Artists take over 7th floor of Chicago's Merchandise Mart for One of a Kind Show
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The annual One of a Kind Show is back in Chicago for its holiday tradition—with hundreds of artists from across the country and beyond taking over the Merchandise Mart.
On the seventh floor of the massive building along the north bank of Chicago River, the show takes up a two-and-a-half block radius of one-of-a-kind artists and shoppers.
One such shopper is Graunk Enzenberger, who said he was 90% done with his holiday shopping list Thursday thanks to the show.
"My nephews are getting beautiful handcrafted dinosaurs this year," he said. "These are gorgeous."
Enzenberger has been coming to the One of a Kind Show for the past four years.
"I just like handmade stuff. I support brick and mortar," he said. "You know, I just love artists and all the interesting things they do—and I love unique gifts."
The One of a Kind Show has 20 different categories to choose from—ranging from $5 food items to custom artwork, like Marissa Recker's Astuary Art.
"It's the best show and it actually became the only show that I do," Recker said. "So it was so good and so fantastic that it's the only show that I do for the whole year, and it was better than all the other shows that I had been trying out."
Recker—a Madison, Wisconsin resident—creates mixed media artworks which, in her words, "focus on themes of fluidity, movement, and growth," with each piece resulting from "the personal exercise of letting go."
This is the 23rd annual One of a Kind Show. Last year, the show had 500 vendors. This year, there are 600.
"We see that our attendees really love what we're doing here, and so we were able to bring in more artists to satisfy that need," said One of a Kind Show director of sales Kathleen Hogan. "We love having both our returning artists and new artists."
One of the new artists, located in the "emerging market" section, was Sasha Jardine—fonder of SteMargScot. The company markets gender-inclusive woolen outerwear—free from plastics and metals, and intended to "break from the sea of unsustainable ubiquitous winter coat styles."
"So we're a Toronto-based company. Toronto and Chicago have a lot in common," Jardine said. "So we thought, lets give it a shot and see if our warm wool coats in bright colors will resonate with the community here."
Last year, the One of a Kind Show saw between 40,000 and 50,000 people over four days. This year, organizers are expecting to see the same, if not more.
The One of a Kind Show will be open until Tuesday.
