CRAFT & MAKE Publisher Dale Dougherty writes:
In the Sunday New York Times, I read the article titled “Where the Crafts Babes and D.I.Y. Dudes Are.” This Sunday Styles article, was about the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn but the author sadly made a choice to let her snide opinions get in the way of covering the event. I was completely put off by her snotty, condescending tone. (“How many graphic designers does the world need?”) If you cared about the craft world getting a fair shake, you could not read the article without getting angry at its author. So I wondered who was Melana Ryzik, the author of this piece? Today I googled her. I found her eponymous web site (melenaryzik.com) but Google warned that “the site may harm your computer.” Her site had been hacked — hacking a hack, I guess. What goes around comes around.
To read the article online, visit the NY Times web site here. – Link.
16 thoughts on “Who is Melena Ryzik?”
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I didn’t think the article was that bad at all. She was a little snarky here and there, but snarky about things that I’m also wondering about in the hipster world. Seriously, what is so great about PBR?? It seems to me that she covered the event thoroughly and without TOO much bias.
Come on, SOMEONE needed to say it. I’m in Detroit, which doesn’t even HAVE a “hipster” area, and I’m still bored with the same-ol’ craft aesthetic that seems unavoidable. And yes I DO care, which is why … someone needed to say it. Looking the other way when people are hawking the same crap booth to booth to booth (city to city to city) isn’t going to help anyone get a “fair shake.” And the wink-wink about her getting hacked? Completely unprofessional. She didn’t say anyone sucked or that anything was worthless or the work was shite… She said some of it was repetitive. Which it often IS. Your “she had it coming” kind of attitude is a little frightening. Good thing I don’t have a website for you to go after, I suppose.
i thought the article was a little bit snarky in parts but pretty much spot-on, and i was a crafter at renegade. it was great that the fair got national news coverage, and i was happy for the crafters that were mentioned in the article. and for what it’s worth, i do care – a lot – about the crafting world getting a fair shake.
ps: i want to know – where the heck were the frozen mojitos she mentioned?!? i could have used one or two; it was damn hot.
melena is actually a veteran of the ny craft scene. i met her through the gitter boards on getcrafty many many years ago and she is totally suportive of the craft scene.
i read the craft blog every day (sometimes a couple of time) and this seem really out of character.
I really didn’t think the article was that bad. Trends happen in all industries and social movements. I have been crafting and selling my wares since I was 5 – so I have seen trends fluctuate wildly. Just because something is handmade doesn’t make it well-made. I think the author wrote a pretty balanced article – but at the same time she did input a little more personal opinion than you would expect if the NYT were covering an Antiques event.
By being part of the “renegade” movement – participants are almost begging to be analyzed by the “mainstream.” If you can’t take the heat..get your knitting needles out o the kitchen. The best change comes from positivity – and that includes grown up and positive reactions to opinions you don’t like. The Renegade Craft Fair was covered in the NYT! That is awesome! Lots more people will know about it now :)
Awwwwwww. I loved the article, personally, but that’s coming from a self-loathing crafter. I don’t think you can go to an “indie” craft fair without wondering about how homogeneous things tend to get. I patronize (in both senses of the word, probably) the Indie Craft world, and most people that I know are self-effacing enough to enjoy this article.
I pointed out on Extreme Craft that the NY Times Style section is a pretty unusual place for coverage of the Renegade Craft Fair. I’m just waiting for the 92nd Street Y to start organizing anthropological bus tours of Brooklyn for Ladies who lunch.
Viva snark!
I think that some of the article was presented well, but the snarky paragraphs commenting about trends are unnecessary to the report. So what if people like birds, forest animals and cowboy boots?! I’ve liked bird imagery my whole life, and I highly doubt that I’ll stop liking it when it ceases to become “trendy.”
Not snarky at all, but a good overview of where the DIY trend is at right now. I’m from the SF Bay Area and there’s a lot of sameness going on here too. I’m gagging on the bird/deer/cute monster images myself. I would challenge CRAFT & MAKE Publisher Dale Dougherty to grab all the current visuals and image files on the Craftzine blog and honestly say that you’re not overdoing variations on the same themes. Please start featuring more original DIYers and be ahead of the Etsy and Renegade crowd in both your blog and publication. I appreciate Ms. Ryzik’s article – some things needed to be said.