Cathy Bertel wins the 2016 Urban Crafts Award

Winner takes all, and it was Cathy Bertel who received the Urban Craft Award and a ticket for the Maker Faire 2017 in NY. According to the jury and the over 7.000 voters, Cathy's colorful and crazy crochet art has the potential to grow into a sustainable creative business. Runner-up was  Wouter Doornaert with Nester, a concept in which he does not only takes care of trees, but also puts the wood he cuts into good use. Finally, Julie Rousseau was awarded by Hello bank! as the 'Most Crowdfundable Project of Urban Crafts 2016'

A big thanks to all of you crafters for your blood, sweat and tears. Thanks to everyone who voted, to Hello bank! for supporting the Urban Crafts community, to Vrienden van Brussel for all your efforts, to all of those who attended the Urban Crafts Award Show and to everyone who takes Urban Crafts to heart. 

To finish this year's edition in style, we interviewed winner Cathy Bertel about her Urban Crafts Experience and her future business plans  Den Draad (and yes, it is a reference to In De Gloria)

Cathy, the jury picked you because of your impressive ambitions. What are your plans? 

Cathy: "I've quit my job earlier this year to focus on Den Draad (yes, it is a reference to this sketch: click) because the demand for my installations turned out to be huge. Next summer for instance, my creations will be available for all to sit on, jump on, drink on, sleep on, relax on and climb on at the Polé Polé food truck festivals all over Belgium, at Bruxelles Les Bains, at Circusfestival Leuven, and lots of other festivals and venues."

I heard you're working on a permanent installation as well? 

Cathy: "My installations only get bigger (laughs). I'm working on installations with steel frames instead of floatable balls. The idea is to create a children's playground that is a bit different from the ones we know now. Next year, I'm going to test a kind of crochet cocoon in both De Haan and in Kortrijk. We'll see where that will lead :-)"

In what way did Urban Crafts influence your career path? 

Cathy: "At first, the selection as Urban Crafter felt as a recognition in itself; that what I was doing was valuable in one way or another. Later on, it felt good to meet likeminded souls from all over Belgium. I'm definitely going to meet Dewi Brunet and Candice Colas again, I'm sure. And winning gave me confidence to continue down my chosen path."