Francine’s craft store brings unique art and queer third space to Edgewater 

Most people in Chicago have seen ads for ceramics or painting classes around the city. But what about puppet-making? Or miniature furniture building? Francine’s lesbian-owned art studio and shop has it all. 

Named after their dog Francine, owners Rachel Dohner and Olivia Comai are aiming to create a creative and welcoming space for artists and art fans in the community. Their workshops and items for sale reflect each of their own individual passions as well as a love of colorful pieces.

The pair met at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—Dohner graduated in 2022 and Comai in 2021. They’ve now been dating for four-and-a-half years. 

Dohner and Comai have lived in Edgewater for three years, with Dohner having grown up in Rogers Park. Comai said they both love the neighborhood and were looking for a studio space outside of their apartment.

“Since graduating, [we] have been doing a lot of small art fairs and craft fairs,” Comai said. “When we saw this beautiful open window space, we were like, ‘Oh, well we could use the back part for a studio space, or we could both also teach different art mediums.’”

Comai and Dohner stock their own work as well as friends’ and other community members’ pieces. Photo by Rachel Dohner

Francine’s opened for business in April 2025. Dohner said they chose to market it as a lesbian-owned crafts store because they both wanted to create more lesbian community spaces in the area. That’s allowed them to meet lots of people in the neighborhood—which is already known for being “so gay,” Dohner said.

The initial reception was “really great,” according to Dohner. The two did a lot of in-person advertising through posters with pull tabs and little flyers. They also try to keep the window display fun and enticing, which helps draw people in.

Neither had any business experience before opening the shop outside of one or two college business classes or working retail. Dohner said they also didn’t originally want to use social media to market, but they have been successful on TikTok and Instagram, leading to a spike in people visiting every day.

Loyola college students have also shown interest in the store. When the pair put flyers up around the area for Edgewater’s “Sapphic Sunday” highlighting small businesses in July, they received a lot of positive reactions from people and got to meet more local artists and art fans.

Dohner said they also host free movie nights every few weeks in addition to putting on workshops. When they do host workshops, they’re often aligned with what Dohner and Comai are best at. 

For Comai, that’s puppet work—“Muppet style,” as they called it—as well as stop motion animation, painting and print making. Dohner focuses on making furniture, clothing and miniatures. She also loves fiber arts.

“I think people can really tell what we’re really passionate about,” Comai said. “A lot of the way that we set up this space and the workshops that we’re trying to introduce, we’re trying to be very joyful and bring more color and fun. [We want] to make it more accessible to people who wouldn’t normally be interested in expressing themselves creatively in that way.”

Some previous workshops have included puppet making, paper-making, cookbook junk-journaling or even building a small trinket shelf. Each workshop is also donation-based on a sliding scale, with larger donations allowing them to offer some free tickets each event. 

Comai and Dohner some of their own work there along with pieces from some friends, such as sterling silver charms. 

“I think we’re just trying to find different handmade things for different types of people and have them all in one place,” Dohner said. 

A lot of it comes down to their own aesthetics, Comai said. And this approach has worked well for them—some people have seen the overall vibe of the store and then approached them about selling work there. The two aim to have interesting, personality-filled items for everyone’s price point.

Though most things in the store are pre-made, Dohner said they are currently selling a friend’s homemade yarn and pattern booklets. They said they also hope to stock some art kits in the future to go along with workshops or a la carte. 

However, customers are still getting crafty with their pre-made or workshop items. Dohner said some people have taken their projects home to keep working on them.

Outside of Francine’s, Comai works at a dog hotel and Dohner previously worked at Wrightwood 659. The store has allowed them to combine their creative interests into a permanent, physical space. In the future they hope to continue providing queer, specifically lesbian, third space for artists and community members. 

“Being from Chicago, it feels really good to contribute to the community and make a space that I would want to be in so badly, especially if I was younger,” Dohner said. “So I feel like that is really rewarding.”

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