The issue with most artists markets these days is that you are never quite sure what to expect. That is, to say the least, a wonderful compliment as to why we need to be explorers of our own culture.
The same is true of the 5th Annual Recycled Art Market, whose Facebook event page does a great job of showcasing the work coming to the event. This year’s market at their new location on 1720 Plainfield Ave NE – the new home of Grand Rapids City High school – has many exciting items in store for you.
Each year the organizers do a great job of ensuring that no one style is over-represented. They are also asking themselves whether these items are going to connect with an audience. Some years I am able to score an entire family's worth of gifts, checking this task off my list early; some years, I fine one lone item that just was too good of a design to leave for someone else.
Part of the reason for the uniqueness of this festival is the organizers' commitment to ensuring its artists are sourcing materials that are then able to be reused or up-cycled. In a city that proclaims its devotion to being more environmentally friendly there is not another holiday market like this one in our region.
“But another highlight of the market are the people you meet each year, like the young 32-year-old woman whose mom is taking over her booth because the artist suffered a stroke the beginning of October,” says the market’s organizer and Right Brain Events founder Teri O'Driscoll. “We have an artisan vendor who couldn't make it last year because she was in radiation but has been very determined to make it this year and we know she will!”
For O’Driscoll, who has produced this event for five years now, a successful market can mean a little bit of breathing room at the end of the month for these artists. It also proposes to change the lives of our area’s students.
The $1 admission is donated to the City High’s PTSA and helps to fund International Baccalaureate activities in all of the grades 6-12. In May of 2013, City High graduated its first class of students under the International Baccalaureate diploma program. It's a pretty rigorous curriculum, but one that place an importance on music and the creative arts role in education of the students.
Admission: $1.
More Info