As a new season approaches, we have a new monthly blog series to share: Local Love. This series will feature local and regional independent businesses, organizations we admire, profiles of our awesome staff and customers. Cheers!
Since our opening in 1998, Upland has been focused on artisanship. Whether it be crafting an exceptional beer or delicious meal, Upland enjoys sharing handcrafted goodness with people. With our expansion we are threading our passion for artisanship throughout our new space, namely our new “community table” by local wood artisans Siosi Design + Build.
True entrepreneurs and makers, Audim Culver and Ivy Siosi started Siosi Design + Build as a way to make art and a living. Beginning in a bare bones warehouse space, Siosi Design + Build has flourished over the years and now have a brick + mortar shop in Bloomington, Indiana. Although they’ve grown as a business, Culver and Siosi are still the only employees; when you give them a call, Audim or Ivy will answer.
We recently stopped by their studio to get a sneak peek of our new piece and talk to them about their unique designs. Creating modern and beautiful handcrafted pieces is the focus for SD+B while utilizing local materials whenever possible. The slab used for Upland’s community table is a single walnut slab that came from an Amish company near Freedom, Indiana. SD+B have spent weeks mending the slab to make it restaurant-ready; eliminating knots, filling cracks, but keeping the natural integrity of the piece as a whole. For this hard working duo, the goal is to strike the balance of fine craft and allowing the lumber to speak for itself – to embrace the imperfections.
“We take our cues in design from the Danish word for design “formgivning”, which translated means “giving shape…
we work hard to give that shape strength, functionality, history, and quality.”
We should also mention that they do have an adorable assistant, Arrow.
Fun fact we learned on our studio visit: the crack in the wood below Arrow is called a flame crotch.
Yes you read that correctly.
We are thrilled to have collaborated with these incredible artists and can’t wait to see the finished product. We look forward to hosting you in our new space very soon! For Brewpub updates please follow on Facebook. Details about our Grand Re-Opening Party coming soon.
