Bayview In Flux

Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery

It’s disappointing that no one commented on Mary  Louise Schumacher’s Art City post about Bayview’s craft mecca, Paper Boat, being on the ropes financially.  For a place that serves as a miniature mecca for all things craft, it’s impossible to overstate how important Paper Boat is to the identity of Bayview.   It’s an extra dollop of untimeliness that this news comes out right before the screening of Handmade Nation,  Paper Boat co-owner Faythe Levine’s documentary about the growing independent craft movement.

One of the things that makes Bayview feel different than other parts of Milwaukee is the cooperation among local business owners.   It truly feels like a group effort and so the loss of a linchpin like Paper Boat would be another significant loss to Bayview and the entire city’s independent community after the recent closing of Broad Vocabulary.  Faythe is a big part of that community and deserves our full support.

Go see Handmade Nation on Thursday February 5th at 7 p.m. at the Oriental Theater.