The annual
Handmade Arcade has gotten so popular with vendors and shoppers that it will occupy the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown for the very first time this year, on April 16 – but that just means more unique, locally made items, says organizer Minette Vacariello, who also sells her own shoulder bags at the event.
It's come a long way from a small room above Construction Junction, she notes. Now the event attracts 300 applications for 120 vending spots, and 10,000 visitors. Among the new sellers this year are several designers of clothing – one of the toughest handmade arts, Vacariello says. They include Zuzu Blue, known for "the quality of the lines, the cuts, the details of her clothing that really stand out," as well as another designer who re-pieces thrift-store knits into sweatshirts and dresses in intriguing color and material combinations.
Plus, she says, there's a new soap maker whose wares "look so good you could eat them."
There will be actual food at Handmade Arcade too, a printmaking demonstration and a printmaking race with inked bicycle wheels, producing one winner and one very long print.
"I think it will make for a really exciting shopping experience, going downtown but not just going to a department store," concludes Vacariello. "Not only are you supporting the artists, designers and crafters, but you're taking steps here that could send you down the road to being creative yourself."
Do Good:
• Check out another facet of the handmade scene:
I Made It Market will feature vendors of handmade goods, also on April 16, at 428 S. 27th Street – the former Ann Taylor Loft in the Southside Works – part of the area's chili festival.
• Get the goods to get creative: There must be something about April 16, because that's also the day to pick up old design and architectural samples from local firms, for free, so you can make them into your own art to sell at Guardian Storage, 29
th and Liberty, in the Strip. That's upcycling, courtesy of
ZeroLandfill Pittsburgh.
Writer:
Marty LevineSource: Minette Vacariello, Handmade Arcade
Image courtesy of Handmade Arcade