Our mission is to highlight local Black, Indigenous, Brown, self-identified creatives of color through a community supported festival.
A small idea between friends turned full festival
CRAFt started as an intimate house warming idea that involved showcasing a friend’s acrylic paintings to help boost their new artistic career. But the founders quickly realized that many of their Black and brown artist friends also lacked the attention and support they deserved, despite being incredibly talented.
As the founders dug into nearby art festivals, most featured predominantly white artists and involved immense financial barriers (application fees, booth fees, equipment needs, and more). Eventually, CRAFt was born! Co-created and fostered amongst loving friends who simply want to see their Black and brown artistic peers thrive and eagerly supported by the local community.
As of June 2023, we are fiscally sponsored by the Boulder County Arts Alliance.
Our goals and actions
Here at CRAFt, we seek to elevate our creatives in ways that are tangible.
We charge ZERO fees for artists and business vendors to participate. We also provide free rentals of tents, tables, chairs, and other supplies to lift large operational costs off of vendors.
We pay all of our performers and share openly what others are earning from us to cultivate equity.
We provide free professional headshots, business cards, and promotional materials to boost our creatives’ careers.
We connect creatives with opportunities in our network such as other gigs, artist calls, and more.
Our intended audience
CRAFt's purpose is to support Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) who want to connect with creatives, celebrate their work, and be in a supportive community regardless of professional skill or experience. We understand that BIPOC covers a wide spectrum of experiences and we are happy to direct folks to organizations that can provide more specific communities and support.
White people and those who do not identify as BIPOC are invited to attend, listen, purchase artwork, watch performances, and elevate what our thriving community has to say. CRAFt was created to take up space in an environment where whiteness is centered and barriers are created to take away access. We ask that all attendees respect that space by acknowledging our CRAFt community, investing in their work financially, promoting their work, and sharing what they’ve witnessed after the festival.
Black, Indigenous, and people of color are not a monolith and we will not tolerate tokenization, appropriation, or fetishization.
On the term “BIPOC”
Language is extremely important when discussing race and identity. The organizers of CRAFt understand that the term “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) does not fully encapsulate the community that we are trying to highlight and support.
We, the organizers and creatives, discussed using “BIPOC” in 2022 and the general consensus for now was to use the term while acknowledging its limitations. “BIPOC” in the context of our festival is meant to create a sense of community for people who do not identify as white, especially in an area that is extremely white. We also believe that there is no one word or acronym that sufficiently encompasses Black, Indigenous, Latino, Chicano, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islanders, and the multiple terms people may identify with. We are individuals with our own lived context and nuance. We will use the term “BIPOC” to address a collective community while doing our best to highlight people’s individual experiences.
As language is dynamic and evolving, if you have feedback, please contact us using the contact form below.
“We had a blast participating in the 2022 CRAFt fair - our best pop-up market yet! And the connections we've made with the artist and public community from the event have continued outside of the 1-day event. We were able to connect with designers to create collaborative merchandise and will continue to do so in the new year.”
- Cindy Li, Tea-EO of Uproot Teas, CRAFt 2022 + 2023 Food Vendor
“My experience in working with the organization has been phenomenal and the community of other artists I've been able to plug into has been everything I needed to help me develop and grow. I'm a more confident Artist, Vendor and business owner as a result, and could not have asked for more.”
- Nia Dawson, Owner of B.A. Rebel Jewelry, CRAFt 2022 + 2023 Art Vendor
“I started this business less than a year ago and with the help of CRAFt and the team behind CRAFt my business has grown and I was given some much-needed tools to move forward on my own. CRAFt provided me with a safe space to vend and covered the vending fee, which is a big hole to start with. They also helped me advertise and provided me with business cards and stickers to help promote myself. POC, Women, and LGBTQ+ owned businesses have a lot of hurdles to get over and not much assistance in the business world CRAFt is giving us a leg up and personally has helped me succeed with my small business.”
- Terry Flemings, Owner of PindependenceCO, CRAFt 2022 + 2023 Art Vendor
Have more questions?
Questions about the festival, getting involved, sponsorship opportunities, or just want to say hi? Email us at communityrootsartfestival@gmail.com or send us a message in the following online form.
We look forward to hearing from you!
