by Sylvia Benavidez
Despite online shopping, Eastend Studio & Gallery Holiday Market continues to have success. Having a holiday market that introduces more than traditional art at Marshall’s Eastend Studio & Gallery may seem counter-intuitive to some, but for Executive Director Jennifer Darling, the market goes right along with their mission.
“I joined (the gallery) in 2017, and it felt like more of a fine arts place, and it felt like the locals felt it wasn’t for them… so when I took over it was going to be how do we make this more community friendly? I think we’ve done well in the past couple of years. The gallery and gift shop are really welcoming downstairs. We used to have high priced gifts and now we have all kinds of prices,” said Darling.
This is the third year Eastend has had their holiday market celebrating all forms of art and the public is responding. Saturday, Nov. 16 from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. people could come in and shop for their Christmas presents, enjoy snacks, and the art in the gallery.
Darling said they had the most vendors they’ve ever had at 26 and more people came in to shop. “The crowd keeps growing,” she said. “This year we added coffee and hot chocolate either spiked or unspiked. We thought it might be a nice add; especially for the vendors if they are getting tired,” said Darling.
The holiday market allows people to see artists that might not otherwise be featured in a gallery or studio and promotes visibility for Eastend. “The market’s only three years old and people still don’t know about us. So, it’s a way to get amazing artists in the building and that’s what we are all about, giving space to artists all around us,” said Darling.
The artists and crafts people were varied and came from places like Albion, Olivet, and Kalamazoo. Painter Sara Neville, Albion, featured works from her Rogue Art company. She loved the opportunity to display her work because she can see how people respond to her pieces. “I am happy that my art makes people happy. They just get a big smile on their face,” she said.
Jason Reichert, Kalamazoo, is an abstract artist who has sold works in galleries. He, too, loves the intimacy that selling at a holiday market provides an artist. He explained that he has lost a brother and one of his works, Grief Monster, sold Saturday. He said, “it had a lot to do with my grieving process so it meant a lot to me.” He shared, “You can just see it. How much they talked about it and saying things I wanted to hear. It made my day.”
There were holiday themed gifts and crafts such as crocheting, woodwork, knitting and some vendors whose mediums for their art were less traditional. Albion Yellow Bird Chocolate owner Jenny Risner-Wade says she really enjoys the stories around her chocolate, the flavors people like and how they use them. “I am happy that we were invited to be here and I love it when people share their memories and also share memory making with Yellow Bird Chocolate,” she said. “I had a couple that was recently married and the wife, the bride, just received the wedding pictures, and she has been waiting for her husband to return from a business trip. They’re going to look at their photos enjoying Yellow Bird Chocolate. They’re chocolate dates with orange peel, so they are going to have dates on their date.”
People attending shopped for holiday gifts or took time to enjoy their love of art. Graham Rowe, Bultinck, Marshall, says holiday market jump start his Christmas shopping but also allow him to feed his love of art and the community of artists. He said, “You need to have things like jobs to fuel your physical body to give yourself a home, to give yourself fuel but if you are not feeding your soul with art and creativity then your just operating as machinery doing the same thing over and over again to have a function instead of a soul, instead of creative space and if you don’t have those things, what’s the point?”
Others like Dawn Harris, Shelby Township came with friends and found something decorative for her home. “I have never been here, so it was something to do and I was looking for a candle, and I got a candle for myself.”
Eastend is just as much a studio for artists as it is a gallery. The Holiday Market is not the only celebration of the season at Eastend Studio & Gallery. Kat Whaley, Eastend program director, showed many mediums used of her work at the market and recognized a baker for her artistry. “The baker that made those beautiful cupcakes that looked like works of art. It was just beautiful.” She is enthusiastic about holiday themed classes coming up at Eastend in the next month. Whaley shared, “We have her our epoxy Christmas trays, so that is a little wooden tray that you would put different elements in and then poor epoxy over it. We are also doing Christmas ornaments made of ceramics and coming up in December we are doing the sea glass Christmas trees.”
