Biannual market focuses on homemade art

The sixth Bloomington Handmade Market brought 46 vendors to the Bloomington Convention Center on Saturday for a collection of handcrafted art, crafts and functional objects.

“We focus on nontraditional artists and alternative craft,” organizer Sally Harless said. “It’s indie craft, which is kind of hard to explain. We include a lot of younger artists who are using traditional techniques in new ways.”

Harless is one of four organizers of the biannual market, and her shadow boxes and watercolor prints were on sale in her booth.

About 110 artists from the region applied to be included in the market, but the four organizers — Harless, Mia Beach, Jessica Near and Nicole Wolfersberger — “picked the most unique, unusual and interesting work from both local artists and other talented folks from around the Midwest and put it all together in one place,” according to the market’s program.

Selected crafts included handmade soaps and massage oils, glassware, backpacks and concert posters.

Tracy Smoll, who was selling in the market for the second time, displayed her clay coffee mugs with words or animals carved into them.

“The venue and the organizers are wonderful,” Smoll said. “It is such a good way to sell things and a lot less expensive than other festivals or galleries.”

Smoll doesn’t own a shop to sell her work, instead operating solely from her Etsy online shop.

“Etsy isn’t even a trend anymore — it’s just the smart way to do it as an artist,”
she said.

Few artists at the market stick to displaying their work in galleries and studios.
Anne Brahaum, a glassblower from Brown County, lists all her work for sale on her Etsy shop but still operates from her home studio and displays some of the modern glass pieces in galleries.

Amy Whitehead, a Bloomington resident, said she enjoys browsing Etsy shops but prefers seeing the art in person.

“It’s much more comforting to see a piece of art before you purchase it,” she said. “It’s fun to see all the different varieties of craft in one place and to hold a conversation with the artists.”

The comfort Whitehead was referring to was exactly what the organizers aim to provide with the market.

“Buying handmade means keeping money in our communities, connecting directly with the artists that make the objects you’re purchasing and having something in your home, on your body or as a gift that is completely unique and unlike anything else,” the organizers wrote in a statement. “It is empowering to be able to hand your hard-earned money directly to the person who made the item you’re purchasing.”