Saying that Rose Gold (831 Seattle Blvd. S.) is a great store is kind of like saying Beyoncé is a great singer. She is, sure, but her greatness contains multitudes, starting with her voice and spiraling out into a mythos. Rose Gold started as a store, but what it really has to offer goes well beyond its wares.
Lily Kearson and Katherine Humphreys founded Rose Gold in the spring of 2015. They had experience curating and organizing together, and knew dozens of artists doing great work. They decided to collaborate on a new store where they could help these local creators sell their products while also sponsoring a kind of pop-up community center. After two temporary Rose Gold events at Glassbox, a gallery curated by owner Weston Jandacka, he invited them to have a permanent space in the gallery. Rose Gold opened in its new home last September.
“We are queer feminist freaks who want to make space for other queer feminist freaks,” says Humphreys, adding that Rose Gold has become a hub for “the mystic, the sexual, the collaborative, and the androgynous.” Rose Gold has hosted workshops for trusting your intuition, learning Tarot, nurturing your creative process, and making tinctures or incense. They’ve brought Women’s Beat League up from Portland to teach female and non-binary individuals to DJ amd hosted shows by local artists, musicians, and poets. And this December, they’re hosting a blowout series of events and packing the shelves with new products.
From December 18 to 24, Glassbox is giving Rose Gold the entire gallery. They will host a Cheap & Deep vinyl record dig, an art-book fair with local small presses and publications, an intention-setting workshop for the new year, a DIY herbal bath kit workshop, and a smoking/stretching event in collaboration with Weed.Women.Wifi.
Come to participate, come to shop: There will be tapestries from Hannah Ruth Levi, all-natural skin-care items from Moon Nectar Apothecary, and hand-tooled leather goods like harnesses and chokers from Zooey England. Want stationery? Find cards and prints from Pilgrim Paper Co. Know any feminist stoners? Get a ceramic pipe from the incredible Caitlyn Rose in the shape of a finger or breast. Does someone on your list have resolutions to keep? Give them a reiki-charged intention-based candle from Portland’s Magic Hour, made with herbs, essences, oils, and a lunar-charged gemstone. Almost all the wares are locally made by queer and/or female creators, all the clothing is fundamentally androgynous, and every single thing supports a radical craftsperson and the radical curators of Rose Gold.
