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Gallery Happenings March 2012


Savage Spirit! Brings Color to Main Street

One look into Savage Spirit!, Main Street’s newest store, and you know that you’re in for a refreshingly different experience. Inspired by the vivid, contrasting colors of the landscape that surrounds Moab, owner Cathya Savage-Haas painted the store in orange, purple & green and then filled it with a colorful array of unique, handcrafted clothing, jewelry, gifts and objet’s d’art.

Cathya creates the beautiful clothing. Since moving to Moab in 1996, Cathya has been creating delightful, colorful clothing. If she seems familiar, her clothing line “Desert Savage” was carried by Cave Dreamers here in Moab, a store owned by her husband Jim Haas. After closing Cave Dreamers, Cathya created Savage Spirit! silks, a line of silk clothing designed, sewn & hand dyed by Cathya. For the past 8 years Cathya & Jim have been traveling around the country participating in art festivals.

Wanting to spend more time in Moab & tired of the stress of travel, a couple of years ago, Cathya began to conceptualize a new store. Letting her imagination run wild, gradually the ideas began to coalesce. From there it was a matter of trusting the Universe to provide a great location. And then, returning from a run of 8 arts festivals in 9 weeks, there it was!!!! And in that inexplicable mystery of the Universe, the location where Cave Dreamers had been was available! Cathya had a deep attachment to that space. In 1999, Cathya and Jim put several months of hard physical labor into transforming the space from an office building into a retail space. And although Cathya’s plan was to look for a space this past winter, she jumped at the opportunity and everything fell into place. Last year, there was an overlap of opening the store and still doing art festivals. At the same time it was a great opportunity to find artisans and craftspeople for the store. Cathya has two simple guidelines for deciding what to carry in Savage Spirit!, the work itself has to attract her attention and she has to click with the person that makes it. In an era of mass manufactured, impersonal things, Cathya wanted to have a place to provide a more personal connection to one-of-a-kind pieces hand crafted with love and has created a idiosyncratic mix of unique arts and crafts.


This winter, Cathya closed the store to paint & create an environment to showcase the unique, hand crafted clothing, jewelry, gifts and objet’s d’art. Since most of the store’s displays are preowned, in addition to painting the walls, Cathya was busy giving old items new life. Savage Spirit! reopened in February and is gradually filling in with an eclectic variety of arts & crafts. Colorful Savage Spirit! silk and cotton clothing created by Cathya is prominently featured along with Stoneage Jewelry, silver & stone jewelry, by her husband Jim Haas, both made here in Moab. Additionally, Savage Spirit! carries porcelain jewelry made in Moab by Leigh Metz, pottery by Joanie Post from Grand Junction and painted feathers and bags made by Janet LeRoy in Hotchkiss, CO plus work by several other local and regional artisans.

Drop by and watch the store evolve, as Cathya continues to discover new, exciting artisans as well as exploring and developing her own creative endeavors! Savage Spirit! 87 N Main (next to Back of Beyond Books) 259-2ART (2278).


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