{"id":98003,"date":"2026-06-17T13:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=98003"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:11:25","slug":"open-studios-passion-project","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Studios: Passion Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Liz Alspach combines her experience and love of Oaxaca to launch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themercery.com\/en\/home\/\">The Mercery<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-768x1024.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-98000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\"><\/noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%201024%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt class=\"wp-image-98000 lazyload\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%201024%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-scaled.jpg 1920w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_2351-768x1024.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Founder, Liz Alspach, at the Hewn showroom in San Francisco where The Mercery celebrated the launch of its debut Transit Collection. Photo by Aaron Acev of Hewn.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cBefore I launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themercery.com\/en\/home\/\">The Mercery<\/a>, I spent about a decade overseeing operations for mission-driven organizations including museums, government and higher education,\u201d says Liz Alspach, founder of The Mercery, on her career leading up to the launch of the textile line that also included a role at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cca.edu\/\">California College of the Arts (CCA)<\/a> overseeing the fine arts shops and studios. \u201cThat job was fascinating and challenging in all the right ways as I got to support a team of artists, each specializing in a specific medium\u2014think glass blowing, ceramics, weaving, metalwork\u2014to create world-class teaching and learning spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She then decided to pursue a graduate degree in sculpture, which led to the establishment of The Mercery. \u201cIt is essentially an extension of my graduate school thesis, which I published as a book and workbook to support artists looking to build an economic container for their livelihoods,\u201d she remarks. \u201cI was granted a graduate research fellowship to move to Oaxaca to live and work with a family of Zapotec rug weavers, who are now dear friends.\u201d After this once-in-a-lifetime experience, she realized pursuing a career as a professor or heading back to nonprofit work just wasn\u2019t in the cards, so she combined her skill set and passion and, working with artisans out of Oaxaca, the line was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her connection to the region started in college and continued to grow once she formed a deeper bond with the local crafts community, which drove her decision to preserve their practices. \u201cI\u2019ve been fascinated by Oaxaca\u2014it does that to people, craftsmanship is everywhere\u2014people just know how to build kilns and blow glass and weave with their hands in a way that is mind-blowing to an artist. It\u2019s such a captivating, complex melting pot of languages, cultures and making practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-768x1024.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-98001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%201024%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt class=\"wp-image-98001 lazyload\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%201024%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-scaled.jpg 1920w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7515-768x1024.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Betty and Mari, two sisters who cofounded a women\u2019s weaving collective in Chiapas, Mexico. They tend a herd of long-coated borrego sheep in the highlands around their village and then spin yarn to weave woolen skirts and tunics for their communities. They are both wearing examples of the traditional woolen skirts that they weave. Photos courtesy of The Mercery. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Sustainability is also a key focus. \u201cAll the fabrics we produce are made with natural fibers, which means at the end of their life cycle, which we hope is after many, many, many years of satisfying time in a client\u2019s home, the entire piece is compostable,\u201d she notes. \u201cThe fabric is made onshore in the Americas, which means our fabrics have a much smaller carbon footprint than many of our competitors because they don\u2019t travel across the Pacific Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her passion and persistence have paid off. The Mercery is now available in several of the country\u2019s top industry showrooms including <a href=\"https:\/\/hewnsf.com\/\">Hewn<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.altforliving.com\/\">ALT for Living<\/a>. There will soon be a new collection of sheers in neutrals and blues, along with one to two new colorways for the eight original patterns in the collection, and she is pursuing partnerships with organizations that advocate for the environment and artisans. \u201cWhile learning the industry has been a big challenge, it\u2019s also frankly been why I\u2019m still here,\u201d Alspach remarks. \u201cPeople have been really willing to welcome me and take interest in my idea and my project and really help me figure out how to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3512,"featured_media":98002,"template":"","categories":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Open Studios: Passion Project | California Home+Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open Studios: Passion Project | California Home+Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Liz Alspach combines her experience and love of Oaxaca to launch The Mercery \u201cBefore I launched The Mercery, I spent [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"California Home+Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8885-768x1024.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cahomeanddesign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/\",\"name\":\"Open Studios: Passion Project | California Home+Design\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8885-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T13:11:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-17T13:11:25+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/trending\/2026\/06\/17\/open-studios-passion-project\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8885-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.californiahomedesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_8885-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"Textiles shown are Rush Hour patterns in Moon, Lichen, Ocean, Cinder and Honey. 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