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Becky is a designer and illustrator living in North Adams since 2013. She helps runs the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition, is the Development Director of Common Folk, and the Gallery Associate at Ferrin Contemporary, a ceramics gallery on the MASS MoCA campus.

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Isabel grew up in Cabin John, MD and moved to North Adams, MA in 2018 after graduating from Bennington College. Her preferred focus right now is in black and white illustration, but her academic background in sculpture and printmaking has encouraged her to experiment beyond the 2D page. Isabel’s illustrations often depict anthropomorphized vegetables and other foods in whimsical scenes and positions…she thinks of these as a way to play with food in the least messy way possible :) Her preference towards bold, black and white figures reflects her interest in contemporary tattoos, while her desire to translate personality and comedy through food originates from her love of cooking and ingredient exploration.

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Jacqueline Gamache ("Jacqui") is a writer and graphic designer who has been living in North Adams since 2016. She is a bit of a "Jacq" of all trades when it comes to writing, doing a little bit of everything but mostly dabbling in speculative fiction. She writes short stories and poetry and is currently working on her first novel, The Problem with Lyrewell and its companion project "The Friends of Lyrewell", a digital writing/art project on Instagram, both which tell the story of a fictional revolution inspired by the anarchist movements of the 1910s-1920s in a dark, “hydropunk”-esque world. Jacqui is also one of the co-owners of the 2 Beans Café, a virtual café committed to great drinks and the power of the written word, and a proud sponsor of the upcoming Emerging Writers Series.

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Jennifer works full-time for Freia Fine Handpaint Yarns in North Adams. In her free time, when she’s not fiddling around with yarn, fiber, fabric, or words, you'll probably find her with her other half, Danny, rummaging around in thrift shops or roaming a museum. She is a knitter, crafter, and natural dyer, and is always thrilled to meet and interact with other artists.

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Jess Sweeney (aka Sweens) is a small business consultant and coach based in Berkshire County. She serves freelancers, DIYer’s, Independent Contractors, Small Businesses, Artists, & Gig Workers throughout Western Mass and beyond.

Sweens’ believes in sustainable, people centered, mission driven projects. She provides services that help clients build efficient systems that help teams and businesses thrive.

Sweens is the founder and owner of Common Folk Artist Collective (North Adams, MA). She also owns and operates Savvy Hive (North Adams, MA), a secondhand and eco-friendly shop. She does her consulting and business coaching through Savvy Hive.

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Born in Hartford, CT. Lives in North Adams.

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Katie is a visual artist, Berkshire county native, mischief maker, leader with Common Folk, store front volunteer, and lead organizer of Carpe Diem Music and Art Festival. She just really likes to create and share art.

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Katja's oil paintings narrate through biomorphic and suggestive imagery experiences of females through pictorial metaphors focusing thematically on the consciousness of distress, trauma, abuse, and neglect.

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Visual Artist, Community Organizer and Common Folk Leadership Member. Learn more about Landon on their creator page.

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Makayla-Courtney McGeeney is a digital marketing strategist with a degree in journalism from MCLA who specializes in helping small business owners and artists achieve success. She creates content for social media accounts, does photography and builds websites for clients while also serving as the marketing coordinator for Common Folk Artist Collective and the board chair of the Louison House homeless shelter. With a passion for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and artists, Makayla is committed to promoting their longevity and sharing their knowledge to help clients succeed in the digital age.

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Wallasauce (Sarah DeFusco and Andrew Casteel) create handmade custom clothing, accessories, home decor & more in North Adams, MA.

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Sarah Rose is a self taught sewist with a flare for color, structure, and organizing. Originally from Cape Cod and Boston, she returned to North Adams in 2020 after a brief stint in 2017. Since arriving, she's worked to learn from her peers and the internet about owning a small business along with working remotely in the corporate world. Joining Common Folk was the natural next step after being folded into the vast local makers community fairly quickly. With her expansive background in business operations and project management, she is excited to apply her knowledge to her art and to forthcoming local events to be planned.

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Adriana’s mission through her craft is to live a slower life of intention and use. In her studio and practice Adriana makes intentional choices around using as much donated, recycled and reclaimed materials as possible and aims to create as little waste in the process.

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North Adams based artist and herbalist, Tina Louise creates art that inspires a zest for life and herbal remedies that support gentle healing.

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Audrey Celeste Aristeo is drawn to objects, stories, and places, and her work touches on themes of bearing witness to time and change, the inner child’s roiling, and focus on process and the maker’s hand. The media she uses to explore these themes varies, from journalistic watercolor and relief printmaking to music, poetry, and bookbinding. In her work about ancient cemeteries and abandoned settlements can be found the impulse to document, almost an obsession; in that documentation she hopes to capture something of the love and humanity inherent in all places, and in doing so, give to others something emotional and tangible.

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She likes to pay attention to detail and tries to keep the same standards for all her crafts.

View Casey's full creator profile here.

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Avery practices a variety of crafts, but spends the most time on maille weaving, knitting, and spinning. He likes making objects that are both practical and decorative, so they can add aesthetic enjoyment to everyday life.

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Brisby Stinson began their writing career as a young adult, competing at local poetry slams in their hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. After several years of performing, placing, and establishing a reputation, they were encouraged to create chapbooks of their work. Their poetry often explores themes related to relationships, gender, mental health, and capitalism. Though these subjects can sometimes be heavy or dark, Brisby hopes to connect people through shared hardships so that we might realize how unified we are in our desire for change. They also enjoy expressing themselves through music, theater, and tabletop game design.

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Graphic Designer, Photographer and Creator

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Eden is a long time crafter, started with her Memere showing her to crochet and she kept learning new crafts and having fun with it.

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Spark Your Sunshine is an original workshop series, and an originally designed + hand-crafted merchandise & apparel line, created by Kara Danas, a community artist, teacher, coach, and facilitator from Lowell, MA. The Spark Your Sunshine workshop series is rooted in the themes of selfless personal-identity work, self love, self expression, self acceptance, and self empowerment. Individuals of all orientations and backgrounds can participate in Spark Your Sunshine, where they will explore the origins of their own self expression, self love, and personal-identity through a succession of introspective and arts-based activities, all in a safe and welcoming environment. During each workshop installment, the modes of movement and dance will be used along with written and oral communication as participants self reflect on how they see themselves on both a personal and community group level. Those involved will walk away from this workshop series empowered with a new appreciation for who they are as unique and inspired individuals in both their personal lives and amongst their teams, coworkers, and fellow colleagues.

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Leo is a transgender writer of prose, poetry, and nonsense. His short-form writing often explores themes of gender, sexuality, and the complex facets of masculinity. He is part of the Common Folk literary journal team.

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Visual artist

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I crochet.