Gil Ziv

My name is Gil Ziv. I was born in Israel and moved to Washington, DC in 1994 to start my education as a graphic designer at the Corcoran School of Art and Design. Sixteen years later, I’m still in Washington, and I built a graphic design studio as a business. I live in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood with my wife and two kids.

I work primarily with non profit organizations, creating print and web marketing products to help advance their mission and goals. I enjoy working with organizations that are focus on social change and investing in their local communities. I have collaborated with Main Street groups in our local area – Adams Morgan Main Street, Columbia Heights Main Street, and of course, Mount Pleasant Main Street. I see ‘giving back’ to the community, more as an investment that keeps giving back to me and to other neighbors.

Minda’s Art/Melinda Merinsky

Minda has a bachelor of fine art from Kutztown University, where she studied sculpture and furniture.  Her education left her making large, heavy sculptures and odd, well-crafted furniture.

Regardless, neither were very marketable.  After being rejected and poor from making unpopular art, she discovered a more enjoyable, and marketable, kind of art form.  She realized that there was a market for functionable, recycled art.  Which made Minda and Mother Earth happy. Since she moved to DC, she’s been making lamps and jewelry from recycled elements, including blenders, toasters, cameras and ceramic animals.

She’s been featured at many local craft and art events, and has had her work on the set of MTV’s Real World DC.  She continues to provide lighting to the community as well as apply for local grants, including a bike rack grant she received in 2009.

Bookish Lady/Moira McCauley

Moira McCauley lives in Washington, DC and has been studying and practicing bookbinding and letterpress printing since 2003.  She produces posters, cards, and other items that are inspired by vintage paper ephemera, designed and typeset using vintage metal and wood type, and hand-pulled on a Vandercook printing press.  Moira loves using obsolete technology to solve modern communication needs.  She provides custom printing to a variety of clients and has taught letterpress at Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring.

Moira inherited tools, supplies, type, and 1930s book-related correspondence from her late grandfather Coleman Cook, a bookbinding and letterpress hobbyist.  These continue to inspire her.  Right now she is also inspired by antique posters and food.

Knit Outta the Box/Laurie Gonyea

My name is Laurie Gonyea, and I am a knitwear designer and instructor who decided to take my passion for knitting and turn it into a business. The idea for Knit Outta the Box came to me after I found myself stranded at the airport by a delayed flight and I didn’t have my knitting with me. I know, I know, one should always have their knitting with them, but it was supposed to be a very short flight! I scoured the airport looking for some sort of knitting project and came up empty handed. All I found were Sodoku , crossword puzzles and lots of coffee shops (thank God). Hence, the birth of Knit Outta the Box – a totally transportable knitting kit that contains everything needed to complete a simple, stylish project.

My kits can be found at UncommonGoods.com, Spoonsisters.com and The NPR Shop (npr.org). They make terrific gifts and are an excellent “knitter’s emergency kit” to keep with you just in case you find yourself waiting around and you just gotta knit!

I am a transported mid-westerner from Michigan. We moved here in 2001, when my husband was transferred here to cover the White House for NPR. We have two daughters that attend DC Public Schools and we reside in Chevy Chase, DC.

BABY by danish/Rachel Danish Kistner

Art has always been a way of life for me.  Starting in my Grandmother’s kitchen learning to stitch in a straight line on blue gingham fabric, to later majoring in Studio Art at college, and more recently designing products for a non-profit organization, art has been present at every stage of my life. After the arrival of my son in 2010, I decided to make some changes to my professional life in order to stay home with him.

After making all sorts of items for my little man, I began to put my past experience in retail and product development to good use to create the same high quality items for other parents! I use the best quality materials I can find, paired with beautiful fabrics and unique embellishments, creating unique and down-right-practical items.In a sense I have returned to the early days of sewing with my grandmother.

Creating items for BABY by danish not only allows me treasured time with my son, but also feeds my soul through the creative process!