Here Comes the Sun Spring Handmade Market
If you’re looking for something to do tomorrow, we suggest checking out Here Comes the Sun Spring Handmade Market hosted by Makers North at the Laurentian School of Architecture! Makers North’s aim is to support our handmade community through events and help makers showcase their work. We spoke with the organizers to find out more about Makers North, their upcoming market and their new Emerging Maker Program!
Tell us a bit about Makers North.
Julieanne: Makers North was started by Tracy Baker and I as a way to support our handmade community in Northern Ontario. We create events that celebrate our community and offer makers the chance to showcase and sell their work.
You’re hosting your second market this weekend, what kinds of vendors/artists can we expect to see there?
Tracy: The variety of makers for this market is really fantastic. We have everything from woodworkers to visual artists and potters as well as specialty baby goods, paper & stationary items and gorgeous clothing.
Not only will we have visual makers but also ‘audio’ makers too! We’re thrilled to have teamed up with the Downtown Sudbury Art Crawl to host a series of pop up musical performances by local Northern Ontario acts. Makers North is number 22 on the art crawl map, so that means there’s 21 other fantastic spots open for people to explore this weekend. It’s going to be amazing!
Julieanne: Don’t forget coffee! Beards Bakery will be at the market with baked goods and coffee! There are over 40 talented makers taking part and we can’t wait to show off what a talented Northern bunch we’ve gathered.
You have a new program called the Emerging Maker Program, can you tell us a bit more about this?
Julieanne: Tracy and I recognize that starting off as a new maker be challenging (and intimidating!); there are so many things to figure out – pricing items, creating a display, how much stock to create, the list goes on and on!
Tracy: Our Emerging Maker Program offers new makers benefits like discounted table prices at the market as well as mentorship from a more experienced maker. It’s a simple way to encourage new makers, promote collaboration and foster our handmade community.
What is your favourite part about the art & culture scene in Sudbury? Do you see it growing or changing in the next few years?
Tracy: I love how diverse it is! There is such a huge range of skill and expertise that I don’t need to leave our city to seek inspiration. Our cultural scene is constantly evolving and there is still so much room for growth. There are so many fantastic emerging makers, new shops focusing on local & handmade goods, and great bands (Hi Lazy Daisies!). I can’t wait to see what’s in store over the next couple of years, it’s a very exciting time!
Any upcoming events?
Julieanne: We have pretty big plans for our growing handmade community, from workshops to drop in ‘maker nights’ but for now we’re focusing on the groundwork for the bigger events. Once that’s taken care of we’ll be launching our workshop series featuring a wide variety of local creators.
As for the big stuff, we have applications open for the Northern Lights Festival Boreal Handmade Market and for our Etsy: Made in Canada Market in September. The application for our second annual holiday show on November 4th will be up on our website in the next couple of weeks. Between you and us, it’s going to be huge!
Tracy: Since we partnered up with Northern Lights Fest this year we’ve also put together an online silent auction featuring many of our local makers as well as some awesome goods and services. It’s running from June 1st to the 30th and to bid head over to 32auctions.com/NLFB!
What are the plans for the future of Makers North?
In all honesty, we just want to keep working towards our goal of supporting Northern Ontario’s handmade community. Simple as that.
Emily Franceschini
Emily Franceschini is former full-timer and lover of all things purple. In a past life, Emily worked as a marketing manager and spent her free time searching for the perfect cup of coffee. Now all of her time is free time and she's spending it exploring the world.
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