Art Star Craft Bazaar Brings Arts, Crafts, and Live Music to Asbury Park

The award-winning Art Star Craft Bazaar of Philadelphia is bringing more than 50 curated art and craft vendors to Asbury Park July 30, from 10 a.m. -7 p.m., and July 31, from 10 a.m. -4 p.m. The two-day event will take place in Bradley Park, 5th Avenue between Kingsley Street and Ocean Avenue. The event is free to the public and rain or shine. The first 50 customers each day will receive a tote bag and the first 250 customers each day will receive $5 off a participating vendor's booth.

The Art Star Craft Bazaar, an award-winning outdoor retail art/craft show, is organized and juried by Art Star, Philadelphia’s leading purveyors of quality handmade goods. The show has been held in Philadelphia for the past 13 years and has been named Best of Philly by Philadelphia Magazine in 2010 + 2012. The show has become a beloved shopping tradition to Philadelphians and attracts 10-15k visitors annually.

The Art Star Craft Bazaar made its debut in Asbury Park last summer and due to the success of the show, will return for a second year. The show will take place in Bradley Park, located directly across the street from the Asbury Park Boardwalk and Convention Hall. Happening the same weekend will be the seventh Annual Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival, which will be held across the street at Convention Hall.

"We are excited to be partnering again with Asbury Park-based non-profit, Move For Hunger," said Megan Brewster, co-founder of the event. "Visit their tent for a selection of freshly prepared, vegan/vegetarian-friendly food, coffee, and teas from Long Branch, NJ-based restaurant, Hello Chef. A portion of all sales will go directly to Move For Hunger."

Move For Hunger is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2009 to transform moving into an opportunity to reduce food waste and help feed the hungry. Move For Hunger is a national organization working with over 600 relocation partners and thousands of real estate agents to bring awareness to hunger in America. Currently over 1,151,000 residents of New Jersey struggle with hunger. Move For Hunger is working to ensure less food goes to waste and more is delivered to those in need. In just five years, the Move For Hunger program has delivered over 4.5 million pounds of food to community food banks nationwide.

More than 50 of the best makers from across the region (and beyond) will set up 10x10 'shops' to sell their wares in the park. Shoppers can expect high quality, handmade goods that reflect Art Star’s unique and quirky aesthetic. Erin Waxman and Megan Brewster of Art Star have hand selected a diverse collection of artists that create anything and everything, including housewares, paper goods, jewelry, prints, ceramics, clothing, accessories, paintings/drawings, sculpture, and many other one-of-a-kind curiosities. All items have been handmade from a variety of mediums that include fabric, clay, glass, wood, paper and much more. The show will also include artists who will be selling select works (t-shirts, prints, cards, etc) that have been reproduced in small batches, if not locally, within the US. The Art Star Craft Bazaar aims to offer something for everyone (women, men, kids, moms, babies, teens, etc) at a range of prices to accommodate all budgets.

“Art Star and the Art Star Craft Bazaar are known in Philadelphia as the place to go for quality handmade goods,"said Brewster. "You won't find guitar pick earrings or melted record bowls here. We are interested in finely crafted goods that are also unique, relevant, and stylish items that you will want to wear, hang in your home and use every day. Our artists have taken years to perfect their craft and every detail, down to their booth design, is well thought out. Erin and I carefully curate every craft bazaar we host. We hand select a mix of goods that reflect our personal, quirky aesthetic that our customers have grown to love."

Vendor Highlights

• Stained Glass Marionettes by Philadelphia-based artist Le Puppet Regime. Genevieve Greer of Le Puppet Regime crafts tattooed ladies, circus freaks, minotaurs, Siamese twins and more with moveable limbs, so you can hang them in a variety of poses. Collect a group of tattooed circus performers to somersault, tumble and walk on their hands across your wall or window.

• Former sound engineer Dan Knoll of Audio Tree will be showing his handmade wood iPhone amplifiers and phone cases. Simply place your phone in the dock and turn up the sound. Enjoy your tunes on the beach or out camping!

• 80's children will remember shrinky-dinks – plastic sheets that can be drawn on and cut into shapes. Gretchen Diel of BirdQueen Designs elevates this humble craft by making light as a feather jewelry from this material. Her expertly illustrated flora and fauna, geometric, and sea creature (among other) designs will delight, and each piece, from simple earrings to intricate statement necklaces, will be coveted and collected.
• Shop Julia Passafume’s delightful line of brightly-patterned children’s clothing and accessories. At the same time, visit her sister, Leah Gae’s collection of hand-bound books and letterpress/silkscreen prints featuring mystical illustrations of the study of palmistry, phrenology, the moon cycle and more.

• Local Asbury Photographer Claudia Chloe captures summer scenes like nobody else by taking aerial shots that feature bright, colorful clusters of umbrellas and towels dotting sweeping landscapes of sand and surf.

• The Art Star Craft Bazaar welcomes dogs to the event. Swing by Adornables’ booth to pick up a dapper bow tie for your pup. Lovingly handcrafted from vintage dead stock fabrics in plaids and gingham, so your little lady or fella will be the talk of the dog park.

Live Music, Make + Takes, Food, and More!

Live acoustic music presented by Asbury Underground includes Jeff Shadows, RockSteadyLevi, The Sunday Blues, Dentist, Joe Harvard, Great Estates, Nectar and Ambrosia and Francis Lombardi. Full schedule can be found at http://www.artstarcraftbazaar.com/music-food-asbury/

Food will be provided by Hello Chef, She’s Got Balls (Saturday Only), Cha-Yen, and Dill With It.

Make + Takes will be offered by Asbury-based glass studio Hot Sand ($24 to make a small sun tile or $36 to make a large sun tile) and Red Bank-based Two River Theater will be providing fun crafts for kids in support of their upcoming theater for Young Audiences.

Relax in a lounge tent from Wanderland Pop Up or enjoy the live music and a snack on one of their large blankets in the park.

While visiting the bazaar, guests are encouraged to explore all that Asbury Park has to offer. There are a variety of great independent shops and restaurants along the boardwalk, as well as a thriving shopping district along Cookman Avenue and connecting side streets.

About the Event Organizers

Art Star is a gallery and boutique located in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia that is owned and operated by Megan Brewster and Erin Waxman. They carry a curated collection of handmade and independently designed products by over 50 local and national artists. The gallery space exhibits the work of multiple emerging and mid-career artists throughout the year, aiming to stock affordable art and high-quality handmade goods for everyone to enjoy. Visit us online at www.artstarphilly.com and www.artstarcraftbazaar.com.