The Oddities & Curiosities Expo: A Place To Let Your Freak Flag Fly
Article ★ Kenzie Gay ★ @kenzwrites★ 5 Minutes
It’s a sunny afternoon in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Monroe Avenue is congested with weekend traffic, fliers promoting local elections and events, and plenty of people seemingly in attire best fit for a funeral…or perhaps a dark wave concert…or maybe even a freak show. Dressed in theme alongside them, I make my way into Devos Place for the annual Oddities & Curiosities Expo.
After a breezy chat with the event staff, who were by far some of the most grateful and friendly organizers I’ve ever met, I’m able to step into the convention hall. Immediately, I am met with a sea of different details that almost make me forget I’m just in one big room in Northeast Grand Rapids. There’s booths full of varied jewelry, drawings, clothes, statues, and accessories and the air reeks of freshly buttered popcorn and hand squeezed lemonade. Bodysnatchers, my personal favorite Radiohead song, plays on the overhead speakers but it’s mostly drowned out by the big rumble of chatter between vendors, security guards, and convention attendees.
Everywhere I look, there’s something new and exciting to see: A mannequin wearing a dress and a lizard mask. A table full of snake spines. People dressed to showcase their electric personalities whether that be through heavy leather boots, full goth makeup, or meticulously dyed hair that mimics the coat of a leopard. The place oozes with personality and authenticity. Just while standing there and taking it in, you can feel that sense wash over you. This is a place for people to be themselves: a place where normies won’t make you feel small for wanting to buy a preserved monarch or a stuffed racoon in a wedding dress.
Images from Oddities & Curiosities Grand RapidsAs I traverse my way through the maze of different attractions, I come across a handful of vendors that really make their mark both on me and the other attendees at large. Every expo date has vendors that vary given the vast amounts of cities it visits though the booths are generally the same vibe — all bringing their own, uniqueness to the table for patrons. The first one that makes me stop in my tracks is a booth that’s rather self explanatory: Insect Dioramas.
Insect Dioramas
Featuring a series of silly albeit whimsical displays of beetles, the place reminded me of the intricate dioramas that Steve Carrell’s character in Dinner For Schmucks makes — and I mean that as a high compliment. Some showcase the beetles playing a game of Twister, Chess, or Sorry whereas others feature them eating a low fat Babybel cheese or a hard earned can of Budweiser. It’s a crowd favorite and the vendors take the time to answer every single question people may have. They’re also enthusiastic to remind everyone that the beetles are ethically sourced: something that wins major brownie points for most of us.
Strange Ghosts
Strange Ghosts made it onto my list the moment I laid eyes on it. I’m an avid horror film, tune into the podcast and you’ll see that to its full extent. Specifically, I’m a big nerd for Ari Aster’s horror movies. Midsommar and Hereditary are two of the best horrors we’ve gotten out of the last decade (in my opinion) and the enchanting designs Strange Ghosts had for these movies were too beautiful to skip. From the linework to the little elements that key viewers in onto the fact that whoever drew these also paid attention to the inner details of the respective flicks, it’s all work of art in the purest sense of the word. Plus, the 2 for $35 is a stellar deal.
My new pride and joy(s)Art By Christina Bauer
As a long time lover of anything to do with mushrooms, moss, and other things you’d find in Frog and Toad Together (1987), I should’ve known that Art By Christina Bauer was going to pull me in like a magnet. Snail figurines with geodes for shells, grumpy mushroom statues? The booth is every cottagecore-loving person’s dream come true. In fact, this was the first booth that had me gunning for my wallet before I even got a good look at everything.
Capie Creative
Capie Creative was a total surprise for me. By the time I found the place, I was essentially done with seeing everything else. I didn’t expect to see anything more that really jumped out to me but this proved me wrong — although, that could be due to the vendor who was very vocal about how wicked talented his wife is. His wife, who created all the designs that were available for purchase, had some of the coolest concepts I’ve seen in a long time. In specific, the poster design for the character of Eddie Munson in Stranger Things was especially breathtaking. Honestly, I could’ve spent hundreds of dollars there without a single hesitation. (Thanks for the free sticker, by the way!)
(left) my new son from Christina Bauer (right) yet another fire poster from Capie CreativeA few more honorable mentions of vendors that caught my eye include Lynne & Lucille (a great spot for sassy hats, both beanies and baseball caps), Bells Living Art (jewelry made with you or a loved one’s blood), Odds and Ends by Chloe Grass (a must-see if you love tea plates and woodland creatures), Lot 13 (hilarious, hand-painted and carved signs), Honey Hearted (some of the best horror movie-inspired earrings I’ve ever seen in my 8 years of collecting artsy earrings), and Crescent Creepers (BEST CLAW CLIPS EVER).
Whether it’s bugs sharing a glass of merlot, a poster of Florence Pugh in Midsommar, a hand-painted sign that says ‘Welcome To The Shit Show’, or a mushroom figurine with bucked teeth, there’s something for every kind of ‘weird’ interest at a place such as the Oddities & Curiosities Expo. The event is not only a fantastic way to make friends but it’s also a stellar method of supporting small artists. Oddities & Curiosities has made themselves firmly known as an expo that is accepting, supportive, safe, and anti-AI. In a time where humanity is losing the ‘human’ aspect of its art, Oddities & Curiosities is a breath of fresh air that reminds us of how creative our species is.
