A retired college professor, mother of three, and lifelong knitter, Wartenberg, now 73, never imagined she would get serious about crafts. She was already well into an active retirement when she saw a vintage beaded purse in an antiques store and thought she would try to make one, a miniature, and transform it into a necklace like those worn by American Indians.

The finished piece fulfilled her vision, and in short order a passion, and a new career, was born.

Wartenberg's work, and that of four other area artists, will be featured and offered for sale in Beauties and Their Beads, opening at Orchard Artworks in Bryn Athyn May 4. Situated in an apple orchard near Bryn Athyn Cathedral, the Artworks is a cooperative for artists and craftspeople throughout the region.

Orchard Artworks was founded seven years ago, when a group of local artists approached the Bryn Athyn Church of the New Jerusalem with an idea for using a vacant house in its apple orchard. The artists would create a true working cooperative, wherein every member would share responsibility for running the gallery and even renovating the space within the historic house.

The church agreed, and the founding artists spent a year transforming the first floor of the house into a homey, functional gallery space where everything is for sale. Prices range from affordable to very affordable.

Today there are about 50 members of Orchard Artworks, and the cooperative is always looking for more.

The co-op welcomes artists of all ages creating in any medium, as long as the finished piece can be defined as fine art or contemporary craft. The work is reviewed by a jury made up of co-op members. It's Wartenberg's job, for example, to tell the aspiring joiner yea or nay and acclimate new recruits to the ways of the co-op.

Members who help staff the shop two days a month and carry one other duty earn 75 percent of the proceeds of the sale of their art; those who do not participate receive 50 percent. Everyone pays an annual membership fee of $25.

Wartenberg was showing her work at another gallery when a member of Orchard Artworks approached her with the idea of joining the cooperative three years ago. She agreed and has enjoyed being part of a supportive community for artists.

"Sure it's an outlet, a place to show and sell," Wartenberg said. "But what I really like about it is seeing people appreciate my work. People will come up to me and see me wearing a necklace and say, 'Oh, you made these!' We're there in the shop, so we get to interact with people all the time. Not just the public, but the other artists, too. We work together, and we like each other."

"We all make group decisions," said Gail Simons, coordinating director of the Artworks. "We take turns running the store. Someone keeps the calendar. Someone else orders supplies."

The Christopher B. Asplundh Foundation in Willow Grove, endowed by the family tree business, helped fund renovations to make the building handicapped-accessible and create space for workshops, mostly for children. Reaching out to the community with events and workshops is part of the Artworks' mission.

Still, the artwork takes center stage.

Wartenberg's pieces are crafted from tiny colorful beads, French silk crochet yarn, and knitting needles the width of pins. Each necklace is an individualized mix of form and function.

"My grandson the industrial designer is always talking about form and function," Wartenberg said. "I like to think that my necklaces have both. Sometimes when I go out, I wear one and keep my vitamin inside. That way I don't forget to take it."

Simons, whose beaded bracelets will be featured in Beauties and Their Beads, works full time as principal of the Bryn Athyn Church School. Someday, when she retires, she says, she would like to spend more time on her craft and conduct more workshops. A subject close to her heart is the history of beads and how they have been used by different cultures. For many of the world's people, beads have had a spiritual connection, she says, and that explains in part why they continue to be so popular today.

"People have used beads as fertility charms, and of course the Egyptians had all kinds of beads and charms," she said, and "the Chinese Pi bead symbolizes eternity."

520 Tomlinson Rd.
Bryn Athyn, Pa. 19009
215-947-9882
www.orchardartworks.org

Open 10-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 1-4 p.m. Sundays.