Catrina Sparkman ’97, MA’16 opened the doors of the Creator’s Cottage in Madison just a few days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut most places down in 2020. A haven for writers, artists, and crafters, the Creator’s Cottage was the realization of Sparkman’s longtime dream. After 25 years as a creator in Madison, she wanted a place for other artists — particularly artists of color — to collaborate and feel welcomed. “[I wanted] spaces where they can commune,” Sparkman explains. “Where they can create, they can grow. Spaces where they are not made to feel otherized because of the color of their skin.”
The cottage offers its member creators a variety of media to explore and perfect. Writers can research, write, and ruminate in person over house-blended tea in the Writer’s Café, or they can join a group online. There’s also a fiber arts studio space complete with spinning wheels, looms, and knitting supplies. Creators can bind books, design jewelry, paint portraits, personalize clothes, and even make soap.
Sparkman takes a holistic approach to creativity with the belief that trying new artforms can spur different ways of thinking. If artists or writers are experiencing a creative block, they can seek inspiration from other artistic media offered throughout the cottage and learn from fellow creators at all skill levels. “I wanted a space where I didn’t have to box myself in as an artist,” Sparkman explains. “None of our artists have to.”
The pandemic, of course, threw a wrench in Sparkman’s vision for a safe place to gather with other artists. “When you’re doing something like this,” she says, “things never go the way you plan them. You just have to adapt.” Like many organizations, she focused on virtual alternatives for events and meetings. She also remodeled the cottage’s garage into a classroom space to allow members to spread out as they began participating in person. As she added more flexible offerings, a greater number of artists from outside of Madison have been able to take part in master classes and instruction, resulting in more opportunities for creative inspiration.
Virtual components have also enabled Sparkman to expand her book coaching services. An author, playwright, and writing instructor, she uses her expertise to guide aspiring authors through the publishing process. She meets with clients online and in person at the Creator’s Cottage, and she even provides traveling writers and artists with accommodations for overnight retreats and extended stays. At Ironer’s Press, founded by Sparkman in 2012, writers can get published through the cottage as well.
Member artists can learn how to make a living from their art, if that’s their goal. At the cottage, creators work to improve their craft, gain entrepreneurial skills, and expend more resources toward establishing a new career in the arts. With a booth at Madison’s annual Art Fair on the Square, the Creator’s Cottage also gives its creators exposure to tens of thousands of potential customers.
“Our goal is to be able to support writers and artists at whatever stage they are at in their journey and in their practice,” Sparkman says. “I want to see artists live well in the world.” With the Creator’s Cottage carving out a welcoming makerspace in Madison, more artists can afford to do just that, and we all can live well in a more beautiful world.
