Tate Yotter

Tate Yotter joined the Department 56 Creative team in 2013 as a Village accessory artist and Classic Brands designer which means that she works on many Villages as well as our giftware lines. As the newest artist, on the team, Tate brings a fresh perspective to everything she is involved with. She is graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where she earned a degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Comic Art.
Tate works on many of our licensed giftware lines – the Grinch, Dr. Seuss, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Peanuts, Pusheen, Girl Scouts, Margaritaville, Elf on the Shelf, and Disney. With her background in graphic and comic design, she is at home with the variety of assignments she is given. And she’s one busy lady! “But I like it that way, keeps me going and keeps the creative jouices flowing.”
She shared a little about what inspires her when she designs. “I’m typically inspired by family and friends. When I’m drawing a child, for example, I think of my nieces and nephews. I think of their movements and their laughter. I translate that into my drawings and a good sculptor will do their best to represent those feelings, too. As an accessory artist I mainly design the characters you see in our Villages. I consider myself a storyteller in that I think about each character and their personal story as I draw. If there’s someone in my life who makes sense to incorporate into a character, then I will.” Tate works closely with our staff sculptor, Kiri Namtvedt to get the pieces just right.
Outside of work, Tate is very active and loves cycling. Sometimes she even bikes to and from work, a trip of close to 30 miles roundtrip.
Department 56, the leader and gold standard in lighted collectible Villages, is part of the Enesco family of brands and is located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
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BRANDS
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Villages
- Game of Thrones Village
- American Pride Collection
- Silver Series
- Limited Editions
- Holiday Special Sets
- Alpine Village
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- Christmas in the City
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- Dickens Village
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- Dickens A Christmas Carol
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- Holy Land Little Town of Bethlehem
- New England Village
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- North Pole Series
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- Original Snow Village
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- Snow Village Halloween
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- Village Accessories
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- Village Halloween Accessories
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- Village Friends
- A Christmas Story Village
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- Disney Village
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- Grinch Villages
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- Harry Potter Village
- Hot Properties Village
- Margaritaville Village
- Nightmare Before Christmas VLG
- Peanuts Village
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- Promotional Village
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- Auth Village Art
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- Snowbabies
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- Christmas
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- Flourish
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- Studio Brands
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- Possible Dreams
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- Snowpinion
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- All Other Seasonal
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- PRODUCTS
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- OCCASIONS
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COLLECTIONS
- 2020 Village Retirements
- 2020 SnowBabies Retirements
- 2020 Possible Dreams Retirements
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- 2020 Mid-Year Village
- 101 Dalmatians
- 2019 Village Retirements
- 2019 Snowbabies Retirements
- 2019 Possible Dreams Retirements
- Addams Family
- Alice in Wonderland
- Beauty and the Beast
- Christmas Story
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- Country Living
- DC Comics
- Disney
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- Disney Other
- Disney Villains
- Dr. Seuss
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- Fantasia
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- Gifts from the Heart
- Grinch
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- Harry Potter
- The Lion King
- Lilo and Stitch
- The Little Mermaid
- March Village Retirement Sale
- Margaritaville
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- Mickey Mouse
- The Munsters
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Norman Rockwell
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- PEANUTS
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- Pet
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- Pusheen
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- Rudolph
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- Seasonal Holiday
- Snowman
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- Tinker Bell
- Toy Story
- Unicorns
- Winnie the Pooh and Friends
- Wizard of Oz
- Crayola
- FAO Schwarz
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- SALE