Glenshire's Holiday Shopping Happens in the Studios Down the Street
"Opening our work spaces to the community is truly special," jeweler Carla Beebe told the Sierra Sun before last year's tour. "Visitors get to see where everything is made, ask about our processes, and support local makers during the holiday season."
From Friday, December 4 through Sunday, December 6, 2026, you can do that a short drive from The Meadows, Buckhorn Ridge and the rest of greater Glenshire. The Glenshire Holiday Open Studios runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Last year the tour was free, and every studio sat in East Truckee close to the others.
There's no fairground and no rented hall, and no committee runs it. The holiday market on the east side of town lives in the rooms where the work gets made. It took more than four decades of neighbors adding their own studios, one at a time, to get there.
In 1981, ceramic artist Barbara Prodaniuk and her husband, Orest, moved to Glenshire and set up a studio at home so she could work at her craft full time, according to the Sierra Sun's account. In those early years, in the weeks before the holidays, she held an annual "seconds sale" at that studio. No other artists took part, but it still drew large crowds hoping to land one of her pieces at a lower price. The paper's writer remembered the flaws as so subtle they were hard to find.
The tour grew in steps:
The Sierra Sun piece called it a group of individuals who come together "without the constraints of a formal organization." The 2026 schedule bends around each artist: Brad Henry Pottery stays open late, and Eva Nichols keeps 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours on Saturday and Sunday. The announcement also says more artists may pop up over the weekend, so watch for their signs.
The 2026 artist list has the same nine makers as last year. Grouped by what lands in your shopping bag, here's who you'll meet.
Barbara Prodaniuk Pottery. Prodaniuk's own site describes ceramic sculpture, wall pieces and functional pottery. She works in porcelain and stoneware, throws on the wheel and builds with slabs, and fires to cone 10 in a gas kiln. The Sierra Sun reported that she holds a BFA from California State University, Northridge, taught ceramics at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, and sits on the board of the Association of Clay & Glass Artists of California. PBS has a feature on her process worth watching before you go.
Brad Henry Pottery. Henry has been a full-time potter for twenty years. He makes pieces for everyday use: coffee mugs, teapots, bowls, vases and dinner sets. On the tour, his stop is both his working studio and his showroom. His later hours make it the natural last stop of the day.
Alanna Hughes Pottery. Hughes describes her style as modern and bold, and she draws on Tahoe's nature and scenery. Everything she makes is food, oven and dishwasher safe. She co-owns Riverside Studios in downtown Truckee, where most of her work is sold. Because she lives in Glenshire, joining the tour was an easy fit.
Krista Tranquilla Studio. Tranquilla designs and makes every piece of jewelry she sells. She works in sterling, copper and recycled metals, with semiprecious stones and found objects. She credits her hometown of Truckee and her travels as inspiration.
Lillaboo Designs, jewelry by Carla Beebe. Beebe makes her own wood and metal components and pairs them with findings from specialty artisans. Her pieces often mix gemstones, metals, ceramics and glass. She and her husband, Tom, have lived in Truckee for nearly 50 years, much of that time in Glenshire.
Kahlila Designs. This line of leather handbags, belts, wallets and bracelets for men and women comes from a maker who studied handbag construction in New York City and has lived in Truckee since 2004. She describes the work as edgy but timeless. She also co-owns Riverside Studios with Alanna Hughes, and the two shared a stop on the 2025 tour.
LoveMert. Melissa Michelsen started her sustainable accessories line in 2000. She makes everything by hand in her Glenshire studio. Her handbags use vintage leather from thrift shops, scrap leather and repurposed denim. Her newer specialty is hand-marbled fabric, done in large panels on organic cotton, mill-end canvas and hemp linen.
Eva Nichols Arts. Nichols paints in watercolor and teaches classes in California, Nevada and abroad. She has won numerous awards. "Color – nature – water – landscapes – flowers and birds inspire me," she told the Sierra Sun.
Quench Alp. Vina Shih began making skincare while looking for a lip balm that could handle Tahoe's dry air. Her brand page frames the line around mountain living, and she uses soap to play with color and pigment. The Sierra Sun listed small-batch cleansers, serums, oils, creams, soap and hair care made with naturally derived ingredients. This year's listing adds candles.
Because the studios sit so close together, seeing all nine in one afternoon is realistic, and the tour gives you a reason to try. The 2026 announcement promises a raffle for visitors who make every stop. Last year it worked by stamp card. You picked one up at any studio, got it stamped at each stop, and turned it in at your final studio by 5 p.m. Sunday. One winner took home a collection of handmade pieces from all nine artists, valued at $750 retail.
The artists post the studio map and route on the tour's own channels: Instagram, Facebook and the 2026 Facebook event. Since these are working studios in people's homes, the map is the best way to plan your route.
A full day might run like this:
The Glenshire weekend falls in the middle of a run of local holiday events, and each one offers something different from a studio visit:
If you're sending gifts out of the area, Krista Tranquilla Studio's online holiday shipping deadlines are December 11 for USPS Ground, December 16 for Priority and December 18 for Express. A December 4 to 6 tour leaves you about a week before the first cutoff.
Some of this work can be found year-round as well. Most of Alanna Hughes's pottery is sold at Riverside Studios downtown, the gallery she co-owns with the maker behind Kahlila Designs. On tour weekend, you meet them where the pieces are made.
At Tahoe Truckee Real Estate Group, we follow east Truckee closely, from Glenshire's studio tour to the acreage homes in The Meadows and Buckhorn Ridge. If you live out this way and want to talk about what your property means in today's market, or how to present it when the time comes, we'd be glad to help. Schedule a Free Strategy Session.
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