The Legacy celebrates 30 years of creativity in Sebastopol

In thanks, artist Ash Hay is creating an exhibit in Santa Rosa showcasing artwork created with materials from The Legacy

Legacy manager Joanne Cooter (right) and assistant manager Brittany Roney (left) in front of the Legacy, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. (All photos in this article by Laura Hagar Rush)

Sebastopol is home to many hidden treasures—and one of those is The Legacy, a resale fabric and craft store, tucked away in a nondescript mini-mall on South Gravenstein Highway, next to Starbucks.

The Legacy is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year – and for all of those years, the store’s profits have gone to support the Sebastopol Area Senior Center, making up roughly 34% of the Senior Center’s budget.

“We have everything that you'd find at a Joanne's or Michaels,” says Legacy manager Joanne Cooter.  “We have everything from sewing, to beadwork, to art supplies, and supplies for rug making, knitting, quilting, beading. It just goes on and on.”

The Legacy began as a donation from the family of an avid seamstress and crafter named Bess, who over the years, collected a huge array of fabrics and other craft supplies. After her death, her family donated her collection to the Sebastopol Area Senior Center.

At first, her fabrics and sewing supplies were put out for sale on a table at the center. Then others began donating their excess fabrics and trims, and soon the material filled a whole room. That’s when the Senior Center decided to open a small store called “The Legacy,” in honor of that first donation.

The store has been in several locations over the years, but for the past 15 years, it’s been in the same shopping center on the south end of town.  

With the exception of the store’s manager and assistant manager, The Legacy is staffed by volunteers, mostly seniors.

“We have over 50 volunteers now,” Cooter said. “A lot of them work from home and a lot of them come into work. We could not do it without them.”

“Some of our volunteers bring home trims and wind trims onto cards. We have a couple ladies that do buttons. They sort the buttons and clean them and put them on cards, price them and bring them back into the store. We have a lady that does the raw wool. She'll go and clean it up, sort it, bag it and bring it back into us.”

“As far as the volunteers here, they're wonderful,” Cooter said. “They bring a wealth of knowledge to us. Each one of them has a specialty. And some ladies just like to sit here and greet all the customers coming in.”  

The store’s customers, like its volunteers, used to be mostly elderly, but Cooter says that Assistant Manager Brittany Roney has brought in a whole new generation of crafters, who appreciate the stores’ huge array of fabric, trims and other offerings – and their low prices.

The Legacy Art Show

Santa Rosa artist Ash Hay fell in love with The Legacy on her first visit there.

“A friend of mine was like, ‘There's a store in Sebastopol that has really low-cost fabrics,’ and I was just getting into soft sculpture. I went there once, and I was like, ‘I love it here!’”

It was the first of many visits. “I can't walk out with less than two grocery bags full of stuff,” Hay said.

Hay is putting together an art show featuring art work made from materials purchased at the Legacy. A portion of the sales will go to support the Senior Center.

“The Legacy Art Show is an opportunity to honor a place that has been a Sonoma County institution for so many artists, and a chance for the community to support those artists and their work,” Hay said.

“There will be 15 to 20 artists showing their work,” she said. “And there's going to be a few opportunities for people to share what the Legacy means to them. I know a lot of my peers feel the same way I do, which is I'm really just excited to contribute and participate in something that is connecting multigenerational artists, supports the Senior Center, supports recycling materials, and supports creative sharing.”

“For years, local creatives have been flocking to The Legacy for affordable supplies, recycled materials, and inspiration,” Hay wrote in a description of the event. “It gives artists of all mediums and abilities the chance to experiment, use high quality supplies, reduce wasted art materials, and engage with other makers in our community. And now we’re proud to put on an art show that displays exactly this: the beautiful and diverse art made by our community, using materials acquired at The Legacy.”

The Legacy Art Show is happening on Saturday, March 18, 3 to 6 pm, at 421 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa. For more information about this event, contact Ash Hay at thelegacyartshow@gmail.com.