Arts Mart

Smile, you're at the Santa Fe Artisans Market.

Most Santa Feans are familiar with the

Santa Fe Farmers Market

, which organizes local food producers and gives them a place to sell their product. Picture, if you will, a

farmers market for art

. That’s basically what the lesser known

Santa Fe Artisans Market

is. If you are from New Mexico and you paint, photograph, draw, sculpt or do something otherwise artsy, you're welcome to apply to have your art shown

from 10 am-4 pm

every Sunday

in the

Santa Fe Farmers Market pavilion

at the

Railyard

.---

Just

off the Rail Trail

there is an

air-conditioned oasis of art

, food and drink. For a year and a quarter, weary travelers have been greeted by the sight of

30 art vendors

, in addition to a coffee table and a food stand.

The art comes in tremendous

variety

. Depending on the week, one might run across anything from David Slocum’s

handcrafted guitars

to Jackie Anderson’s

oil landscapes

to Artisans Market Manager Alex Merlino’s

children's clothing

.

According to Merlino, when artists apply, photographs of their work go before a jury. This panel consists of board members of the Farmers Market, of which Artisans is a subsection, as well as several participating artists. These men and women

conduct quality control

and give

priority to more alternative media

, Merlino says. Of approximately 200 total applicants, around 150 have been accepted.

And they're a tight bunch.

Jackie Anderson says she drives up from Corrales every weekend, in part to see all the friends she's made at the market. If you happen to be there at a slow part of the day, you may be lucky enough to see the artists jump out of their chairs in bouts of laughter.

This

comfortable atmosphere

may be related to the potluck luncheons and childcare activities that the market organizes, Merlino says.

 

For the artist

, $30 dollars a day provides

a place to display work

.

For the art lover

, a short stroll along the railroad tracks buys a ticket into a world of

all-local, all-friendly art

.


10 am-4 pm

Sundays

The Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion

1607 Paseo de Peralta

983-4098
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