Local artisans shine at the ArtsFest Makers Market

The ArtsFest Makers Market will return Saturday, October 18th from 11 am to 5 pm on the grounds of the historic Thomas Paine Cottage (20 Sicard, across North Avenue from the New Rochelle High School tennis courts), with live music, food trucks, and over 30 makers. The rain date is Sunday, October 19.

On offer will be art, apparel, books, crafts, décor, food and drinks, jewelry and photography. For a sneak peek check out the catalog of makers work at newrochellearts.org and click on Makers Market. Chairperson Maddali Paci Atallah credits fellow artist April Soffel with creating the catalog: “She did a wonderful job collecting the input and putting it together!”

Entertainment includes live music by the by the Mudsole Dixieland Trio from 12 to 2 pm, and a visit from NYC based Tilted Axes from 3 pm to 4 pm. (This unique “guitarmy” is a mobile performance by electric guitarists with Vox amplifiers slung over their shoulders.) Hands-on activities at the Makers Market will include a visit from the ArtsWestchester ArtsMobile (1 pm to 3 pm) a colorful van that brings free, hands-on arts programming led by professional teaching artists to children and audiences of all ages outside the traditional classroom setting.

New this year is a Youth Makers Market for entrepreneurs aged 7 to 17, designed to give kids a hands-on selling experience. There will also be a series of workshops for children who want to learn how to create products they can sell.

Organizer Marisa Boan says this first ever Youth Makers Market will feature eight vendors, from “a girl who does beading and another who makes a variety of frogs out of clay” to “two brothers who make 3D figures, two sisters who will be sharing original art, and two boys who go by the name Beach Club Book Buddies, who are starting a non-profit where they give away used children's books for a suggested donation, with proceeds going to the New Rochelle Public Library.”

In addition a trio of children’s book authors will be teaching crafts based on their books at the one-room schoolhouse on site. From 11:30 am to 12:30 pm Andrea Lambiasi, author of Quann Learns a Valuable Lesson, will be making friendship bracelets, and from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm Donna Sirabella, author of The Amazing Roberta Wigglesworth, will be crafting wooden cowboy hat and boots ornaments. And from 1:30 pm to- 2:30 pm award-winning bilingual children’s book author and educator Marisa Boan will help children create greeting cards using artist Alma Thomas' inspiring mosaic technique.

The annual Makers Market is part of ArtsFest – the exciting weekend-long celebration of the arts --taking place in New Rochelle and surrounding communities from Thursday, October 16th through Sunday, October 19th. The action-packed weekend includes more than 42 venues representing the work of hundreds of visual and performing artists. For a full calendar visit the NRCA website at www.newrochellearts.org.

Sponsors for this year’s ArtsFest include Golden 50 Year Grand Sponsor Cappelli Organization and LRC Construction, ArtsWestchester, The Gwendolyn Appleyard Trust Fund for New Rochelle Charities, New Rochelle CLD, Montefiore New Rochelle, Town House Kitchen + Drinks, Alvin & Friends, Orange Bank and Tecas Tacos, plus in-kind donors The Dining Lab at Monroe University, AJ’s Burgers, The Picture House, the New Rochelle Public Library, The Atelier, and Hotel NoMa.

The New Rochelle Council on the Arts is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.