Renegade Craft Fair: The Arts, the Artists and the Atmosphere

Despite 85 degree heat, the creativity never dried up at the Renegade Craft Fair.

From Sept. 12-13, the annual fair took place in Wicker Park, showcasing hundreds of artists who set up tents filled with their original work.

The atmosphere of the festival was an inviting social environment, filled with creatives, prospective artwork owners and others simply interested in the fun event. Live music and food trucks added to the already vibrant spirit of the show.

At events like Renegade, visitors get a peek into the lives of artists and the work they contribute to Chicago’s diverse art scene.

Gabriela Almonte (@galmonte_art)

Gabriela Almonte is a mixed media artist who’s been producing cyanotype prints since the summer of 2023, when she attended a cyanotype workshop at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. Cyanotypes are prints made using two chemicals which react with UV light, resulting in the blue and white scale present in the finished product.

A graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Almonte said she’s been painting since she was young and enjoys incorporating other media into her prints, like paints and waxes. 

Almonte’s nature-centric work sprung from her pollinator-friendly garden, where her fascination with swallowtails and monarchs resulted in a sizable body of butterfly prints.

“I feel like my main exploration is experimenting,” Almonte said. “I’m always learning new things.”

Nicholas Holman (@nicholasholmanart)

Nicholas Holman is a multidisciplinary painter, working in oil, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and digital art forms.

Holman cites nature and his inner child as major inspirations in his work. 

“I’m really being more playful than I normally am,” Holman said.

Incorporating surreal elements into his pieces, Holman said his focus for the next six months is the mundane. This theme is also present in his solo exhibition, “The Quiet Middle,” located in the lobby of 737 N. Michigan Ave., a look into the subtly beautiful elements of the American Midwest.

Beyond his exhibition, Holman sells original paintings and prints, teaches online painting courses and runs a mail club. He said he enjoys making the collection artwork affordable and accessible.

Phoebe Kat Ulbrick (@justwingin.it)

Mixed-media illustrator and painter Phoebe Kat Ulbrick is a third-year student studying printing and illustration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who has traditionally worked with pastels and ink. 

“Right now, I’m really excited about watercolor,” Ulbrick said. “I’ve been having a lot of fun making it kind of crazy and creating something out of the craziness.”

Phoebe cites impressionist paintings as one of her main inspirations — especially their characteristic blues and purples.

The concept of nostalgia is one of the main focuses in her art. 

“In the past, I’ve done a lot of work based on how I remember my childhood, and also how that has changed over time,” Ulbrick said.

Selling original works like prints and customized wooden boxes, Ulbrick talked about how fashion feeds into her work, resulting in an increase in wearable creations, like cyanotype tote bags. 

Lilly Carr (@lillycarrart)

Lilly Carr is a painter who primarily uses gouache — her favorite medium. Their journey with art started when they were in college and began to keep a travel journal. Studying abroad in Switzerland, Carr painted many of the landscapes they saw. 

Once Carr graduated from Switzerland’s Franklin University in 2020, they said they had a lot of time on their hands to paint. So, she started painting a landscape every day. Now, they lead painting workshops and sell prints, originals and stickers — even selling wholesale at several stores around Chicago, including the Andersonville Galleria. 

Mine Anil (@studio_bluefern)

Originally from Turkey, Mine Anil runs her small-batch ceramic business from her home, drawing inspiration from 1970s’ colors and shapes. 

In college, Anil studied biochemistry, resulting in her exploration of the chemistry side of ceramics, such as in the glazes, which she mixes herself. She also enjoys using wax and stencils in her work, leaving parts of the clay without glaze for added texture.

Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, Anil didn’t have time for creating art. With extra free time however, she decided to pick up the — pricey — new hobby. 

“I realized ceramics is too expensive to be [a] hobby,” Anil said, before selling her work at art shows like Renegade. 

Beyond her normal work, she has also been experimenting with cyanotypes on both ceramics and silk, even teaching ceramic cyanotype classes. 

Having the opportunity to see so much unique art and speak to so many different artists is an incredibly valuable experience. For the consumer, we get a sneak peak into what their processes look like and the hustle that goes into creating a lovely booth and thriving business.

Renegade Craft Fair was only one of dozens of events like it throughout the Chicagoland area. By supporting local artists like these six, we support and foster a community of self-expression, authenticity, and beauty that makes Chicago what it is.