From purses made from cigar boxes to framed animal skulls, student vendors lined the Magic Stones on March 21 to sell their work at the Spring Art Market. The Trinity Art Collective hosts the Art Market every semester since Fall 2023. It allows students to immerse themselves in peers’ art and gives student artists a place to sell their work.

The art market is open-application, meaning students can apply for a booth regardless of their educational discipline or artistic medium. The only requirement was that all work must be original — not wholesale or AI. The freedom given by the application means that the art market sees a wide variety of vendors — some first-time and some returning — all with unique goods to sell.

Art of all forms and styles were for sale throughout the market and even at each table. Olive Irons, junior environmental studies and anthropology double-major, participated in the art market and offered a wide array of items for sale.

“I have a million different art hobbies, and that is very evident,” Irons said. “I have a lot of collages. I’m very into bones at the moment … I have some sparkly glittery resin stuff and some shiny jewelry.” Irons also had keychains and paintings displayed.
SC Sharp, sophomore economics major, had a similarly diverse group of items for sale at her table, including purses made from collaged, repurposed cigar boxes. It was Sharp’s second time participating in the art market, where she had previously sold items such as journals she made from old books during the pandemic.

“I’m just selling things that I’ve made over the past five years,” Sharp said. “I just had them in my house, and over spring break, I went back and just sorted through what I had, what I made, what my mother’s made, and then we just have it here.”

However, unlike Irons and Sharp, some students’ booths were devoted to selling a singular product or type of work. Abby Hernandez, senior global health major, dedicated her booth to selling linoleum-printed shirts — a process that includes hand-carving an image onto a linoleum block and then using ink to transfer it to the fabric. Hernandez, who doesn’t typically sell her work, cited the social aspect of the art market as one of the reasons she chose to participate.

“I like that I get to talk to people and have them see maybe a different form of art that they may not be used to,” Hernandez said. “I also like explaining the process to them, because it’s really time-consuming, and … you can’t really tell that it’s time consuming just by looking at it.” Hernandez also said that she enjoys getting the chance to talk to fellow students in STEM or non-artistic majors about their creative passions.

In this way, the art market provides students a unique opportunity not only to sell and display their art but to connect with others about it as well. Ollie Kirshbaum, first-year biology and earth and environmental geosciences double-major, also emphasized social connection as a reason they like selling at the art market.

“I like just being able to see people have stuff that I made that they like,” Kirshbaum said. “That makes me happy to see: to be able to make something that other people really like and really appreciate.”

At their booth, Kirshbaum sold items such as prints, pins, stickers and more. This was their second time participating in the art market and they intend to keep doing so.

“I hope to do this every year,” Kirshbaum said. “Last time I did it, it was great, and this time’s been great.”