Melissa Kohout and Sara Diederich

Co-Founders

The two founders of Jackalope Arts, Melissa Kohout and Sara Diederich, met through their time spent working with an international arts organization, creating regular art centered events in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

We shared the passion to create a "community meets artisan event" focused on the experience of meeting the maker and bringing the local community together in this. With that vision, we joined together on this new venture, launching the Jackalope: Indie Artisan Fair in our home cities of Pasadena, California and Denver, Colorado.

Jackalope has been hosting semi-annual events in both Pasadena and Denver since the spring of 2015 and with the addition of Burbank in 2019. 2021 marked a new location for Jackalope, adding Minneapolis to the roster.

Each fair showcases over 150 local makers who focus on handmade artistry.