New gift shop welcomes Kith and Kin to Rosebud

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Rosebud musician and actor Travis Friesen made his own dream came true in October, when he opened Kith and Kin Artisan Wares in Rosebud’s old fire hall.
“In my first year as a student here in Rosebud in 2004,” Friesen said, “on the way to class and on the way home from class, I would look at the fire hall, and I heard rumours that they’re looking to build a new fire hall.”
He thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to take this (old) fire hall and turn it into something?”
Two years ago, he purchased that old building and has gradually transformed it into a gift shop.
“The big aim is to have a gallery feel in the store, but that it’s at price points that are accessible to everyone,” Friesen said. “I’m really focusing on the artisan craft merchandise. My focus is to offer as much handmade local craft and art as I can.”
“It’s just super cool to be part of that, to have the privilege of seeing a daydream realized. Not only does it give me an opportunity to create beautiful wares, whether it be pottery or beeswax candles or stained glass or woodworking, and build that and share it with others, but it’s also the space itself that I’ve created … It also gives other people in the hamlet, and in the surrounding communities, an opportunity to share their work.”
Kjel Erickson, who grew up in Rosebud, is making cutting boards from exotic woods. And Glenda Warkentin Graham, another Rosebud resident, is “taking old wood and building small pieces of furniture and serving trays and doing the whole repurposed-wood,” Friesen said.
“I anticipate to always be growing and changing and bringing in different artists,” he said. “My goal is that it’s not the same store when you visit it once.”
While opening Kith and Kin, Friesen continues acting in films and commercials, and performing music. Next month, he’ll go on tour with the Wheatland Band. He’s also just created his second music album, and is planning to celebrate its release in Kith and Kin in January. Kaitlyn Sloboda, a Rosebud School of the Arts student, has written a play based on Friesen’s music, and will perform it as her Final Project in February.
Kith and Kin Artisan Wares is on the northwest corner of the four-way-stop in Rosebud, across from the Haskayne-Kenney Mercantile. Friesen invites guests to Kith and Kin’s grand opening wine and cheese, Friday, Nov. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.