Wildflowers Armory, Inc. — Local services in City of Syracuse

You can lose an hour easily at Wildflower.

Wednesday night, the weather encouraged me to go walkabout through Armory Square, first stopping at Wildflowers Armory, an art gallery and event space.

A sign painter named Cayetano was minding the shop.

I love his sign art and the expressive paintings that he claims he has no time to execute.

He puts in his time at the Delavan Center, working at his Black Rabbit Studios space.

One of his signs that caught my eye said, “Wake Up and Get Sh@#$t Done”.

I didn't buy the sign, but I did contemplate taking on a more, “Get Sh@#$t Done” attitude. Thing is with Cayetano, he doesn't seem to permit dithering questions

I doubt the man ever asks, “Get Sh@#$t Don

Which Sh@#$t”?.

It's all Sh@#$t that needs to get done.

A photographer had put on sale her accumulation of arts and craft supplies, and I went to pick through it.

A few items caused me to feel the picker's greed.

A Minolta telephoto lens plus a Minolta 35 MM camera awaiting a load of real Kodak film caught my eye.

I knew if I picked the equipment up, I would start justifying the purchase.

I'm trying to downsize and I simply couldn't deal with a learning curve on a camera twenty years old.

I found a dresser where a stack of Sculpey awaited, severely marked down.

Sculpey I have loved.

Pliable and Flexible as Play-Doh, Sculpey has a better texture, tougher than chewing gum but not too much tougher than chewing gum.

Jackson, I won't use the real name, and I played with Sculpey on the porch of an Italianate house in Muskegon.

I would make sculptures of creatures embodying my personal demons.

Jackson baked the demons in the oven and sketched them on cocktail napkins.

We would build campfires in a stone ring, using old mortgage papers as kindling.

We carried out this ritual every Wednesday night for a summer.

Jackson kept the demon sculptures in her garden, among the stems of...

Cute place for shoppers but not so cute for artist vendors.

They ask artist vendors to "volunteer" free labor every month, on top of rent + commission fee ($100/month + 20% commission) for a 2x3ft space.

Except they claim that "reliable transportation, positive attitude and timeliness are crucial for this opportunity" so it doesn't sound all that voluntary does it.

Something about that just rubs me the wrong way so badly that there is always a viel of ick when I'm there knowing they operate this way. Either have artists hire you for your service, or you hire people to operate your shop.

This isn't even a co-op. Your free labor isn't exchanged for any kind of member-ownership. It's exchanged for... you pay them rent to sell. This kind of sleezy way of exploiting artists just boils my blood.

Fellow local artists, check your community based faires in the summer and fall. The local ones can be very affordable and you keep a bit more dignity than offering free labor just to pay $100 a month plus 20% to rent a 2x3ft space...

This place is quite simply my favorite place to shop. Their gift items are unique, original & LOCAL. The staff is friendly, helpful and take the expression " above & beyond" to new heights. I went in to purchase a going away gift with a Syracuse theme for a colleague who is moving. The selection was phenomenal. Price ranges varied. I left with a great gift & some KINGSLEY STREET SOAP that I use daily. I smell great AND my skin is soft & supple- without risking my manhood! Who needs that stupid, gigantic, smelly anxiety inducing mall everyone goes to? Not me. Do yourself a favor. Check out Wildflowers next time you need an original, artsy, heartfelt gift. You'll also leave with something for yourself. And support local talent. Ita a win, win,...