Local artists, designers showcase work at first Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market

More than 40 local artists, designers and crafters will display and sell their work at the new Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market taking place 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the CASE Supply building on 112 Wyoming St.

The new Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market will provide an alternative marketplace for local independent artists while providing residents in the community an opportunity to discover unique handmade goods, many of them organic and green-friendly.

Participants at the arts and crafts market will include a wide variety of artists, designers and crafters located in the Syracuse area: handcrafted stationery designers, green clothing designers, mineral make-up cosmetologists, soap manufacturers, illustrators, glass artists and photographers, among many others. For a complete list of participating individuals and businesses, visit SALT City Craft Market.

Three Syracuse artists—Justin Moshaty, Paul Carrington and George Mikushkin—have created large-scale street art to be put up in the market space, while a number of local bands will provide musical entertainment ranging from jazz and instrumental to rap and indie rock. Performers include BoMo, The Quartet Trio, Joshua Loomis, Plural Form and ToTs. Food will be provided by Sugar Pearl Café.

The Connective Corridor will provide free bus service during for the event. Attendees are encouraged to park at the Manley Field House lot at Syracuse University and ride the Corridor bus to the CASE Supply Building. Buses will run every half hour between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market is the brainchild of local residents Briana Kohlbrenner and Vanessa Rose. Having seen a trend in alternative market places in other cities, Kohlbrenner and Rose teamed up this summer to begin networking with local artists, designers and crafters, leading to the launch of this first art and craft market.

“I see many opportunities here in Syracuse to foster the creative urban life-style. Crafters of the new generation are emerging to provide fun, funky and fresh handmade goods and we aim to provide a venue for these artists and designers to expose themselves to the greater Syracuse community,” says Kohlbrenner, an artist and crafter originally from Brooklyn, who has lived in Syracuse for six years and plans to open a new art and craft store called C2 Craft Chemistry in November.

In addition to a marketplace, the event will provide artists and designers with the opportunity to connect with each other and help foster an environment of artistic collaboration. Kohlbrenner and Rose hope this market will be the first of many that will help increase the opportunity for small, indie businesses.

“When I moved back to Syracuse, I was excited to see a movement toward developing and improving the urban art scene here in town—many people were active in the community, encouraging and producing public art as well as sustaining the arts venues in the area,” says Rose, a Syracuse native who moved back to the city recently after living in New York City. “My commitment to the Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market is founded in the desire to push for finding alternatives to mega-store and mall shopping. I believe that supporting local consumerism in all areas shows a true commitment to our city.” Rose, who crafts every now and then, teaches fourth grade at Enders Road Elementary School in Manlius.

“We are extremely excited to host the Salt City Urban Art & Crafts Market right in the heart of the SALT District. Like the many events that have been going on at the Delavan Center and the Gear Factory for the last few years, this event will be yet another great opportunity to put the SALT District on the map as an exciting place to live, work and play,” says Maarten Jacobs, director of the Near Westside Initiative (NWSI), a not-for-profit corporation organized as a collaborative network of member organizations, institutions and firms that aims to revitalize the Near Westside neighborhood. “Additionally, the market will bring together dozens of artists, craftsmen, musicians, interested market goers, university students and the greater Near Westside community, all right in the CASE Supply building, a future site of commercial and residential revitalization and artistic creativity.”

The mission of the NWSI is to combine the power of art, technology and innovation with neighborhood values and culture to revitalize Syracuse’s Near Westside neighborhood. NWSI projects include renovating two warehouses in the area into mixed-use facilities that will house businesses and artists’ live/work lofts.

To support the Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market, the NWSI will install two large banners on the side of the CASE Supply building facing West Fayette Street—one promoting the art and craft market, and one about the SALT District. The banners will be illuminated by four large spotlights in the evenings. The market is co-sponsored by C2 Craft Chemistry and Syracuse Experimental Film & Video Workshop. Syracuse University’s COLAB will also curate a table displaying several student art pieces.

By Jemeli Tanui (315) 443-5172

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