
I can’t believe it’s the end of 2023. No really, how did we get here??
It seems a blur, a really exciting but challenging-paced year chock full of the ups and downs of a small business.
And we are a small business! Many of you think we are a huge company, but did you know our incredible team is 8 employees strong? We pull off big things and work hard but there’s one thing we couldn’t do without. You.
For our 2023 look back to look forward, we wanted to tell you how much we grew because of all of your support.
The biggest news is that after 13 years of being in the same space, we moved Botanical Colors into a new facility in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle! This new space will be the foundation for us to grow, innovate and welcome visitors. We now have room to expand our production and indigo studio to more designers and brands which is really exciting to us.
We now have a fully equipped workshop space for in-person classes, pop-ups, community indigo and team-building events, and our warehouse and fulfillment spaces are all under one roof. What a relief! It’s a super exciting space in a fabulous neighborhood and we can’t wait to share it with you.
For 2024, we are excited to continue our in-person experiences, including new workshops held online and in person. We are venturing to Oaxaca with Porfirio Gutiérrez and to Tangier with Yto Barrada to what we’re calling a residency of sorts in a place called The Mothership.
Online classes will be available as well. We put a lot of thought into our programming and hope you like what we have to offer in 2024.
Stay tuned.
What we did in 2023:
-We moved! As part of our new production space, we got to evaluate and install new dye equipment that uses 1/10th the amount of water and increases our capacity and efficiency. We are currently accepting new clients so please go here to learn more.
-We foraged for dyes in a rainforest with natural dye priestess Sasha Duerr in Hawai’i
-We welcomed Takayuki and Tomo Ishii from Awonoyoh as our July Artists-In-Residence and made incredible shibori creations with traditional sukumo indigo vats
-We mushroom foraged with artist/dyer/educator Julie Beeler, creating exciting colors and ate the best farm to table dinner the Pacific Northwest has ever seen
-We expanded our farmer network and will continue to grow our relationships with U.S. farmers who are currently growing for us and who want to grow for us
-We concluded our 3 year run of Feedback Friday with over 130 episodes! Through thick and thin, Amy and I hosted an incredible array of artists, dyers, historians, activists and innovators to share their work and experiences.
-We launched Mordant Monday which we get it, you love!
-We served on an advisory Board for the Seattle Art Museum Ikat exhibition and finally got to meet Rowland and Chinami Ricketts in person (hooray!)
-Added dyer/textile artist Cara Marie Piazza to our marketing team and to our operations team, Michelle Periera who you’re going to see in a lot of videos we release
-We received a real boost from a number of grants from the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, Impact Washington and an infrastructure grant from the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) and Fibershed’s Fibers Fund. This assistance helped us focus and grow while dealing with all the issues that come with a small company.
Again, thank you so much for supporting us in all the ways you do. We could not do any of this without you cheering us on. We hope that 2024 brings peace to all of you.
With my sincerest thanks,
Kathy