The Bloomington Handmade Market will occur this Saturday from 10 a.m-4 p.m. on Kirkwood Avenue between Washington Street and Grant Street.
The market, which occurs biannually, is a DIY art market that allows artists and craft makers to showcase their goods, according to their website.
The organizers will not provide food during the event, but attendees will have access to nearby restaurants, market organizer and shop owner Talia Halliday said.
This is the first in-person market since the pandemic, Halliday said.
“Our artists are hurting,” Halliday said. “They make their living by doing shows, so we’re really excited to do this for them and for the community.”
Attendees can purchase goods from local vendors such as Jada Bee’s Black Witchery, Harriet Watson Art, Cup & Kettle and more.
Jada Bee, who owns Jada Bee’s Black Witchery and is a newcomer to the handmade market, will sell most of her goods there. Her products include candles, salves, salt scrubs and beauty products.
Her business emphasizes sustainability, Bee said. When she’s not growing herbs and spices in her garden, she’s collecting recycled products or foraging for resources.
“My business is striving to connect modern life through ancestral roots, natural magics, home-based goods and natural remedies,” Bee said.
Bee said she will sell her Magic Intention Candles, which she says aid people in spiritual or ritual work. She fashions them from recycled jars, homemade wax blends and natural herbs and essential oils.
Market attendees will be able to purchase her beauty products, such as body butters and hair oil, which Bee said promote healing and well-being.
Harriet Watson, who owns Harriet Watson Art, said she plans to sell tie-dye clothing that brings awareness to social justice issues. It will be her first time selling at the market.
The Black Lives Matter movement and a Black artist named Faith Ringgold inspired her to create logos that are artistic representations of the phrases “No Justice, No Peace” and “Know Justice, Know Peace”, Watson said. She prints them on the clothing.
“I know tie-dye has been trending recently, but I wanted to make it a background to the important message,” Watson said.
Watson said she hopes the logos, which she designed to be abstract, will prompt conversations about social justice when people wear her clothing.
“It is important to me because I believe that we need to have a revolution in how we teach racism,” Watson said. “I live through it every day and I just want peace.”
The bright colors of the tie-dye help her find optimism, Watson said.
Halliday said the organizers ensured there would be a diversity of artists at the market.
"We make it a point to have a mix of new artists and people that we've had before as well as a mix of genres," Halliday said.
