Amara Hark-Weber is a shoemaker, artist and educator based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Amara began making shoes while completing her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She continued to study western boots with DW Frommer, hand-sewn shoes with Janne Melkersson in Sweden, Hungarian master Marcell Mrsan and high heels with Chris Francis. She is the recipient of the 2017 Rare Craft Fellowship from the American Craft Council (ACC), and has participated in several ACC shows and showcases. In addition, Amara has received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Council, Jerome Foundation and was a merit scholar at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In the St. Paul workshop, Amara makes every component of each pair of shoes, including last-making. All of the work is completely custom designed and built for individual clients. In addition to making custom shoes, she also teaches one-on-one tutorials and short courses at various schools including: Penland School of Craft, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Quest University.
Custom shoes made the old way
Handmade shoes fit, feel and wear very differently from manufactured shoes. The process begins with a fitting and design consultation, during which your measurements are taken and the shoes planned. Next, we make a fit model, similar to a muslin in clothing, out of scrap leather. This is the stage where the fit and design are fine-tuned to ensure your shoes fit both your feet and your design vision. When the model is correct, Amara will build the final shoes. Every part of the shoes is made of full grain leather so as they are worn, they further conform to your feet to become more and more comfortable.
Artist Statement
The shoe – as an extension of body, a vehicle, a metaphor, a representation of personal identity, an inhibitor to/enhancer of movement – is a form that we see daily. The experience of wearing a shoe: comfortable, restricting, squeaky, unsupportive, etc., is something that we can all relate to. By changing the form surrounding our foot, our interaction with the world can be drastically altered. I am interested in utilizing the shoe form to push at the boundaries of function, tradition and expectation.
© Amara Hark-Weber.
