Cordero Collective Tattoos

Break out the champagne yall because Cordero Collective Tattoos is officially FIVE YEARS OLD! 🍾🎉🤍

Cordero Collective is the passion project of two girls with a dream who have spent every day of the last 5 years feeling beyond grateful that this community has embraced us so enthusiastically. Because of you all, our reality has exceeded our wildest dreams.

Jenn has spent her entire adult life tattooing, working in shops and at conventions across the country. She is more than familiar with how dark this industry can be, and the vile behavior that can be enabled inside it. After sharing those experiences with me, and witnessing her treatment and experience at a toxic shop first hand, I knew that between my background in customer service and hospitality and her industry expertise, we could completely reimagine what the tattoo experience could feel like. I knew we could create something different. Safer. Kinder. More open, more inclusive, warmer. We imagined something that rejected the traditional culture of white, cis male domination and intimidation. A space where the client felt safe - no matter their skin color, size, gender, or sexual orientation. An environment that rejected the bro culture of inappropriate or explicit conduct toward clients and instead gave the client their power back - taking the seriousness, intimacy, and trust of this experience seriously and making sure every person that walked in the door felt it.

We knew we could do it, and we knew the industry needed it. We took a huge leap, and pushed through the fear of this whole thing failing. It didn’t take long, though, for us to understand that our presence and mission was even more impactful than we imagined it would be. Women walked through the door and told us they hadn’t been tattooed in years because of sexually abusive behavior by their former tattoo artist, but heard about us from a friend who insisted she would be safe here. People of color inquired after being told by several shops in the area that tattoos couldn’t be done on dark skin, or that they were too dark to tattoo, because they heard we had the knowledge and skill to tattoo on EVERY skin tone. Q***r and trans clients saw us living our truths as a le***an couple loudly and proudly, and flocked to us in droves sharing their experiences of both casual and extreme homophobia in tattoo studios. We watched as those who had always been excluded or pushed to the margins realized that this was something different.

We wanted to create this space not only with clients in mind, but artists, too. The tattoo industry is controlled by the people in it, and they decide who gets a chance to join it, and who gets taken seriously. Jenn knew firsthand what it felt like to be a marginalized person in an industry like that. Dealt with years of disgusting sexism, racism, and homophobia at every single shop she ever worked at. We take tattooing as an industry and career seriously, and want to bust that door WIDE OPEN to give opportunities to those who haven’t been given them before. Part of why we’re here is to help usher in a new era of tattooing by offering a safe, welcoming, and thoughtful environment for fellow artists, too. Whether it be via apprenticeship or booth rental as a working artist, we committed to never treating an employee the way Jenn was treated for all those years.

Over 5 years, we’ve shifted and reshaped hundreds of people’s perceptions of the tattoo experience - recentering client comfort, safety, and happiness in an industry that has for so long operated on exclusion, ego, and fear. We are a tattoo studio that focuses on the client experience first and foremost, and our #1 priority is making every single person that walks through the door feel safe. Whether it be a client coming to us because another shop made them feel like their idea was stupid, or a high anxiety client who feels overwhelmed and unwelcome by the aggressive environment of the traditional tattoo shop, or someone who simply likes our work and our vibe - everyone is welcome here.

We’ve had the time of our lives hosting our Halloween Parties, documenting your lives and memories in ink, singing Taylor Swift in a shop full of friendship bracelets, celebrating pride month with our annual party, and sharing the special moments of each and every one of your lives, with you. It will never be lost on us that you brought us into your lives and wear our art on you, permanently. That you trust us to document your memories, sadness, happiness, and joy. We couldn’t do what we do, without all of you.

We’re proud of Cordero Collective Tattoos, proud of ourselves, and proud to be an active community staple and hub in Syracuse. We love being your tattoo artists and spending our days hanging out with you. If we’ve done what we’ve done in 5 years - we cannot even imagine where the next chapter will take us. Here’s to 5 years of Cordero Collective, and many many more to come 🥂🤍