With the situation in Adelaide stabilised for the most part it is good to a see a wave of new businesses open up and take their chances in the current climate. The Renew Adelaide program has for some time now been at the forefront of giving opportunity to new businesses to take their shot at running a space in the city.

The latest opening from the Renew Adelaide program is the Characters Work Club located on Flinders Street in the city. The Characters Work Club is about as niche as you can get as a business which means it’s unique, fascinating and has an freedom to engage in an undiscovered audience within Adelaide.

So, what is this niche? Well artist Shane Haddy would like to introduce you to the world of Art Toys. What are designer art toys exactly? Inspired by Japanese culture and older fabrication methods, Art Toys are a new style of art that combines our nostalgic feeling of the toys of our childhood, with graffiti art, street art and Japanese fashion and pop culture and a hundred other elements to create these textile art pieces.

Shane started things off with a design studio known as Hints and Spices. From there he has been displaying and selling his work. Characters Work Club is the next logical step. It’s part gallery, part workshop and part design space. A free space for artists and those interested in the artform to share ideas and view other pieces. Shane is currently in the process of building a space to run classes and workshops for kids and adults to learn fabrication and Art Toy styles. He is also collaborating with other artists to display their work in the gallery and is happy to build further relationships with new toy artists.

Characters Work Club is a bold and fresh idea that has been given a chance to expose that idea to the greater Adelaide. Renew Adelaide has provided this opportunity and continues to support small business in Adelaide with more new reveals coming up. Characters Work Club is open now to explore and find something new.

Words by Jonathon Tonkin

WHERE: 104 Flinders St, Adelaide