Arts and Culture to Converge at Parkside Ave. Station

An outdoor arts market, where residents can snag a vibrant array of hand-made goods, is getting ready to make its debut outside the Parksive Ave. Q train subway station.

The Arts and Culture Fest, which starts April 21, will bring in local vendors selling paintings, photographs, soaps and lotions, crocheted hats, jewelry, and more to sell at the market.

The project was launched last May by The Creative Side, a new Brooklyn-based organization focused on promoting careers in arts and crafts.

"We are a group of people who are interested in making sure that artists and designers find ways of earning an income," said Atim Annette Oton, co-founder of The Creative Side. "The traditional process is that you do exhibitions and you sell at small stores. I think the economy has changed that dynamic for a lot of artists and designers."

The market, located just outside the Q train station at Parkside and Ocean aves., will take place every Saturday through the fall. The Creative Side is currently in the process of selecting who will sell at the event.

The main requirement for vendors?

"People who actually make stuff," said Oton. "And I am using that expression broadly." 

While acceptance is competetive, virtually anyone with a hand-made craft can apply. Attendees can expect to see a rotating group of local vendors with various items to offer.

So far, the vendor list includes Brooklyn-based landscape painter Noel Hefele; Expressions in Ceramics, a pottery and ceramic collective on Nostrand Avenue; Tafari Tribe, an African clothing and jewelry boutique on Flatbush Avenue; and Dahlia Soleil, selling unique crocheted hats and appliques. The Creative Side will eventually bring in thirty vendors for the event.

Paulette Wiley, owner of Dahlia Soleil, lived in Flatbush for five years after moving from Barbados as a teen. She has sold at several outdoor arts markets in Brooklyn, but never in this area.

“I’m excited about it,” she said. “I know the neighborhood very well, but I’ve never sold in the Flatbush vicinity.”

Wiley said that, coming from Barbados, she looks forward to selling to the Carribbean community that lives nearby.

“I’m designing [appliques] specific to the neighborhood for this particular event,” she said. “It’s a really great area.”

In addition to artists and craftsmen, The Creative Side will be bringing in food vendors for the market, as well as hosting a series of events during the course of the summer, so that attendees can do more than just shop. There will be a mix of live music, poetry readings, children’s art workshops, and other events.

The Arts and Culture Fest is the first outdoor market project by The Creative Side, and its been nearly a year of applying for permits, finding fiscal sponsorshop, and reaching out to community groups and organizations, before reaching this point. Oton sees the process as a test run for potential future outdoor markets in neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn (she already has her eye on Bed-Stuy).

"It's a test run, but it's really a commitment," said Oton. "We can work out all the kinks, figure out what works, what doesn't work, what to do in different scenarios."

The Arts and Culture Fest will take place ever Saturday from April 21 through October 20. Click here for information on how to apply to be a vendor or click on the attached PDF.