Evidence that spring has sprung lies in the sunny daffodils carpeting our campus, courtesy of our college tuitions, and the fleeting appearances of Mr. Sunshine himself.
And with spring’s arrival, markets pop up. Proctor’s own started up again on March 26, and this Saturday, Puget Sound’s student market will be in full bloom from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the S.U.B. piano lounge and spilling outside of the S.U.B., should the weather be cooperative.
As for what to expect from the market, according to the event’s facebook invite: “Imagine a farmers’ market, but instead of farmers there are students, and instead of crops there are hand-made crafts.”
“There will be art, food, that they (students) made themselves, student performances, and it is campus wide,” Holly Kvalheim said.
Claire Armstrong-Hann continued on the sustainability of the event in terms of production, as Students for a Sustainable Campus puts on the student market every semester. “It brings production back to people, shows how things get made,” she said.
Attendees are encouraged to come with 20 dollars in hand and are welcome to engage such vendors as Katy Papoulias, felter wonder, and Raye Watts, crafter extraordinaire.
Papoulias learned the craft of felting back home and described the process as stabbing moving wool. She uses the technique to make java jackets and a motley crew of gnomes and insects, all of which will be for sale at a steal considering the cost of materials and the amount of time involved.
This felter was also involved with the market last semester. “It was really cool seeing what people can do, how they put their own twist on everything,” Papoulias said. She additionally took the opportunity to explain felting to potential customers by showing them, adding a learning component to the students’ shopping bags.
Watts, on the other hand, will be bringing assorted Raku fired pendants, small sculptures, framed 1960s National Geographic pictures, papier-mâché skulls, milk jug masks, prints and other such flotsam and jetsam to her table.
On the market, Watts too participated during the fall and went in expecting to pay her dues. Instead, “I was surprised it was so good! I had been drowning in things at home, set ‘em free, and it was a positive experience. I am happy to do it again,” she said.
To boot, the student market inspired Watts to take her art further and to support other artists as part of a community. “I try to buy a piece a month and feel a responsibility to do it. [I hope to] end up with a lovely, vibrant home.”
Moving back to the organizers’ perspectives, Maggie Shanahan shared what she gets out of the event.
“The vendors make it what it is. There is so much student interest, and you see what you can do yourself, like making homemade yogurt,” she said.
In the end, the student market stands to bring together a community that is at times apathetic toward participation. Here is a chance to show support to clubs and individuals, all of whom are fledgling, as Watts puts it, be the weather spring-y or fall-y, in Armstrong-Hann’s words.