Handmade Holidays Makers Market Application

ENTRY DETAILS SCREENING & SELECTION DISPLAY SETUP, TAKE DOWN & WHAT TO EXPECT LIABILITY AGREEMENT ARTIST APPLICATION

What is Handmade Holidays Makers Market?

When: Friday, November 15, 2024 from 4:00 - 8:00 pm
Saturday, November 16, 2024 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Returning this year! VIP Shopping: Friday, November 15 from 3:00 - 4:00 pm

Where: Art Center East, 1006 Penn Avenue in La Grande

Handmade Holidays Makers Market (HHMM) is Art Center East’s most popular holiday shopping weekend of the year. The two-day art sale draws over 1,500 visitors interested in purchasing locally-made gift items. Past offerings include: paintings, ceramics, jewelry, stained glass, blown glass, textiles, screen printing, cards and stationery, leather items, hand-made skillets, artisan foods, terrariums, candles, soaps and skincare, and more!

Art Center East (ACE) selects Handmade Holidays Makers Market vendors for the quality and uniqueness of their work, and curates the lineup to include a balanced and engaging selection. No resale or corporate merchandise is accepted into Handmade Holidays Makers Market – all items for sale must be made by the artist selling them. Participation in HHMM requires a booth fee only; no commissions are taken.

We invite you to vend with us at this joyous event - a celebration of everything local and handmade just in time for the holiday season!

Entry Details

Important Dates:

January 1 - July 25, 2024 - 16th Annual Handmade Holidays Makers Market open application period

August 1, 2024 - Applicants notified of their acceptance status **

August 8, 2024 - Invoice due for accepted applicants’ booth fee

November 15, 2024 - Returning this year! VIP Shopping Hour from 3:00 - 4:00 pm

November 15 & 16 - Handmade Holidays Makers Market at Art Center East. The event is free and open to the public on November 15 from 4:00 - 8:00 pm and November 16 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.

** Applicants not accepted into this year’s Handmade Holidays Makers Market can be placed on a waitlist if they wish. If a vendor cancellation opens up a booth space for you, ACE will notify you as soon as possible.

Eligibility Requirements:

Handmade Holidays Makers Market is open to artists and makers aged 18 years and older. All products sold at HHMM must be original products manipulated by you and/or reproductions of your original work. Items made from non-original or commercial patterns, molds, or kits will be considered on an individual basis. Questions? Please contact Gallery Director Jennifer Durr at [email protected] before you submit your application.

Art Center East reserves the right to refuse any application. ACE reserves the right to remove any items in your display that were not present in your original application, or that were not pre-approved by ACE, or that are otherwise deemed by ACE staff to be ineligible or unsuitable for display.

Edible items must comply with State of Oregon licensing requirements. Processed foods (canned jams, pickles, sauces, honey, etc.) may only be sold if produced in a certified kitchen with a valid processing license (see this link).
Producers processing foods they have grown or harvested themselves may not need a processing license, but must follow the rules outlined by the Oregon Farm Direct Marketing Law (see this link). All edible items for sale not for immediate consumption must have an adhesive label (not easily removed) with the following: name of product, ingredient list, artisan’s name (or name of artisan’s business), address and/or phone number, and any other information required by any licensing requirements that pertain to the particular edible product. Questions about your food product? Contact Union County Environmental Health inspector Ryan Zastrow at 541-962-8818. Applicants must be able to provide proof of documentation to Art Center East staff upon request.

Product Portfolio:

Applicants must submit photos of their original work. A portfolio of up to ten photos should include an image of each category of product you intend to sell and an image of your booth set up, if possible. The portfolio should provide ACE with a well-rounded sense of the products that will be available at your booth – sending great photos is recommended.

ACE will use the photos to:

1) Evaluate your product for inclusion as a Handmade Holidays Makers Market vendor.

2) Promote your product if you are accepted. Poor quality or non-existent photos will reduce your chances of being accepted into HHMM. ACE makes an effort to promote each vendor individually as a lead-up to the event. Without usable photos, ACE is unable to promote your business.

Submitting your Product Portfolio:

Your application is not complete without a submitted product portfolio. Please email your portfolio in separate image files (.jpg or .png file types only) to [email protected] with your business name and Product Portfolio as the subject heading (example: Crafty Cards Product Portfolio). Label each image file with your business name, product type, and estimated dimensions, if applicable (example: businessname_product type_dimensions.jpg). Image files should be no smaller than 800 x 800 pixels. If you are unable to provide photos of your work, please call ACE at 541-624-2800 or email Gallery Director Jennifer Durr to make an appointment to bring your work to ACE for evaluation. ACE staff is here to help! Please be in touch if you need assistance in creating or submitting your portfolio.

Screening & Selection

Art Center East seeks works that exhibit originality, craftsmanship, imaginative use of materials, and aesthetic quality. A screening committee will assess the application materials you provide based on these criteria and based on the number of applications proposing to vend similar products. There is more competition in categories such as jewelry or ceramics that often have several applicants. ACE keeps the mix of vendors diverse and engaging for new and existing customers alike. If a previous application wasn’t accepted, please do apply again – our vendor mix changes annually.

Handmade Holidays Makers Market is a high-traffic event – on average, over 1,500 visitors attend each year. Typically, collective vendor sales average a total of more than $30,000 during the two-day, 20+ vendor event. It is imperative that vendors have enough items – with multiple price-points – to sell for the entire duration of HHMM.

No agenda-driven merchandise or signage permitted or accepted (including but not limited to political, discriminatory, or drug paraphernalia merchandise or signage).

Note: If a group of vendors wishes to apply for a single shared booth space, each person must apply individually and must state on the application that they are a part of that group. Each vendor will be juried individually and it may occur that not all applicants who are part of said group are accepted.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. The ACE screening committee’s decisions are final.

Display

Each vendor will be assigned a display space at least 8’ wide x 4’ deep. There are also six booth-and-a-half (4’x4’ plus 8’x4’) display spaces and two double-booth (8’x8’) display spaces available. Vendors must provide all display equipment: table(s), chair(s), shelving, signage, and/or other display fixtures. Vendors wishing to display a large number of hanging items should plan to bring free-standing display panels for that use. Vendors must use their own non-wall-damaging command strips to hang lightweight signs or, with ACE’s permission, a limited number of products on walls. Command strips must be used properly to prevent damage to ACE gallery walls. Vendors may be invoiced for costs related to wall repair after the event.

** The number, size, and location of booth spaces are subject to change depending on the year's applicants.

HHMM Vendor Floor Map with Booth Size Descriptions (1)

Set-Up, Take-Down, & What to Expect

Before the event:

Art Center East will provide vendors with digital marketing materials to promote their participation in the event. Vendors are strongly encouraged to market their participation in HHMM in the months, weeks, and days leading up to the event. ACE may tag vendors’ social media pages in social marketing posts. Be sure to follow us! @artcentereast

Set-Up Time slots for set-up are on Wednesday, November 13 and Thursday, November 14 from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm and on Friday, November 15 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm. Vendors must notify Jennifer Durr, [email protected], of when they can be expected in the building to set up. Vendors are responsible for their own loading and unloading of their display and handmade items – asking other vendors for help is highly discouraged. ACE staff is available to give display presentation feedback, but does not assist with set-up.

Vendor parking in front of the ACE building is available only until 2:00 pm on Friday, November 15. Please note that the area used for Handmade Holidays Makers Market is accessible only by climbing two sets of stairs - keep this in mind when planning your display. Display spaces must be fully assembled and ready for sales no later than 2:45 pm on Friday, November 15.

Friday, November 15 from 3:00 - 4:00 pm VIP-ticketed shoppers enjoy the HHMM event.

Friday, November 15 from 4:00 - 8:00 pm and Saturday, November 16 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm HHMM is open to the general public. Admission is free.

During the Event:

We want you to have a great experience as a vendor at Handmade Holidays Makers Market. Please keep these factors in mind as you prepare:

1) ACE’s kitchen space downstairs is available to use as a break room. Complimentary coffee and tea will be available to vendors throughout the event. Feel free to bring additional food and beverages if you need; refrigerator and microwave available.

2) Vendors are responsible for all monetary transactions at their booths and should plan ahead to bring sufficient bills/coins for making change. Free wifi is available for vendors to run card-swiping apps on phones or tablets. ACE does not run card payments for vendors.

3) Vendors must be ready to take payments Saturday morning no later than 8:45 am. Saturday can be a long day – plan on having one other person with you so you can take breaks. ACE staff and volunteers check on vendors who don’t have help at their booths at regular intervals throughout the event to offer bathroom and food breaks.

4) Please do not lean or rest on gallery walls (things such as blue jeans and dirt/oil from shoes and skin easily transfer to and mark the white walls) If discoloration is found after take-down, vendors may be invoiced for costs related to clean-up.

Take-Down begins at 3:01 pm Saturday, November 16.

NO EARLY TAKE-DOWN, PLEASE. All vendors must keep their booths set up and open for the duration of the HHMM two-day event (3:00 - 8:00 pm on Friday and 9:00 am - 3:00 pm on Saturday). Vendors who choose to leave early will not be considered for next year’s HHMM. Vendors must remain present at their booths until 3:00 pm Saturday, November 16, even if their inventory sells out.

Note: Each booth space will be inspected by ACE staff after take-down. If any damage to ACE property is found, vendors may be invoiced for costs related to the repair/clean-up of space.

1) For Art Center East’s grant reporting to funders, and in order to learn vendors’ opinions about their HHMM experience, ACE asks all vendors to complete a short Vendor Survey at the conclusion of the event. Please take completed surveys to the Gift Gallery desk before leaving the building.

2) After packing up your display and remaining inventory, please leave your booth area tidy and clean. Ask ACE staff for cleaning supplies if necessary.

3) Please use the correct Command strip removal process! Improper removal causes damage to ACE gallery walls; you may be billed for repairs.

4) Please be courteous to your fellow vendors. It’s a tight space, and everyone is packing, loading, and exiting the building at the same time.

Liability / Agreement

Art Center East (ACE) is not responsible for loss of or damage to any goods that are part of Handmade Holidays Makers Market (HHMM). By participating in HHMM, the vendor grants ACE permission to use images of the vendor and/or images of his/her/their work for promotional purposes. Participation in ACE’s Handmade Holidays Makers Market constitutes agreement with all conditions set forth in this agreement.