ANDERSONVILLE — A couple who sells plants and pottery at the Andersonville Galleria is opening their own store down the street with an expanded selection of home decor made by local artists.
Vase and Vessel, 5135 N. Clark St., opened last week and will celebrate its grand opening during Andersonville Arts Weekend. The store will stay open Friday until 10 p.m. to kick off the weekend with a gallery party.
Fans will still be able to find Vase and Vessel at the Galleria, 5247 N. Clark St., but the new store will have a wider selection of products made by local artists, co-owner Bill Dlugokienski said.
Vase and Vessel’s new location will house all kinds of “neutral, organic, handmade” home goods, including ceramics, candles, African baskets, blankets, soaps and other gifts, Dlugokienski said.
“Our goal is to support Chicago artists and show their work throughout the space,” Dlugokienski said. “I just really love ceramics — that’s why I got into pots and planters in the first place — so it’s exciting to me to have ceramic artists and woodworkers show their pieces here, and they fit in really well with the feel of the store.”
Although there will be a selection of plants and pottery at the store, most of those items will remain at the Galleria.
“The Galleria is home to such a neat community of artists and vendors, and we’ve gotten to know the owner and staff really well,” Dlugokienski said. “We definitely want to keep our presence there because it’s where we started and it gives us a chance to sell different things in each location and promote both at the same time, too.”
Before the pandemic, Dlugokienski was an event planner at Northwestern University. When everyone sheltered at home, he missed the creative aspects of hosting in-person gatherings and wanted to find another outlet.
During one of Dlugokienski’s regular strolls through the Galleria with his husband, Adam Kruse, they met someone selling plants without any pottery to go along with them. She encouraged them to set up shop next to her.
Dlugokienski and Kruse started selling various “vessels” to go along with her plants until she left the space a few weeks later. The pair began offering their own plants as well as other decor.
“It was hard to sell pots without plants, so the owner of Galleria asked if we wanted to take over some of that space and sell plants, so we did,” Dlugokienski said. “And it worked out really well because everyone was buying plants and pots while they were working from home, so we’ve just continued to expand.”
Vase and Vessel is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. To learn more about the store, visit its Instagram @VaseandVessel.
The Andersonville Arts Weekend is Friday-Sunday, inviting visitors to grab a glass of wine and explore more than 40 businesses that will transform into galleries featuring local artists. There will also be parties at various stores throughout the weekend and other special events, including a dance performance and free portrait drawings.
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