One-of-a-Kind Items by Local Artists are “Hidden Treasures” at the Promenade Shops

This holiday season in the Lehigh Valley, there's an alternative to mass merchandisers and cyber shopping that may make you look like a gift-giving genius.

Hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind items by more than 30 local artisans are for sale in the Hidden Treasures Holiday Shop in the Promenade Shops in Center Valley. The shop will be in operation through December 24. It is a cooperative project of the Lehigh Valley Arts Council (LVAC) and many of the artists who participate in the Hidden Treasures Studio Tour across the Valley each November.

Interesting gifts--useful or beautiful, quirky or exquisite, with a price point for most any budget—are displayed in a gallery-like setting in Suite #819 (the former Life is Good® store) across from L.L.Bean. Items are crafted of glass, wood, metal, fibers, leather, concrete and more. Shoppers will find jewelry, sculpture, pottery, clothing and accessories, home décor, baskets, quilts, Christmas items and fishing lures. Many of the artisans whose work is represented take shifts at the shop, greeting and speaking with customers.

The studio tour has been in existence 16 years, but this is the first time they have attempted an ongoing, albeit temporary, retail shop. The idea emerged when Promenade General Manager Tina Kisela saw an e-mail promoting this year's Hidden Treasures Studio Tour. She had a vacant storefront. The concept of gathering the works of local artisans and making them more accessible to the public had promise. So just before Thanksgiving she approached Randall Forte, executive director of the nonprofit LVAC (source of the promotional e-mail), and asked what he thought about getting the artists together for a retail venture for holiday shopping.

"They aren't MY artists," Forte explained, "but we [LVAC] have an arrangement with them." Each studio donates one object to LVAC each year for fundraising purposes, and in consideration for that exchange, LVAC releases an e-mail campaign about the Hidden Treasures Studio Tour through its large distribution list. Therefore, there was an existing relationship, and Forte has great admiration for the artists on the tour. "They are a self-contained group," he said, "and they jury each other in," which is key to the consistent high quality of the artwork.

Still, with only two weeks to mobilize before December, Forte knew it could be a risky proposition to be able to maintain enough inventory and staff the shop for every shift, let alone break even. But, "it totally fit my mission," he said. "One of the tenets of the Arts Council is to encourage and support artists." The trend is for the arts community to become more entrepreneurial. This opportunity, then, was the perfect crucible.

Forte credits Allentown ceramicist DeLana Hornbeck, one of the studio artists, with getting the artists on board on short notice. Hornbeck insists all she had to do was "make a few phone calls."

With just some fresh paint, rudimentary fixtures and appropriate lighting, Forte and his helpers transformed the unit into an aesthetically pleasing space. Creative displays of the artwork offer gift ideas and surprises on every shelf and in every corner.

 "There's so much talent in the Lehigh Valley," Kisela said. "It's nice to showcase them all at once."

The Hidden Treasures Holiday Shop maintains the same hours as the Promenade Shops, which are now extended through Christmas: Monday –Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve.