ADVENTURE – ART - PEACE

by

Niki Sepsas

The events of September 11, 2001 forever changed the way we in America will live. They also played a pivotal role in bringing more meaning to the life of one Birmingham woman.

Melissa Kendrick was living in Washington, D.C. when she received word that several friends were listed among those who lost their lives at the Pentagon on that fateful morning. She had been working as a consultant for various organizations, including the French-American Foundation where she specialized in contrasting civic engagement in both countries. Melissa had originally moved to Washington to serve as executive director of a national non-profit but soon found herself serving as the US delegate to a UNESCO task force in France. Additional consulting work with the International Ecotourism Society furthered her interest in sustainable travel and cultural understanding.

“The loss of those close to me on nine-eleven closed one of life’s doors for me but opened another,” Melissa explains. “My fortieth birthday was just around the corner and a mid-life crisis was fully kicking in. I not only wanted to search for new meaning in my life, but also for a way to incorporate that meaning into my career.”

Struggling to unlock the secret of how to simultaneously accomplish both, she began listing what makes her happy and what makes her sad. On the positive side of the ledger she listed travel, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures. The negative included bigotry, narrow mindedness, and lack of world awareness.

Her epiphany occurred during the course of a sleepless night while on a trip across the Serengeti.

“I decided that operating a fair trade store and gallery would be the perfect fit for me,” she explains. “I would use the love of travel and exploring new cultures to expand our knowledge of our global neighbors and help erase some misconceptions that many of us have of other people.”

Returning to the Magic City, Melissa worked for a while for a non-profit corporation but realized that the position was a mismatch. She remained consumed by her dream to operate her own business and began formulating a plan for her proposed venture.

A stickler for detail, Melissa did her homework well. Her research revealed that the concept of a “fair trade” business centered on providing art and crafts created by artisans who have received a fair wage for their hand crafted goods as opposed to the mass produced items spawned in “sweat shops” around the world. Items sold in fair trade stores are accompanied by profiles of the artists who created the goods and information on how fair trade has impacted the health, education, and general welfare of the artists’ communities. She also learned that there are no dedicated fair trade stores selling art and artisans’ products in Birmingham and only a few that carry select items such as coffee. Of the 30 or so art dealers in the metropolitan area, none carried international art exclusively. Similarly, in this population center of almost one million people, there were no stores that specialized solely in hand made items.

The nationwide popularity of fair trade businesses has exploded in recent years. The Fair Trade Federation reported that sales of fair trade items have jumped 44 percent since 2001 reaching $180 million in 2003. The estimates for 2004 indicate a 26 percent increase over 2003 and sales for the first quarter of 2005 were 32 percent ahead of the previous year’s figures for the same time period.

“Owners of fair trade stores have leveraged a sense of fair play and created a connection to other cultures for the buyer,” Melissa notes. “Studies show that four out of five customers indicated a willingness to spend more for a product knowing that workers were paid fairly and treated with respect.” Fortunately for fair trade shoppers, higher prices are not usually a part of the shopping experience and most shoppers find fair trade items to be competitively priced.

In October, 2005, Melissa took the plunge. She invested her savings in Sojourns, a fair trade store and gallery located on the first floor of the Atrium Building on Third Avenue and Nineteenth Street North, just down from the Alabama Theatre. Specializing in international art and artisan products imported from around the world under fair trade standards, the store is the first of its kind in Alabama. A visit to the 600 square foot gallery is a mini-trip around the globe.

Visitors find unique paintings from international artists; decorative housewares; apparel and accessories; specialty chocolates, coffees, and olive oil; and one-of-a-kind holiday items. Melissa’s direct relationships with individual artists and fair trade wholesalers make a stunning variety of international arts and crafts available to Birmingham shoppers:

• Baskets, carvings, embroidery, lace, and other products from developing countries in Africa and South America.
• Nesting dolls and jewelry from Russia
• Pottery from Peru and South Africa
• Vases from Vietnam
• Dinnerware from Mexico
• Porcelain, pottery, and metal work from developing Asian and Caribbean countries

In addition to providing this cornucopia of unique arts and crafts, Sojourns will also serve the community through cultural education and interaction through a partnership with the Foundation for Sustainable Travel. Cultural events featuring a particular country or region of the world will be held periodically in the glistening foyer of the building. Patrons will be exposed to the food and music of the featured culture as well as learning about the techniques and customs utilized in the production of the local art.

Melissa also plans to partner with the Birmingham International Festival, whose offices were moved to the Atrium Building in 2005, to promote international education and understanding. In addition, Sojourns will provide reception and fund raising opportunities to other area non-profits, particularly those whose mission aligns with the fair trade concept.

“I feel so sure that Birmingham is ready for the fair trade concept and a venue for the cultural education and interaction that a fair trade gallery provides that I invested everything in Sojourns,” Melissa smiles. “And I truly believe in downtown Birmingham. We are located in the heart of the revitalized city center. Just look at all the wonderful old buildings in this area that are being transformed into lofts and offices. The growing residential community in the downtown area is generally comprised of individuals with post-secondary education and incomes above the average for Birmingham. That demographic aligns closely with the average fair trade customer. In addition, attractions such as the McWane Center, the Alabama and Carver Theaters, the Civil Rights Institute, and the Museum of Art are attracting crowds to the city center. I feel that we’ll be well positioned to serve this increasing flow of people into the heart of Birmingham.”

The English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once said that the five qualities at the heart of a civilization are truth, beauty, adventure, art, and peace. In Sojourns, Melissa Kendrick has brought to Birmingham an abundance of beauty, adventure, and art in her quest to provide the last, and arguably most important, quality – peace.