At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, the doors open at the log hall on the corner of Black Forest and Shoup roads. The pottery will sit together in one part of the room, the paintings in another, and the baby and children's goods in a third. At the end of the visit there is one checkout counter, not a row of card readers at separate tables. That is how the Black Forest Arts & Crafts Guild runs its Fall Show, held every year at the Black Forest Community Center by a guild founded in the mid-1960s.
The layout matters because of who fills the shelves. Every maker in the room has to live inside the Guild's Black Forest boundary. The scholarship the show helps fund goes only to students who live in the 80908 or 80831 ZIP codes. The canned goods shoppers carry in are collected for Black Forest area food pantries. For five days, the Guild runs a store whose makers, buyers and beneficiaries mostly live within a few miles of the hall.
A Craft Show That Doesn't Rent Booths
The Guild does not rent tables to vendors, and individual sellers do not take their own payments. On its membership page it states the rule plainly and adds a warning for anyone thinking of joining.
"We do not sell/rent spaces, we are set up much like a store with a central check out area. For example, pottery is all together, paintings, are together, baby and children's is together, and so forth. This is not your average craft show."
Because the Guild doesn't rent space, someone can only sell here by becoming a member. Since membership depends on where you live, the people behind the inventory are your neighbors. Guild member Patti Kryzanowski described the format to The Gazette in 2021: "The show is run like a boutique." She said each artist gets a cordoned-off area inside the community center, and everyone pays at the central register.
In the same Gazette article, Kryzanowski said the Guild is "known for being an extremely well-priced venue," with items ranging from one dollar to hundreds.
The Guild lists these categories among the work its members sell:
- Quilts and afghans, stitchery, and dolls
- Baby items
- Paintings, note cards, and stained glass
- Pottery, jewelry, and woodworking
- Candles
- Baked goods, jams, and jellies
Kryzanowski told the Gazette that the spring show is about welcoming the new season and the fall show is about the holidays. In past years the children's section has included marshmallow guns and homemade monster stuffed toys.
Who Stocks the Shelves
The Guild describes itself as a membership group with "boundary lines within the Black Forest." Before a new member gets a packet, registration form and show rules, the membership contact verifies the applicant's physical address. The Guild also suggests visiting a show before applying, since the format is so unlike a standard craft fair.
The online artist directory now has 24 profiles. In 2021, Kryzanowski put the membership at 73, so the directory probably shows only part of the people whose work ends up on the tables. A few profiles show the range:
- Jenny George works in ceramics.
- Sally Burr works in sewing, quilting, children's toys, terrariums and plant life, and painting.
- Pam Devereux works in quilting, sewing, and culinary goods. She is also the Guild's contact for new members.
Volunteers run the show. The Guild's 2026 board is led by President Amanda Kennedy, Vice President Ed Baldwin and Treasurer Trudy Lans. Colleen Adamson and Gitti Reed chair setup, JoAnn Harris chairs the culinary section, and Della Clark handles publicity and the website.
The Guild dates its own founding to 1965 and calls itself the longest continuously running craft guild west of the Mississippi River. Kryzanowski gave the Gazette a slightly earlier date, 1964, and said it was started by "a group of women in the Black Forest that grew to encompass both arts and crafts." Either way, the Guild has been holding shows for six decades, and the Gazette called its 2021 spring event the 57th annual show.
Where the Money and the Canned Goods Go
The residency rule extends past the sales floor. The Guild's scholarship, started in 2006, goes each year to a graduating senior at a local high school, which can be public, private, charter, or home school. The applicant has to physically live in 80908 or 80831, but the school does not have to be inside those boundaries. Members, the wider community and show patrons all contribute to the fund, and the award is paid directly to the student's college, university or trade school.
The award has grown. The Guild's records show $1,500 a year from 2022 through 2024 and $2,000 in 2025. The application window for the 2026 award closed on May 31.
The second way the show gives back is the bag of canned goods you carry in. The Guild accepts non-perishable donations at the show for Black Forest area food pantries. It doesn't name which pantries receive them, but two are listed on Black Forest Road close to the hall's 12530 address. Black Forest Cares is hosted by Black Forest Lutheran Church at 12455 Black Forest Road, and Crosses For Losses is listed at 12490 Black Forest Road.
The Hall Behind the Register
The Guild says it holds its shows at the Black Forest Community Center "every year." The building is the community-built log hall of the Black Forest Community Club, which was chartered in 1929 and has 224 member families today.
Its origin follows the same pattern as the show it hosts. According to the We Are Black Forest history of the Club, residents decided in 1924 to build a hall. Gertrude Burgess donated the land, residents donated the logs, and the walls, roof and floor were finished by 1927. The Club's own site says the building turns 100 in 2027, so this November's show falls in the hall's 99th year.
Other neighborhood institutions have started in this room. The Club's sponsor page notes that Mountain View Electric Association, a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative, was organized in 1941 after a meeting at the Black Forest Community Center. The Club also sponsors Boy Scout Troop 70 and Cub Scout Pack 70.
One house rule applies to the building. Visit Colorado Springs lists the show as free to attend and repeats the Guild's policy: "For safety reasons, we do not allow strollers in the Community Center."
Five Days, Hour by Hour
The show runs Wednesday, Nov. 4, through Sunday, Nov. 8. The Gazette's 2026 holiday craft fair roundup lists the same hours as the Guild.
| Day | Date | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Nov. 4 | 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Thursday | Nov. 5 | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Friday | Nov. 6 | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Saturday | Nov. 7 | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Sunday | Nov. 8 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
Wednesday is the shortest day. It opens late in the afternoon, so it's the easiest one to fit in after work. Sunday closes at 2 p.m. The address is 12530 Black Forest Road at Shoup. Admission is free, and the food pantry donations are optional.
The holiday season along Black Forest Road continues after the Guild packs up. Black Forest Brewing, at 11590 Black Forest Road, Suite 50, hosts a Holiday Market on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, starting at 11 a.m. Entry is free, and the listing says all vendor spaces are already full. That market uses the familiar vendor-table setup. The Guild's show three weeks earlier uses a single counter, and every seller lives in the forest.
The Michael Turner team has worked in Black Forest long enough to know that much of its character comes from places like the log hall on Shoup Road and the volunteers who keep traditions like this running. If you'd like to talk about property in Black Forest from a team that knows the area this well, we'd be glad to hear from you. Book an Appointment.
