MAKER'S SPACE: ALLISON HAAS

BEAD BY BEAD

Jewelry business shines light on mental illness

By Melinda Green Photos by Jen Brown

For the past nine months, in her Fortuna June studio, Allison Haas has produced hand-woven bead earrings in retro colors, emboldened with zig-zags, triangles, and hearts, some even paying homage to “Bernie’s mittens.”

But look closer, and you begin to see that each piece is a step on a journey that advocates for mental wellness—her business takes its name from her great-grandmother, Mary Fortuna Haas, who was institutionalized with severe mental illness for the last 40 years of her life.

“I feel like I’m giving a voice to someone who would have otherwise been muted by the stigma of her legacy,” Haas said of her great-grandmother. “I’m reminded of my own privilege, being able to get help when I need it, and working to help others get assistance as well.”

And every tiny bead is a fragment of that commitment.

The wife of a small-town Ohio doctor, Mary’s symptoms began in June of 1929.

Though Haas only heard small whispers of her great-grandmother’s story growing up, it loomed large in her imagination. Who was Mary before she became ill? What was her life like in an institution? Eventually, Haas was able to procure medical records and piece together a story of schizophrenia, grief, and postpartum depression. The lack of understanding during that period about mental illness eventually failed her great-grandmother. In 2019, Haas honored Mary’s legacy in a ghost walk, where she told her true story in a re-enactment.

While Haas’ art is influenced by the memory of her great-grandmother, it’s also affected by her own life experiences.

Her beadwork draws on a life rich with its own stories. Armed with digital design experience and →

↓ Haas' beadwork draws on a life rich with its own stories ↓ Hand-woven bead earrings

↑ Haas in studio creating hand-woven earrings

I’m typically an incredibly impatient person, so it’s a little bit ironic that I have chosen a slowfashion art

But it helps me slow down and enjoy the process, building something beautiful, bead by bead."

a sense of adventure, she moved to Alaska in 2002. Though she intended to stay only a year, she was still there 14 years later. During the long, dark, rural winters, she designed knitwear patterns that are echoed today in the patterns of her earrings.

“A pixel is also a bead; is also a knit stitch,” she said. “I loved mapping out knitwear designs, stitch by stitch, and that’s what appeals to me about beading now.”

Haas moved back to Ohio in 2016 and took a full-time job at The James Cancer Hospital, but she struggled to find her bearings personally.

“Lives move on; I didn’t fit in where I used to fit,” Haas said. “I had to make my way into a new social and creative sphere.”

Haas had experimented with beadwork, and she decided to take the jump. The move paid off: She found a place in the beading community and a market for her earrings.

“This is my side gig—all evening, late into the night, and on the weekends,” she laughed. “I have a lot of designs just waiting in the wings for the right time to produce them.”

Haas designs with an Excel grid snippet that she imports into Procreate software on her iPad and colors cell by cell. Her colorways include shades of teal, harvest gold, pink, mauve, and gray.

“I like to pair quirkier colors together, kind of the opposite of what I’d wear myself,” she said. “I’m drawn to very classic colors, and I wanted something a little more bold. So I push myself out of my comfort zone a lot. Nothing that’s too wacky, but [colors] that work together in a unique way.”

Haas has created a few custom combinations but prefers to listen to her own creative voice, balancing it with what her customers want to buy. Pink and red is one of her emerging trends.

Right now, she produces mostly earrings, which take anywhere from 90 minutes to four hours to create. She’s also experimenting with mini-earrings, pendants, and loom-woven bracelets, hoping to offer them at summer craft markets. On a busy week, she produces as many as 12 pairs of earrings, plus prototypes for future creations and items for future shows.

But while Haas is focused on bringing her

"Lives move on; I didn’t fit in where I used to fit. I had to make my way into a new social and creative sphere."

↓ Colorful beads Haas uses to create retro-style earrings

beading to a wider audience, the craft itself helps her stay grounded mentally.

“I’m typically an incredibly impatient person, so it’s a little bit ironic that I have chosen a slow-fashion art,” she said. “But it helps me slow down and enjoy the process, building something beautiful, bead by bead.” ♦

Fried Chicka Bang is pouring it on thick— and reaping the benefits of 90s inspired sandwich pop-up shop

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Leonardo Carrizo

↑ The Hotstepper Sandwich

"Years before this, we were always joking around and making food together, and trying out each other’s recipes. So we just sort of built on all that."

There’s no doubt that 2020 was a challenging year. That being said, there’s at least one thing “the year that shall not be named” brought to Columbus residents that they can be thankful for every day: Fried Chicka Bang.

This fun, flashy, and undeniably delicious 90’s-themed pop-up opened its first location on Sept. 23 out of the Polaris Sunny Street Cafe (8461 Sancus Blvd.). As a pop-up, they open shop just after Sunny Street closes, operating from Wednesday to Sunday from 4-8:30 p.m. And four months later, their meteoric rise in popularity has allowed Fried Chicka Bang to open a second pop-up out of the Arena District location of Sunny Street Cafe (277 W. Nationwide Blvd.).

No matter which location you're talking about though, it’s the same story: these are some of the best fried chicken sandwiches in the city. (Ranch-saucesmeared) hands down.

But it’s not just Columbus residents who can’t get enough Fried Chicka Bang, either, as the eatery regularly attracts patrons from across Ohio.

“We couldn’t even have guessed how wellreceived we’ve been,” said co-founder Maria Swallie. “We’ve had customers come from as far away as Marion. They drive down here and eat in the car.”

The business was founded by a trio of sisters and sisters-in-law—Maria Swallie, Megan Stasko, and Meggan Stasko, with each bringing their own set of restaurant-running abilities to the table.

“We would always have family dinners and get-togethers because we live so close together, and that’s sort of how all of this started,” said Meggan Stasko. “Years before this, we were always joking around and making food together, and trying out each other’s recipes. So we just sort of built on all that.”

The three sisters all enjoy different types of food, meaning one of the projects of creating a menu for

" We couldn’t even have guessed how well-received we’ve been. "

their restaurant was incorporating a wide range of flavors. While they’ve managed to pull this off— representing flavors from Nashville to South Korea— it’s ironically their menu’s lack of extraneous options that serves as one of its biggest assets. It features just chicken sandwiches, two salads, and a small list of side dishes.

“Our menu is on the smaller side on purpose,” Swallie said. “It allows us to execute everything really well, to make the orders quick, and make them consistent. When you specialize in one thing, you can really focus on making them good.”

Fried Chicka Bang’s current ten-sandwich rotation features items like Choo Choo (black sesame shake, gochujang mayo, sweet and spicy slaw), Funky Chick (swiss, bacon, lettuce, tomato, “funky” mustard), and the new Alabama Barbie (bacon, onion jam, white barbeque sauce).

Of course, though, no fried chicken sandwich is complete without a side of the pop-up’s signature homemade ranch dressing.

“We give ranch with every order: every sandwich, every order of fries. Especially with our spicy sandwiches like the Hotstepper or the Ghostface, you need something to cut through that heat,” Swallie said. →

↑ The Choo Choo Sandwich → The Funky Chick Sandwich

← (L to R) Meggan Stasko, Megan

Stasko, & Maria Swallie,

Owners and sisters

Our menu is on the smaller side on purpose...

When you specialize in one thing, you can really focus on making them good.”

It’s become so popular that Fried Chicka Bang whips up over 15 gallons of homemade ranch every week, and regular customers quite literally buy it by the tub (for only $7).

“I’m sort of thinking we should just make it a drink,” Megan Stasko said with a laugh. “We should start putting it in beverages.”

More than just ranch, the eatery is truly focused on their sauces, which are all housemade. From herbed mayo to chunky bleu cheese to their own brand of “funky mustard,” Swallie says each sauce is critical in defining the flavor profile of the sandwich it compliments.

Within the pop-up’s two dessert options, Teddy Banana Graham Pudding and Bizarro Crunchberry Cheesecake, you might recognize some of your favorite childhood snacks (Teddy Grahams and Crunchberries), and that’s not by accident. The finishing touch on Fried Chicka Bang—besides that last mouthful of fried chicken perfection—is a 90s-themed atmosphere that’s just as fun and indulgent as their sandwiches. So make sure to check your next carryout bag for a free handful of iconic 90s candy as well.

“We’re delivering to so many people who grew up in the 90s, and what better feeling than to get those little nostalgic treats of Warheads and Laffy Taffies with your food,” said Meggan Stasko. “It kind of takes you back, you remember those days, an easier time. And that’s especially important during a pandemic, because it’s that little bit of happiness that we can bring to every customer.” ♦