The Woodlands’ Craft Show Gets an Upgrade With Art and Design Power — a New Name, a New Vision and New Programming

The Woodlands’ fall crafts extravaganza is getting a new name, a renewed vision and expanded programming in its third year. The Texas Fine Craft Show is now becoming The Woodlands Fine Craft, Art & Design Show, thanks to a Woodlands Arts Council revamp.  

The new name reflects the event’s evolution beyond fine crafts alone, embracing the growing presence of art and design while maintaining its longstanding commitment to exceptional craftsmanship.

“Over the years, we’ve listened to our artists, patrons, sponsors and community, and this evolution reflects what they’ve told us they value most,” The Woodlands Arts Council executive director and CEO Jenny Carattini-Wright says. “While exceptional fine craft remains at the heart of the show, we’ve expanded the experience to include more art and design while creating even more opportunities for visitors to discover original work and enjoy a welcoming weekend of shopping and discovery.

“We believe the new identity better reflects what the event has become and where it’s headed.”

This reimagined The Woodlands Fine Craft, Art & Design Show is set for September 26 and September 27 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel.

The show has evolved into an indoor event offering a weekend of shopping, discovery and maybe even inspiration. Original works from juried artists and designers from across the country beckon. Wearable jewelry, art, sculptures, fine crafts and home decor are also in the mix, giving show goers plenty to see and do.

To get a better idea what to expect, let’s take a closer look at some of the crafts people who will be there.

Don McCoy

Jewelry designer Don McCoy is something of a familiar face to regular attendees of The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival. He even won Best Jewelry honors several years there. McCoy grew up with a mom who designed New York City shop window displays. Don McCoy later ran a design and office furniture business for many years with clients that included the CIA, USA Today and the World Bank.

“I left that to become a jeweler — and because that’s what I’d been doing, cutting stones — because I really enjoyed doing it,” McCoy says. “I‘m one of very few people that make every aspect of their work. I make the chains, I carve all the gemstones. I hand fabricate all the gold work. And it’s me, myself and I. And so that’s just a unique combination. And I’ve met some incredible people along the way.”

For the last 36 years now, jewelry has been McCoy’s full-time job.

“I make a lot of one of a kind, individual type pieces. And I’m always looking for very unique great color combinations,” he notes. “Something that will dazzle and be different. I do inlaid pieces that aren’t carved. I do a lot of wedding bands that are inlaid all the way around with different stones.“

Those bands, along with many other types and styles of jewelry, will be available in his booth.

Archana Varma

Archana Varma is a primary care doctor in San Antonio who also harbors a lifelong passion for quilling. Growing up in India, Varma and her mother Shashi got hooked by quilling.

“It started maybe more than 30 years ago with my mother,” Varma says. “We found a book in one of the bookstores that showed the quilling technique. It was a very small book, and then my mother started learning.”

At that time in India, art supplies were not widely available.

“Initially, we didn’t have the quilling paper and strips, so she would cut the strips by scissors,” Varma says of her mom. “We would make greeting cards and small gifts and things for the family.”

Varma’s mother died in 2018, leaving a void in this doctor’s life.

“I was having a very difficult time coping with her loss,” Varma tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “So then I started looking into her things, and I found a lot of pieces of paper quilling that she had made that she had kept in India. So I brought it back with me. I started assembling those pieces and created big wall pieces with those.”

Appearances at shows in Boerne and Austin were successes, and Varma has built on those experiences. At The Woodlands Fine Craft, Art & Design Show, her booth will have pieces that range from small to several feet across.

Nichól Brinkman

Soft sculptures and whimsical paintings are the hallmarks of Waco artist Nichól Brinkman’s work. Her art career began in high school, when she created a comic strip for her high school newspaper. She majored in art, focusing on painting, but crafting was also part of her experience.

After college, Brinkman’s mother became ill, and Nichól sat at her bedside. To stay busy, she focused on repetitive hand sewing. Her soft sculptures are individually created from her drawings, and then stitched. Natural elements, such as the sun, moon and clouds, share the spotlight with otherworldly creatures.

Brinkman will also have small paintings available in her booth. This is a dual threat artist, fitting for this reimagined festival.

“I have a season of soft sculpture making and a season of painting. And so probably three months of the year I’m painting and the rest I’m making the soft sculptures,” Brinkman says.

The Woodlands Fine Craft, Art & Design Show Schedule

“Meet the Makers” booth talks, live music, specialty vendors and an expanded show goer experience designed to inspire exploration and discovery will be in the mix at this retooled event.

It is all produced by The Woodlands Arts Council, the same nonprofit organization behind the nationally recognized Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival.

For more information and tickets go here. A weekend pass costs $22, and a one day pass is $17. The show’s hours will be from 1o am to 5 pm on Saturday, September 26 and 11 am to 4 pm on Sunday, September 27.