Urban Lights 2011- Gifts worth giving: local, handmade, affordable

Holiday shopping has become something of a circus, with every business vying for your attention with their specially conceived fanfares. I haven’t even been to the mall recently but I have had some vivid nightmares concerning its festive weekend crowds. I imagine the shelves upon shelves of cloned goods claiming individuality through smart promotion- begging for your browsing. Perhaps these clones will efficiently fill a gap in your lengthy Holiday gift list, but for the rest of that list please consider that on the 9th of December in downtown Grand Rapids between 5-10 p.m. there will be an opportunity to find a few of your more thoughtful recipients some charming, hand-crafted items of a morally upstanding and genuinely individual nature which will involve no impenetrable crowds, sweating sales assistants or eerie corporate aesthetics.

Urban Lights is a holiday shopping experience taking place on South Division Avenue. It is entirely focused on providing a platform for local artists and craftspeople to display and sell their wares, from jewelry to home décor items, paintings, prints, ceramics, photographs and a wealth of other gift ideas. I can guarantee that you will manage to cross off a few names on your holiday list and perhaps find yourself a little congratulatory present for taking the time to shop conscientiously and help these talented locals to keep making what they make. We also plan to ‘Deck the Avenue’ with festive decorations to make sure shoppers are pleasantly imbued with the holiday mood.

The art and craft will be spread across a variety of venues, including already established businesses such as Vertigo Record Store and Sanctuary Folk Art. Pop-up shops will be materializing especially for the occasion, hosting a specifically selected plethora of crafted goods to ensure your browsing is not fruitless. By forgoing your usual Holiday shopping hotspots just for one evening you will be flying the flag of support for your local craftspeople and artists; by buying directly from the makers you are ensuring the longevity and continuance of their craft and of holiday events like Urban Lights.

As well as a stellar host of vendors we are pleased to announce that there will be some splendid entertainment to stay on the Avenue. Once you’ve secured those gifts, grab dinner at new Mexican restaurant ‘Corazon’ before you swing by the two GVSU senior shows that will be taking place along South Division that evening. The DAAC will be hosting a print and paint installation ‘Lou-Reed=Reeds’ by Kyle Schroeder until 9 p.m. when they introduce the musical stylings of ‘Red Tail Ring’ (*$5 cover). Jeff Kraus’s painting exhibition "maybe next time I’ll get it right" will be slightly further up the Avenue at Hoi Polloi. For all of you in need of something more intense, The Dirty Hippie will be presenting ‘Metal on Division’ from 7 p.m. (*$5 cover).

Urban Lights is situated as such that parking will not be a problem. Metered spots are in abundance on South Division Avenue itself and one block up on Sheldon Boulevard. Maps detailing what is occurring in every participating location will be available at Sanctuary Folk Art at 140 South Division. We hope you will find the time to discover some local talent and put some of your holiday budget straight into their pockets- where you can see it making a difference.

Disclosure: My name is Emma, I'm new to Grand Rapids, I am currently interning at Dwelling Place, helping to organize Urban Lights. Avenue for the Arts Articles are written by individuals participating in Avenue for the Arts events as interns, volunteers or artists participants. The views and opinions shared do not necessarily represent the Avenue for the Arts as a whole.