Handmade Hamilton began in 2012 as a small boutique craft show when curator Lisa Pijuan-Nomura was the Artistic Director of the popular James North Studio. When the gallery closed in September of 2014, she began to look for possible venues for a larger show. She has always been interested in putting craft shows in historical buildings so when she first walked into the Staircase she knew that she had found a unique heritage building that would be a perfect fit. When the pandemic hit, the show went online and in 2022, the show relocated to a larger, more accessible building at Theatre Aquarius in Central Hamilton.

Curated by Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, multidisciplinary artist, and organizer of events in Hamilton who has been organizing arts events in Toronto and Hamilton for the past 20 years. Before moving to Hamilton in 2012, she organized the Movie and Makers Craft Show at the historical Fox Theatre in Toronto. Aside from craft shows, she also creates one woman shows, teaches collage, is a Creativity Coach, is the Artistic Director of Studio Beulah, mentors youth artists at MIGHTY.BRAVE Youth Arts and hosts the Hamilton 7 Storytelling Collective. In 2019 she was awarded the YWCA Woman of Distinction Awards in Art, Culture and Design. In recent years Lisa is the Program Coordinator for the Nordic Artist Exchange run out of The Cotton Factory.

For more information and press photos please contact Lisa Pijuan-Nomura at studiobeulahart@gmail.com or call at 647-928-4925