The Art Fiend Foundation

A wonderful, magical gallery/store/artist’s cooperative in the Lower East Side. A tiny storefront full of beautiful things made by its members, from crocheted bikinis to embroidered dresses to jewelry and collages and drawings. The prices are expensive, but everything is homemade, and it’s worth stopping in for inspiration if not for a shopping spree. A great place for special one-​of-​a-​kind gifts, as well as a break from the bustle of Ludlow street.
note: I hear rumors that they’re having trouble, so go support them! It’s a one-​of-​a-​kind store, and deserves to be around!

Above all things, I would like most of all to tell you that Art Fiend is different. It is a miniature cathedral devoted to the natural, the homely, the warm and wooly. It’s a shop of consensus; each artist is vetted by the current stakeholders in an organic free-​for-​all. Everything in the store is sold on consignment and it is run as an artist’s cooperative, with volunteers keeping the store open six days a week. The person tending the shop is most likely a maker, the clothing on display is all one-​of-​a-​kind, and the money from the sale goes primarily to the artist. It’s a place where the well-​made handmade object is paramount, an earnest attempt to bring to life the precepts of old-​time Arts and Craftsman William Morris. Guiding all is the philosophy that each person makes an impact with their purchases, and that clothes should be made in a humanitarian environment. It is the hope of Tooya Deas, one of the acting directors of Art Fiend that this attitude will radiate outward with each visitor to the store, the inevitable conclusion to a bounteous community philosophy. The board of directors is a loose confederacy of artists, all of them friends by virtue of what they do to hold the store together. *I wrote this up for KnitKnit, which can be read at
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