by Nicole Sankowski | Mar 1, 2021 | Blog
By Kelly Pollock, feature writer for The Buzz Cafe
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first Women’s History Week and a few years later, in 1987, Congress formally established Women’s History Month. Since then, women’s contributions to the United States have been celebrated every March. In the Oak Park Arts District, the 5th annual WOW! Women Owned Works event will take place on March 20 to promote women-owned businesses in the district.
Gail Coughlin of Elevate Creative (321 Harrison Street) came up with the idea for the event in 2017 after the former president’s inauguration and the subsequent Women’s March. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to celebrate all the women-owned businesses in the arts district—the most of any business district in Oak Park,” says Gail. “It was not a happy time and I wanted to bring something positive to the neighborhood.”
Yellow was chosen as the signature color for the event. “It’s happy and cheerful. It’s bright and attention-grabbing,” says Gail, then adds with a laugh, “Yellow is an underrated color.”
This year’s event offers an extra reason to celebrate with the inauguration of Kamala Harris as the first woman Vice President. It also happens to fall on the first day of spring which offers some hope for warmer weather after an especially cold and snowy February. And the WOW! event comes almost exactly a year since Governor Pritzker issued Illinois’ stay-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“Business owners are exhausted. We are tired of thinking of ways to promote our businesses and to keep our customers engaged on top of the constant worries of daily life—home, school, kids, and health. This event will give us something to celebrate. Every year we’ve had more participating businesses offer sales and promotions and more customers know about it,” says Gail.
“My business was forced to close for three months last spring and so we amped up our online store. It’s been going really well. Our focus is hair, skin, bath, and body items that are eco-friendly, health-conscious, and women-owned. We have a full complement of beauty items,” says Gail. Elevate Creative will offer a free gift with purchase during the WOW! event.
At Studio 144 Boutique (144 Harrison Street), owner Marcia Brown Jackson is excited to celebrate being a woman-owned business in the Arts District. “Since yellow is a refreshing color we decided to go with our ReFresh Sale where you can refresh with skincare, bath and body, fragrance, candles, and more. We will also be giving out skincare and fragrance samples while supplies last,”says Marcia.
Bead in Hand (145 Harrison Street) and owner Kim Humphrey have participated in the WOW! event in the past and will once again showcase jewelry handmade by the staff. They will also have a sale on yellow glass beads and a free gift with a $25 purchase. “Since the pandemic began, we’ve created a number of do-it-yourself kits that can be purchased through our website and then shipped or held for pickup. They are projects that don’t require special tools and have fairly easy-to-follow instructions,” says Kim. She’s focused on getting through the pandemic and is especially looking forward to the time when Bead in Hand can hold classes again.
Tamekia Swint, the executive director of Styles 4 Kidz (235 Harrison Street), sees the WOW! event as an opportunity to get to know the residents of Oak Park and build community after moving into the Arts District last summer. They will have a selfie station near their front door and door prizes and candy for families that stop in. Tamekia is hoping to raise awareness for her non-profit that “expects to serve 900 kids and 400 families this year.”
At Purple Sun Arts (142 Harrison Street), owner Ann Viernes can’t wait to “celebrate the end of winter, the beginning of spring, and the vernal equinox.” Her store will offer sunny decorations, Yellow Ribbons rose giveaways, and registration for her long-awaited Cosmic Smash Booking art journaling sessions. Ann is looking forward to the end of the pandemic and a much-delayed grand opening.
The Oak Park Arts District WOW! Women Owned Works event will be held Saturday, March 20, from 11am-4pm although hours will vary by business. Follow #WOW!2021 and #shoponharrisonstreet on social media and visit www.oakparkartsdistrict.com for more information.
by Nicole Sankowski | Feb 8, 2021 | Blog
By Kelly Pollock, feature writer for The Buzz Cafe
Growing up in Oak Park, Krystal Williams was shy, but dance lessons, modeling school, and pageants turned her into a social butterfly. Now she’s giving other girls that same sense of poise, confidence, and purpose at her new business, Cygnature Girl, located at 911 S. Lombard Avenue in the Oak Park Arts District.
Krystal entered her first pageant at age 11. “I went in with long gloves, a fancy gown, and satin shoes. We had no idea what we were doing. I didn’t place. The judges said that I was very robotic. But I decided to keep competing.” Krystal was awarded Miss Congeniality at most of her pageants and finally won her first title, Miss Central Illinois, when she was a freshman in college at Illinois State University. She went on to compete in Orlando for the national title of Miss American Coed. “Although I didn’t win, I loved meeting new people, building my confidence, and soaking in the beauty of pageantry.”
After that experience, Krystal moved on to coaching and mentoring other pageant girls and providing them with foundational modeling techniques. She also worked with different pageant systems where she planned and hosted pageant weekends as an Assistant Director and Pageant Production Manager. “Pageantry was great, but I kept thinking about the girls who couldn’t afford to or didn’t want to do pageants or the girls I saw out with their families who weren’t holding their heads high. They didn’t look confident and it broke my heart a little.”
After college, life took Krystal in different directions. She worked in communications and public relations, lived in different cities, and experienced some life events. But she never forgot her desire to empower girls to be their best selves. By 2020, Krystal was back in Chicago and ready to realize her dream.
In May, she was running her usual route up Lombard when she passed a paint and sip studio. Krystal was intrigued by the space and went in to check it out. A few months later she ran by again and saw that the studio was gone and a For Lease sign was in the window. It felt meant to be. “Here I was in the middle of a pandemic, having been furloughed from my job a few weeks earlier, and I was signing a lease. But I’ve always been one to just go for it. I don’t think about what could go wrong. I live my life thinking about what could go right.”
Krystal struggled with what to name her new business. “Back in college, I took a magazine class and named my magazine Cygnature Girl. I knew that poise, confidence, and purpose were the pillars that I wanted the name to represent and a friend suggested that I resurrect Cygnature Girl. As soon as she said it, it was obvious. I’ve loved the name for fifteen years!”
Although she is still planning the experiences that she will offer, Krystal has the basics down. “I knew I wanted to create a safe space for girls to become who they were created to be. I want to empower them in all aspects of their lives. I’ve had lots of ideas over the years so I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with the studio. But I trusted that if I give God something to breathe on, then He’ll make everything work out for me. And I’ve been busy since I signed the lease!”
Cygnature Girl’s first event was vision board parties the first weekend of January for three different age groups – tweens, teens, and women entrepreneurs. Krystal partnered with three outside speakers: Bea Flowers of In Full Bloom who helped the girls identify what they loved to do and how they could achieve their ambitions and LaKisha Janay of Sereniti Life and Dishenda of Jaz Mo Consulting who helped the women set their business goals and strategies for 2021.
In February, Cygnature Girl will kick off monthly community service projects by packing snack boxes for Ronald McDonald House. And beginning February 20, the third Saturday of every month will be “Cygnature Girl Pop-Up Day” when customers can come in to shop items from girl bosses.
Currently, Cygnature Girl’s marketing is all on social media, but Krystal is looking for ways to become more of a presence in Oak Park and to serve more local girls. “I’m looking forward to bringing a new level of empowerment to girls in Oak Park and am open to partnering with other organizations that share my vision of creating the ultimate girl experience.”
Cygnature Girl is located at 911 S. Lombard Avenue. For event information or to learn more, visit the website at www.cygnaturegirl.com or contact Krystal Williams at 312-248-9982.
by Nicole Sankowski | Dec 30, 2020 | Blog
By Kelly Pollock, feature writer for the Buzz Cafe
Ann Viernes recalls loving both science and art from a young age. “I can remember in kindergarten always wanting to paint on the easels, but I don’t think I ever actually did it. I was very, very shy. But all through school my two loves were science and art. The gifts I always got from my parents were things like a microscope or art supplies.”
When it came time to choose a college major, Ann decided that she could best serve humanity working in science while continuing art as her hobby. She chose to study biology at DePaul University and spent more than 30 years working at Rush University Medical Center until retiring in 2013. “I always thought that I would continue to use my Doctor of Health Sciences degree, but after my husband died in 2012, I just felt lost, and I only continued working for another year.”
Ann eventually met her partner Frank Fletcher and later moved to his home in Oak Park. “This summer marked seven years since I retired and I decided to take a sabbatical from my retirement. I went up to my hometown of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, with all my painting supplies and stayed for ten days right by the lake. Then, when I returned, I was walking through the Arts District and I saw this space for lease and I thought, ‘This is it. I’m not in healthcare anymore. I’m an artist now.’”
Ann considered almost 50 names for her new business before making a final decision. “I was going to call it Blue Friday because my favorite color is blue and my last name means Friday in Spanish.” But ultimately, it was Ann’s love of “purple sun glass” that inspired her to choose Purple Sun Arts for her new space at 142 Harrison Street.
Ann has been collecting purple sun glass for 40 years. During the Civil War, the lead that was used in glass manufacturing to make it clear was needed for ammunition so the manufacturers switched to making glass with manganese. What no one realized was that, over time, sunlight would react with the manganese and turn the glass purple. “Much of it is well-used and has nicks and scratches and so it’s not really that valuable,” says Ann. But the fact that glassmakers used manganese for only about 50 years gives purple sun glass a rarity value and charm that has made it a popular collectible.
Ann has been painting since she retired and her work was stacked up in her basement. Now it’s hanging on the walls of her new space. In addition to her paintings, Ann also makes jewelry and greeting cards. She is selling the vintage glassware and jewelry that she has collected for years and she recently added jewelry made by Sandra Dee, one of her former teachers.
Ann is passionate about intentional creativity and plans to host workshops in art journaling once the pandemic has abated. She is in the process of becoming a certified instructor of Cosmic Smash Booking. “You use a composition notebook and start by making a cover and by writing your intention for the book. You then write and write about whatever is on your mind. You have to cross the middle and write across both pages and then you pray over it. You then write ‘help me, teach me, show me’ over everything you wrote. Finally, you cover all the words with white paint and paint images or collage over the page.”
Another important step that Ann describes is that you crumple all the pages to “crush the perfection” out of them. “It’s not about perfecting your art skills,” says Ann. “It’s very tactile. All the senses are in there. It’s just what you feel and what comes out of you. It answers the question, ‘If you could taste the rainbow, what would it taste like?’”
Ann is environmentally conscious and is trying to minimize the impact of her space. “I don’t paint with oils because they are hard to dispose of. I use only water-based paint and I let the solids settle to the bottom of my paint water. The water can then be poured off and the solids can be disposed of in the trash once they’re dry.” She also made sure to use energy-efficient lighting and recycles or composts everything she can.
Ann calls her space “an art gallery, studio, boutique, and creative learning space.” She believes that serendipity led her there and she is excited to share her vision of channeling creativity and beauty with the community. Purple Sun Arts is located at 142 Harrison Street and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 1pm-5pm. The phone number is 708-948-7443 and the website is www.purplesunarts.com.
by Nicole Sankowski | Dec 7, 2020 | Blog
Since its establishment in 2016, l’Institut français d’Oak Park is building and connecting the local French-speaking community while creating a heightened awareness of how speaking French opens the door to a rich variety of cultures around the world.
The arrival of the coronavirus in spring 2020 forced us to switch from in-person classes on Harrison Street and conversation groups at Léa in downtown Oak Park to online meetings via Zoom. As students and teachers adjusted to changes in the world around us, many of us were surprisingly invigorated to continue to see familiar faces every week, to work together to improve language skills, and to escape virtually through French conversations and Francophone ‘travel’ during classes and Conversation Cafés. As one student said: “I’m just really grateful for all of my time at the French Institute, whether it’s been live and in person or online. It’s challenged me; it’s helped me to learn and grow; it’s helped me to connect with people; it’s helped me to learn more about myself and the world.”
L’Institut français d’Oak Park continues to offer an array of online French and Francophone courses, private lessons, and conversation groups via Zoom. Moving online has extended classes well beyond Harrison Street, with learners of French participating from Oak Park, Chicago and other suburbs to New Mexico, Texas, and Montana. Conversation Café on Thursday evenings has attracted visitors from Montreal, Colombia, and France. L’Institut français d’Oak Park looks forward to resuming in-person classes on Harrison Street in the Oak Park Arts District once it is deemed safe to do so, but classes and conversation groups will continue online permanently as we build and connect the French-speaking community both nationally and internationally.
All French classes and conversation groups are led by highly qualified instructors who have significant experience in teaching French. Courses range from beginning French covering specific subjects and areas of grammar to mid-level French conversation, culture and grammar to French literature courses in French and English. There is a class for every level of French learner or experienced speaker!
If you are seeking a different frame of mind or a new challenge, would like to brush up on dormant knowledge of French, or are curious about other cultures and languages, explore the options offered by l’Institut français d’Oak Park. Why not ask a friend or family member to enroll with you to broaden your horizons together while meeting new people? Or, get your loved one a gift card from l’Institut for the holidays.
Registration for the Winter 2021 Session is currently open, and classes will meet from January 18 through March 27. For more information, visit the Institut français d’Oak Park website at www.frenchinstitute.net or contact Stacy Fifer at [email protected]. And, please follow us on Instagram @institut_francais_oak_park or Facebook @institutfrancaisoakpark.
by Nicole Sankowski | Nov 30, 2020 | Blog
By Kelly Pollock, feature writer for The Buzz Cafe
Valdo Leon first started barbering as a child when he cut his uncle’s hair in exchange for being allowed to take over the kitchen on Sundays. It’s been more than thirty years, but he finally realized his dream of having his own shop when Valdo’s Barbershop opened on September 21 at 128 Harrison Street in the Oak Park Arts District.
As a boy growing up in Humboldt Park, Valdo loved to experiment in the kitchen. “My dad’s older brother lived upstairs from us with my grandmother and when she would go off to church on Sundays, he would call me up and let me make my mess in the kitchen as long as I cut his hair in return. I had no experience, but Tío George would guide me, and I soon learned I had a passion for cutting hair.”
When Valdo was twelve, his parents decided to move the family to Puerto Rico. “The early nineties weren’t the best time to be a preteen in Chicago. My whole life changed when we moved. I went from being a city kid to living in a very rural part of the island.” Valdo continued cutting hair in Puerto Rico as a teenager. “I had the tools and I needed lunch money,” he says with a laugh. He started with his friends, his cousins, and his older brother. He would pay attention to the barber’s technique when he got his own hair cut. “I was intrigued because I wanted to get to that point myself, but there were a lot of disastrous haircuts first.”
After graduating high school, Valdo joined the military and spent several years in the National Guard. But through it all he continued to rely on barbering. “If things were tight, I had my clippers. I could make an easy $100 in a day.” Eventually, he made his way back to Chicago where he impressed the owner of the biggest barbershop on the Paseo Boricua—the “Puerto Rican Promenade” on Division Street in Chicago. “The owner loved that I was fully bilingual and that I had very fast hands. It was an assembly line barbershop and I was very efficient.” Valdo worked there for seven years until he left to complete his accredited hours and earn his professional license.
Valdo was happily working as a barber when he got a call from UPS in 2015 in response to an earlier application. He and his wife were newlyweds and the benefits that came with being a driver were a perk that he couldn’t resist. “UPS pulled me away from barbering. I hung up my clippers for 2½ years.” A car accident in 2017 and the resulting lower spine injuries were the end of his UPS career. “I couldn’t do that type of job anymore.”
Back to barbering, Valdo took his clippers to a few different shops until he finally landed on Chicago Avenue in Oak Park just five minutes from his home in Austin. When he first arrived in Chicago from Puerto Rico in 2005, Valdo had told some friends that when he opened his own barbershop someday it was going to be in Oak Park. And when he got behind the chair on Chicago Avenue, he thought, “This is my way in.”
Fixated on opening his own barbershop, Valdo took his wife’s advice and drove down Harrison Street one day after dropping his son off at school. “I started seeing multiple storefronts that were available and checked out each one to see what would best accommodate my needs. I hit 128 and thought, ‘This is it.’” When asked why he opened a barbershop at this time, Valdo answers, “Why not? Yes, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, but life continues. Life has to continue.”
Although the current Tier 3 mitigations have limited the services that he can provide, Valdo is encouraged that most of his clients have stuck with him since the spring. “We can’t offer hot shaves, beard trims, or facials right now which takes away from the luxury of the experience. The upside is that it has created more space for haircuts.”
Valdo is known for his versatility and can manage anything from a basic gentleman’s cut to the tightest fade and graphics. And while many people tend to forget that esthetics are taught in barber school, Valdo believes that it’s time to highlight those services. “We’re losing that essence in modern barbering. People get caught up in being a chop shop. There are very few barbershops that offer pampering services.”
Although he’s only been established on Harrison Street for a few months, Valdo is overwhelmed by the support that he’s gotten. The classic look of the barbershop has gotten a good response and Valdo gives all the credit for that to his wife Rebecca. “She has really good taste and a keen eye. We’ve been together a long time and she knew what I wanted.”
Looking back at the thirty years he’s been barbering, Valdo says, “Cutting hair was shown to me at a very early age and it’s something that I have always fallen back on. Not only do I enjoy barbering, but I enjoy the interactions with people. This is my purpose. It’s what I was meant to do.”
Valdo’s Barbershop is located at 128 Harrison Street and is open Monday through Friday from 9am-7pm and Saturdays from 8am-5pm. To book an appointment, call the shop at 708-628-3025 or visit www.booksy.com.
by Nicole Sankowski | Nov 2, 2020 | Blog
by Kelly Pollock, feature writer for The Buzz Cafe
Lindsey Danhauser and Allison Durkee became friends in the seventh grade in Iowa City. Although they went in different directions after high school—Lindsey studied art and Allison studied business at separate colleges—they stayed close and recently opened their second Kidcreate Studio franchise together. The new space at 200 Harrison Street in the Oak Park Arts District celebrated its socially-distanced grand opening on September 12.
They decided to become business owners a few years ago when Lindsey and her husband moved from Minnesota to be closer to family. Chicago seemed like a good compromise between western Michigan and eastern Iowa and it was an extra bonus that Allison had already lived here for several years. At the time, Allison was looking for an opportunity to start her own business and opening a Kidcreate Studio franchise together seemed like a natural fit for their complementary skills of corporate finance and arts administration. “I had partnered with the founder of Kidcreate when I worked for the City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and her curriculum and vision aligned with what I was passionate about. It’s based around art history and art technique but is packaged in a way that’s palatable to everyone,” says Lindsey.
Lindsey and Allison’s first Kidcreate Studio location opened in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago in March 2019 and they were ready to open their second location in Oak Park in March 2020. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic struck at the same time and they were forced to delay their opening for six months. When Illinois entered Phase 4, they were able to reopen the Lakeview location and after a successful summer camp realized that they could proceed with opening the Oak Park location. “We already had the ball rolling so we had to keep going.” They are careful about their safety protocols: class sizes are small, everyone wears a mask, and hands are washed frequently.
While Allison manages the Lakeview studio, Lindsey is the face of the Oak Park location. She teaches about half the classes herself but has other teachers and assistants on staff. Toddler classes (18 months-6 years) run for 45 minutes and require an adult to attend with the child. Older children (5-12 years) attend after school for two hours and can be dropped off. “One of the reasons that we liked this space was because it was in a parent-friendly area. While fostering creativity in kids is our main mission, we want to support parents too. So while your kids are in class you can grab a coffee or do some shopping nearby,” says Lindsey.
If families don’t want to make a regular commitment, no-school-day classes, holiday workshops, and date nights offer plenty of drop-in opportunities to add some art into their lives. “Date nights are from 5:30-8:30 and cost $37 with a 50 percent discount for each additional child. Parents get a break and kids get a chance to be social and creative which is so important right now while they are spending so much time remote learning.”
While the classes are designed to teach art techniques, every class also has fun creative elements. “During class, the kids practice their active listening skills, but at the end of class we have messy time when they can let it all go. We might do fingerpainting on the tables or make slime. The creativity really has a chance to sink in.”
Lindsey is passionate about the role that creativity should play in kids’ lives. “I believe that if kids don’t practice creativity, then they can’t come up with new ideas. Whether it is dramatic play or music or visual arts, creativity is the job skill of the future. It’s all about problem solving: how do you get something to look the way that you want with the tools that you have?”
In addition to classes, the studio also offers birthday parties, summer camps, mobile classes, and has a small retail section. “I’d like to grow the retail space,” says Lindsey, “I’m looking for more locally-made kid-focused products.”
To kickstart the holiday season, the studio is having a gift card sale in November and December when gift cards are 20 percent off. Kidcreate Studio is located at 200 Harrison Street and can be reached by phone at 708-628-3976 or via their website at www.kidcreate.com/oak-park.
