Three years ago a few workers at the Uptown Center Hull House started a project that evolved into the Fourth World Artisans Cooperative, a storefront at 3453 N. Southport full of handcrafted items that is run on the principle of fair wages for the artisans and a minimal markup to cover the costs of operating the store.
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The store is now a full-time project of Hull House, part of their ongoing effort to, as their publicity puts it, “help low- and moderate-income people help themselves.” It’s designed to allow local immigrants, artisans from around the world, and a handful of moderate-income Chicagoans a chance to get a respectable price for the fruits of their labor. “We primarily encourage immigrant artisans and importers,” explains Rachel Biel, the second project coordinator. “But we don’t turn away other people if they come in with items that fit in with our store. We just don’t actively seek them out the way we do the immigrants.”
The woman pulled out of her bag handfuls of handwoven bracelets and belts, a strikingly intricate purse, and other richly colored woven pieces. Calmly and respectfully, Biel and Hinkaty explained how the woman could get the most money for her work, suggesting leather backings or using the woven pieces on the purse to make more substantial pillows instead of delicate purses. Biel also mentioned stores that might be able to sell her items for more money. When the woman’s son agreed to things without first asking his mother, Biel firmly told him to ask his mother what she wanted. “It’s her work. She needs to set her price,” Hinkaty insisted. Biel recommended that the woman figure out how much she wanted to earn per hour and add in the cost of materials before she agreed to a price.
At Fourth World there are items from about two dozen countries–red woven shawls from Guatemala, embroidered pandau tapestries from Laos, silver jewelry from Mexico, drums with Native American Indian designs, hand-painted masks made by a Guarani Indian from Paraguay, richly patterned wool sweaters from Ecuador. Here you can avoid retail chain stores that buy huge quantities of a product for extremely low prices and then mark up the items drastically. Much of the reasonable purchase prices at Fourth World goes to the artists. And even if you aren’t interested in buying, the store is a wonderful museum.
