The Cotton Company and its Vendors
By Darian Kiener, Editorial Assistant
The Cotton Company has been a small business and artist haven since Bob and Elizabeth Johnson opened it in early 2000. Their mission was simple and elegant–to contribute to the revitalization of the historic district of Wake Forest. They have been immensely successful in this mission, for they have given small business owners and artists alike the means to sell their products right in the center of town.
The way their company works is via booths: the Cotton Company owns booths that they rent to individual vendors. The process to obtain a booth is simple, involving an application, interview, and lease signing wherein they have a year in said booth to decide to stay or move. Many choose to stay, while others use the opportunity to grow their own companies and artist studios.
Georgia Maes is a women’s boutique that sells high quality clothing.
What makes the Cotton Company an essential part of the local Wake Forest community is that it incentivizes the local populace to not only contribute their products, but to support local small businesses. While the Cotton Company is a charming and wonderful place to support local businesses, I took interest because of their support for local artists, many of whom are happy to take commissions, though their work on display speaks for itself.
Art by Clina Palloni
Consider the work of Clina Palloni, whose focus on contrasting color makes for wonderful still lifes, seascapes, landscapes, and portraits that are sure to catch the eye. She says, “vibrant colors help you see more than is there; it helps you see further.” With a technique that is based in the vibrancy of her Chilean culture, she paints the beautiful aspects of North Carolina and spends her time teaching its residents how to paint. When asked what makes for a successful artist, she said: “The expression of yourself through your art; being yourself.” She has been a vendor at The Cotton Company for the last 5 years and has loved her time there. I cannot recommend enough going and seeing her paintings for yourself.
Christina Britt is an artist who creates sketches, jewelry, bags, cutting boards and more.
Please take the time to go see the work that these artists and business owners are putting on display and perhaps consider supporting local artists and small business owners by shopping around a bit!
Mentioned artists’ websites:
https://www.christinabrittstudio.com/
Darian Kiener is an author and poet from Wake Forest, NC who joined The Wake Forest Review team in January 2024 as an Editorial Assistant. He graduated in December of 2023 with a B.A in English from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. His writing has been featured in The Coraddi Fine Arts Magazine, Atlantis Creative Magazine, and The Wake Forest Review, along with a few others. In his free time, he enjoys watching and playing hockey, reading, cooking and learning. Some of his interests include astronomy, history, and philosophy. He has high hopes to get accepted into graduate school to study post-modern literature and poetry.