Michelle Hair is the creator and founder of the Neighborhood Arts + Craft Crawl. In late summer 2019, she had the idea of trying to gather artists/makers in her surrounding neighborhoods to open up their creative spaces to the public. Her mission was to create community among her neighbors by highlighting local artists so other neighbors could learn about their craft, visit their spaces, and have the ability to purchase their artwork – all within walking/biking distance from each other.

To recruit artists/makers, she sent emails, posted on social media, and shared the idea with friends. Soon she had a group of 15 artists that participated in the October event spanning 10 locations in mainly the Divine Redeemer, Patty Jewett, and Shooks Run Neighborhoods. Michelle partnered with the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region for an Arts Month in event 2019 and some of the artists were interviewed by Peakradar and highlighted on their social media pages. A Neighborhood Arts + Crafts Crawl Facebook page was created and the event was highly advertised through social media.

A printable and online “passport” was available to the public to follow along the Crawl route and have their passport stamped. Most artists reported having between 51-100 visitors come to their location during the event. Due to the incredibly positive feedback of the public and artists (including their reports of numerous sales) it was decided to have the Crawl continued as an annual event. Michelle invited those artists who participated in 2019 to join a committee to create more collaborative efforts.

In early 2021, the committee began to plan for this year’s Crawl, which will occur on Saturday, October 9, from 10AM-4PM. Specifically, the committee discussed how to begin the artist recruitment process early in the planning stage, partnering again with the Cultural Office for Arts Month, securing sponsorships, and expanding marketing efforts.