & Crafts Beverage Crawl.
“As the years have gone by, we’re doing more and more with Evanston Made, so to have them open a store in this neighborhood is super cool,” Gotsick said.
For Degliantoni, it is important that those in the surrounding neighborhoods support local artists.
The shop’s tagline, “Buy what your neighbor makes,” emphasizes this, she said.
“We want people to understand that they do have a civic responsibility to be stewards of the arts,” Degliantoni said.
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