When first-year student artist McKenna Weinbaum was in high school, she made the best of her circumstances during the pandemic by starting her own business, selling her jewelry and other works on Etsy, developed @livebeyondlimitation as her own brand and even had a viral TikTok video featuring her artistic endeavors that has now amassed over 15 million views. A self-taught artist, she is now pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree in jewelry and metalwork at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. She was one of more than 30 student and early career artists who participated in the Georgia Museum of Art Student Association’s 7th annual pop-up gallery and artist market last weekend. Despite her extensive online entrepreneurial experience and success, like many of her fellow vendors at the event, the market was the first time she had sold her works at an in-person pop-up market in Athens.
The yearly market event, which has been held at local artist Stan Mullin’s Pulaski Street studio in recent years, is sponsored by the UGA Parents Leadership Council. This year’s market featured works from student artists from UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art as well as a handful of other local artists’ works and a variety of items including art prints, stickers, ceramics, handmade jewelry, journals and various vintage items such as decor and clothing. The market event is a great opportunity for students to experience being a vendor in an in-person market environment without the associated financial costs.
“Our main goal with this event is to allow students the opportunity to participate in a market, with no cost to them,” said Charlotte Greenberg, president of the Georgia Museum of Art Student Association. Often, the greatest barrier for young artists who want to be vendors at markets are the initial vendor booth fees. Booth fees are usually very expensive and for many early career artists, in this case mostly UGA students, such fees simply aren’t affordable, notes Greenberg. This financial barrier makes it difficult to participate in market events and sell art, but this yearly artists’ market has no vendor fees. Without those fees, the market is more accessible to newer artists, allows students and the local Athens community to buy from artists they may not have interacted with before and helps early career and student artists learn the ropes of what it’s like to sell works in a market environment.
Two local bands, folk-pop-rock band Chatham and indie-alt-rock band Tabla Rosa, both played a mix of covers and original music during the event. For food, the Georgia Museum of Art Student Association encouraged attendees to visit either Pulaski Heights BBQ or Shiraz, two local businesses at the Leathers Building, just across the street from the event venue.
The event provides a learning opportunity for student artists to learn about being a vendor, but it is also a unique opportunity to be “hands on” with the process of organizing a market event.
“This is my first year spearheading this event, with a new group of executive members in the student association as well, so planning the market this year has been a big learning experience for all of us involved,” said Greenberg. “It was nice to have a ‘template’ to follow from the previous years, but each market is different and special year-to-year, as there [are] new people helping out, as well as new vendors and musicians.”
Authored by:
Nishat Nayla
