Fine Craft as a Business: Professional Craft Artist Origin Stories - May 30

Name: Fine Craft as a Business: Professional Craft Artist Origin Stories - May 30
Start: 2026-05-30T09:30:00-04:00
End: 2026-05-30T12:30:00-04:00
Location: Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen

Schedule

Sat May 30 2026 at 09:30 am to 12:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen | Lancaster, PA

Fine Craft as a Business: Professional Craft Artist Origin Stories
Location: PA Guild of Craftsmen (PGC), 335 N. Queen St., Lancaster, PA, 2nd Floor (In person and via Zoom).
Description:
Three veteran craft artists will tell the stories of how they began their careers. Often when an aspiring newcomer sees a polished and successful professional artist, they don’t see the distance traveled to get there. This workshop will shed light on what to expect when starting out, straight from the first-hand experiences of those who have done it. Our goal is to encourage and inspire, remove the intimidation factor, while also providing a realistic framework on time, effort, and investment.
Presenters:
Laura DeNardo
Michael Reimer
Margery Erickson
Agenda:
9:30 – 9:45 / Welcome, general announcements, attendee introductions
9:45 – 11:15 / Speakers (approx. half-hour each)
Laura DeNardo, Photographer, lauradenardo.com
Margery Erickson, Weaver, opalessencefiberstudio.com
Michael Reimer, Printmaker, michaelreimer.com
11:15 – 11:45 / Panel discussion, led by Mea Rhee
11:45 – 12:15 / Audience questions
12:15 – 12:30 / Wrap-up and evaluations
Speaker Bios:
Laura DeNardo, bio to come
Margery Erickson
Margery has a Master’s Degree in Education and taught high school special education for over 30 years. In the early 1990’s she took several classes in weaving. One weaving class, one yard of fabric and she was hooked. She received Master Artisan status with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen in 1991. Now retired, you will find her spending most days in her studio designing patterns, dying fiber, and weaving yards of colorful fabric. You can find her hand woven items under the label Opalessence Fiber Studio.
Michael Reimer, bio to come
Mea Rhee
Mea is the owner of Good Elephant Pottery, and a PGC Master Artisan. Her work is being widely collected at prestigious craft events throughout the Northeast. She has been featured in Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, and Home and Garden Television (HGTV). She holds a BA in Graphic Design, and enjoyed a busy design career before becoming a full-time potter in 2010.
PGC’s Fine Craft As A Business program assists PGC members and others in navigating the business world so they can be successful in running an art/craft business and/or participating in a craft show. We do this by offering workshops and a Mentor Program to help people set up, maintain, or expand their art/craft business and to enrich their business skills in general. Workshops are open to both PGC Members and the public. The Mentor program is open only to PGC Members.
Sign up online https://pacrafts.org/events/fine-craft-as-a-business-professional-craft-artist-origin-stories-may-30/