CINCINNATI (WXIX) -The Kennedy Heights Art Center is bringing back one of its beloved events, the Holiday Art Market.

The market features over 40 local artists showcasing and selling their handmade gifts.

“Every holiday season, we expand our year-round art shop and invite our vendors and invite some special new vendors to create unique handmade artist-made gift items to be part of our holiday art market,” Director of Exhibitions and Public Art at the Kennedy Heights Art Center Mallory Feltz said.

The market will be at the gallery space on these tables, Feltz said.

“The holiday art market is wonderful, especially during this holiday season, to come in and buy gifts that are made by local artists. They’re original, they’re unique, you can’t find them anywhere else, and especially on Small Business Saturday, you’re supporting a small nonprofit, you’re supporting local artists, you’re giving back to your community,” Feltz said.

The Holiday Market is open on Saturdays for the rest of November and until the end of December from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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In the opaque, often murky global art market, the United Kingdom stands determined to hold on as a pivotal hub. Its impact reverberates across commerce, culture, and employment. According to a recent report from the British Art Market Federation (BAMF), the UK art market has not only weathered past challenges but has emerged as a beacon of resilience, supporting a vast network of jobs and businesses.

In 2022, the British art market secured its position as the second-largest globally and boasted aggregate sales totalling $11.9 billion (£9.7 billion). Despite facing a decline in market share from 34% in 2008 to 18% in 2022, the UK maintains its significance, outpacing the European Union, which accounted for 12% of global sales.

The US may dominate with a 45% market share, but the UK’s enduring influence cannot be understated. While the spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, the UK art market exhibits a commendable rebound. Sales may remain below pre-pandemic levels, reaching $11.9 billion in 2022, but this resurgence reverberates through the cultural and economic landscape. The art market is not merely a conduit for transactions; it is a dynamic force driving employment, nurturing businesses, and catalysing revenue from cultural tourism.

A closer look at the market composition reveals that, in 2022, over 7,000 galleries and dealers played a pivotal role in shaping the narrative of the British art market, contributing an estimated $6.9 billion (£5.7 billion) in sales. London remains a critical hub as the epicentre of this artistic commerce, but the impact resonates far beyond its borders. Approximately 58% of the market’s sales value is dispersed throughout the country, with clusters in cities such as Brighton, Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Glasgow.

The expansion of businesses in the sector further exemplifies the resilience of this market. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the number of VAT or PAYE-registered commercial galleries and antique businesses increased by 31% from 2013 to 2023, a testament to the enduring spirit of these predominantly small enterprises.

The UK’s prowess extends to the auction market, securing the third position globally in 2022, following China and the US. Together, these three markets commanded 76% of global sales of fine and decorative art and antiques at auction. While smaller markets may witness a high volume of low-value sales, the UK, China, and the US dominate the realm of high-priced auction lots.

The tangible impact of the UK art market on the nation’s economy is evident in the numbers presented by the BAMF report. In 2023, the art market directly supported 45,520 jobs and 7,800 businesses. The fiscal contribution for 2022 reached nearly £1.6 billion, with an additional £2.6 billion spent on specialised services and products, supporting 37,900 jobs.

As the UK art market continues to navigate global dynamics, its role as a powerhouse of cultural and economic influence remains steadfast. Beyond the canvas and auction block, it weaves a narrative of resilience, growth, and substantial contribution to the nation’s prosperity.

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Art Market Report, BAMF, British Art Market Federation

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The holiday shopping season is in full swing. You may want to consider shopping locally this weekend, in honor of Small Business Saturday. 

In 2022, Small Business Saturday generated almost $18 billion in revenue, according to a survey by American Express.

On Saturday, more than 350 local shops and vendors will be set up in Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg for Shopapalooza. Featured businesses will be selling everything from clothes and jewelry to food and art. 

Eniko Olah is the owner of Sans Market, a zero waste lifestyle store in St. Pete. Olah has been participating in Shopapalooza for more than five years and said the event helped her build up a large enough customer base to open a brick-and-mortar.

“We get to engage with a lot of new customers and let them know that we exist and what we’re all about,” Olah said. “Ultimately, we use that to bring them to the store, so it’s important obviously for the day of for the sales we generate, but really for us it’s about new connections with the community.”

Olah said a lot of small businesses in the area have been struggling with issues like the rising cost of rent and inventory, as well as staffing. She and other owners are hopeful a busy holiday season will keep the small business community thriving. 

“If we want St. Pete to stay as cool and unique and beautiful as it is, I think it’s really critical to support the small businesses so we don’t have the big chains coming in,” Olah said. “It changes the atmosphere, it changes the vibe. Let’s keep it the way it is, I say.”

You can find Sans Market and hundreds of other local vendors at Shopapalooza from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. Click here for more information, including a full list of featured vendors. 

“When they laugh, it blows away the feeling of 20,000 people,” says the comedian, who stars in the new Max series “Bookie.”

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Inspired by Harappan artefacts, ‘Mohenjo-Daro Live’, a series of ceramic and terracotta sculptures crafted by master potter Sobodh Poddar, are mesmerising and evocative at the same time. Poddar’s sculptures depict the ‘Mohenjo-Daro dancer’ in different poses of the Oddissi dance form.   

Art lovers seeing ceramic and terracotta works of Subodh Poddar in ‘Potters Market’ at Gauhar Mahal in the city. |

Poddar’s series, along with the works of three other master potters, are on display at  Gauhar Mahal in the city as part of a four-day ‘Potters Market 2023,’ organised by Bhopal Potters Development Welfare Society. 

‘Journey ‘ a series of ceramic artworks , crafted by Sandeep Manchekar |

Another JJ School of Arts alumnus Sandeep Manchekar from Mumbai has displayed four works under a series titled ‘Journey’. Clay has been his constant companion since his childhood. The universe is round and constantly moving but we humans make everything square to seek stability, he says. And this is what his works depict. Churning new thoughts of glaze from organic, flowy, undulated to definite and structured through reparative firings helped him fashion his artworks. 

Female torso crafted by ceramist Sultana Khan |

Another master potter, Sultana Khan’s ceramic works include female torsos. Sultana, who lives in Mumbai, creates figurative sculptures with the goal to engage, inspire and provoke viewers with her work. Working with clay allows for a playful and spontaneous approach, she says.  

Sultana chose clay as her medium to sculpt her life's journey. Representational sculpture is a natural extension of her vision. The shapes and forms of her sculptures are an expression of internal and external influences on her life. She hopes to create contemplative pieces that have a connection to the soul, she said. 

An artlover clicking a picture of ‘ Perfectly Imperfect,’ a series of terracotta artworks, crafted by Omprakash Galav. |

Omprakash Galav from Alwar, Rajasthan, is the 15th-generation potter of his family. The collection of his works ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ portray the ups and downs of life.

“When I used to make clay artefacts in my childhood, some of them used to break but the shape they had when they broke attracted me a lot and I felt like making such artefacts,” he says, adding that fashioning such works is quite challenging and painstaking because almost 80% of the pieces break while in the making.   

Besides the exhibition, around 40 potters from across the country have displayed their ceramic and terracotta works in the ‘Potters  Market,’ which will remain open for art lovers till November 26 from 11am-8pm.

SARANAC LAKE — A new Pendragon Theatre and BluSeed Studios artist residency program is now underway. The first free performance through the program is scheduled next month and work on a crowdsourced mural project will kick off in January.

New York City-based artist Sam Balzac, a former resident of the Adirondacks, will present his adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Wrong Box” on Dec. 9 at the Saranac Lake Public Library. Then, in early 2024, ceramic artists Jazen Reuss and Brooke Armstrong, of Saranac Lake and Texas, respectively, will start work on their community collaborative ceramic bead mural.

A dozen artists in visual and performing arts, including six from the North Country, are part of this artist residency program. The work is funded by $75,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts’ “Our Town” program and $75,000 from Pendragon Theatre and BluSeed Studios.

Pendragon Managing Director Michael Aguirre said the theater and BluSeed Studios applied for this $75,000 grant two years ago, and after a long process he’s excited to see it starting to come to fruition.

“Now comes the fun part,” he said.

All the art produced with this grant will be free for the public, and he hopes this will be the start of an annual program in Saranac Lake, as part of the grant is seed money for future years.

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“The Wrong Box”

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Balzac, a performer, composer/lyricist and musician originally hailing from Jay, will be debuting his musical, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Wrong Box,” Dec. 9 at the Saranac Lake Public Library

“I’m pleased as punch about the residency program,” Balzac said.

Things fit together perfectly for him. He previously got a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts Support for Artists through the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts to write the show. But this grant did not pay for a performance. Being accepted for the residency in Saranac Lake allows him to do that.

Balzac said he’s wanted to adapt something of Stevenson’s for a while because of the famous author’s connection to the area.

While visiting the cottage Stevenson in Saranac Lake, he learned that the author revised “The Wrong Box” with his son, Lloyd Osbourne, here. His parents mentioned there was a movie of it and he watched it straightaway.

“I was like ‘This is hilarious,’” Balzac said. “It’s really right up my alley in terms of humor and absurdity.”

The movie is notably different than the book, he said. His stage adaptation is closer to the book, but blends in aspects of the movie. Balzac said he’s also embellished and added his own mark to the story.

Balzac started in the theater from a very young age, playing “various small children” in Christmas carols his mom would put on in Upper Jay. From there, got involved in community theater, school theater and eventually professional theater at the Depot and Pendragon. His mom taught him how to write lyrics and compose songs in high school.

Balzac said the performance will be put on with collaborators from New York City and professional local actors. He’s bringing up a couple friends from college and Pendragon is providing housing for them.

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“We Are Mountain”

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Beginning in January 2024, Reuss and Armstrong will bring the public in to work on their mural, “We Are Mountain,” a ceramic bead mural made of hundreds of ceramic beads to be installed at BluSeed Studios.

This will involve a series of public workshops where locals and visitors to town can create their own bead to become part of the larger three-dimensional mural.

“A mountain, made of many layers of sediment, symbolizes the people and parts that make it what it is: strong, solid and lush,” they wrote in a statement.

Reuss said the goal is to illustrate the human composition of the Saranac Lake area, which has a small local population but is a place many people come in to visit.

She’s dyed porcelain clay in seven colors. Each person who creates a bead will get a color corresponding to their connection to the area.

For example, someone born and raised here, which she plans to be the center of the piece, will be blue. Someone visiting from out of state will get another color. Someone visiting for out of the country will get another.

These beads can be carved in many ways — animals, traditional round beads or long “fang”-like beads Armstrong uses in her work — which Reuss and Armstrong said makes the project versatile and challenging.

Reuss said this is an opportunity for people to take part in art for free.

Reuss will hold free community bead making workshops at BluSeed Studios throughout 2024. She also hopes to have workshops at other locations around town.

Armstrong, originally from Long Lake, said it was “an honor” to be selected for this artist residency.

“To be able to go back to the area where I’m from and make art and share with the community, I’m really excited about it,” she said.

The two have been friends since college and are cousins by marriage.

Armstrong learned about the opportunity through Reuss, and they agreed to do a combined residency. Reuss will lead workshops on making the beads. Armstrong will lead workshops on assembling the mural.

“The way I work, I make lots of small parts,” Armstrong said.

She first experimented with this community collaboration on a public mural in Missoula, Montana, and Reuss thought it would be a good fit for Saranac Lake.

Armstrong will hold a workshop on how to assemble the mural as well as have open artist hours for the community to see the construction of the mural in June 2024.

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The grant

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Pendragon Theatre and BluSeed Studios were awarded a $75,000 matching grant from the NEA’s Our Town program and collectively came up with another $75,000.

The money will go to pay artists a commission; house them; and pay for transportation, supplies, administrative costs and marketing.

The organizations are not taking any “box office cut” — the art produced in Saranac Lake will be viewed by the public for free in Saranac Lake, with the goal of contributing to the community and speaking to issues and life here.

Each artist will receive a commission fee, which can range between $100 and $5,000, but Aguirre hopes most are between $1,000 and $3,000. The length of engagement for each artist will vary depending on their project and specialty.

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More art coming

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BluSeed Studios will also host artists David Woodward and Britt Sternberg.

Pendragon Theatre will also host writers, composers and performers Glen McClure and Karen Lewis.

Woodward hopes to produce a 10-foot-tall iron sculpture in front of the Saranac Lake Free Library. This iron sculpture would be of a child reading a book with various book themes and characters flying out of the book towards the sky.

Sternberg plans to create a mural to reflect this community back to itself, while fostering a sense of inclusion, welcoming and belonging. She plans to include community input into the design, which will be created in small sections at discussion dates to be announced.

McClure will use the residency to develop music to discuss social issues, including disability in relation to the Adirondacks. McClure will create a 20- to 30-minute musical conversation between disability and the wilderness. One singer will voice disability and four singers — soprano, alto, tenor and bass — will play the role of the forest. Three instrumentalists — fiddle, guitar, banjo, hammer dulcimer, flute and percussion — will provide a folk and classical music setting.

Lewis will focus on the creation of a new play with the working title “The Pathless Woods.”

The new Relevant Galleries opened Friday at 692 Main Street.

Its grand-opening showcase features works from David Yarrow, a photographer based in the U.K.

Justin Montgomery with Relevant Galleries described Yarrow’s photos as unique.

“It’s very large scale, fine art photography, mostly black and white,” Montogomery said. “He works with a host of very famous supermodels: Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Alessandra Ambrosio, and then a whole host of characters like Gerard Butler, John McEnroe, and he puts them into these really incredible cinematic storylines.”

Parker Malatesta

Montgomery invites everyone to come down to the new gallery and check it out for themselves.

He said he finds Park City’s art market to have a diverse, international feel.

“It’s no secret that this is a thriving market,” Montgomery said. “I see the growth of Park City every year, and from the past mountain markets that we’ve been in, it’s hard to grow locally. It’s really hard to not outgrow the town. So what I feel so far is that it’s just a really charming community. Everybody has been extremely friendly so far.”

The last Friday of the every month, all of the art venues in Park City host a “gallery stroll.” The event is free and open to the public, and includes food, drinks, and music.

Dressed Design, which the new gallery replaced, has relocated to the Park City Outlets.

Shymanski’s business partner spoke to WUSA9 about his art and how he plans to continue his legacy.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A holiday tradition will be back at the Greensboro Coliseum from Nov. 24 to 26. 

The Craftsmen’s Classic Art & Craft Festival, which has pottery, jewelry, fine art, glasswork, furniture and more, turns 50 this year. 

Carly Gilmore is the director of marketing for Craftsmen’s Classics and the third generation helping run the show. She began working at Craftsmen’s Classic when she was just two weeks old. 

“This actually was started by my grandfather, and when he passed unexpectedly in 1980, my dad was 19 years old and he thought, actually he dropped out of college just for the semester, thought he would just finish, finish out those shows and then go back to college. And the rest is history. He never went back,” Gilmore said. 

Carly Gilmore looking at a vendor’s item. (Spectrum News 1/Randy Maynard)

Now, Gilmore’s 4-year-old daughter has even got in on the action, participating in her first show at 6 weeks old.

“It is truly a family business, and it means a lot. I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together,” Gilmore said. 

According to Gilmore, the festival is projected to draw a crowd of approximately 18,000 or more attendees throughout the weekend. With 220 booths, she highlights the event has expanded by 16% compared to 2022, marking it as their largest gathering since the COVID era. 

“We’re thrilled to have this many exhibitors in here. I think the community is really excited to, you know, get into the holiday spirit at a unique event. And it’s really special and important to be celebrating a 50th anniversary of a small business and supporting all of these small businesses, especially on Small Business Saturday this weekend,” Gilmore said. 

Small businesses like Dexter Covington’s Sculpture by Dexter have been at the festival for 49 out of 50 years. 

“It’s just it’s the highest quality show that you’ll do in Greensboro. They always have the best out here and we just enjoy it,” Covington said. 

Covington makes items out of steel he finds at the junkyard, and says he loves seeing what sells and the feeling of someone taking home his creation. 

Dexter Covington working on a sculpture. (Spectrum News 1/Randy Maynard)

“People coming back every year, we have some really loyal customers that come back every single year…some of them, I hate to see what their yards look like, and their house. They’ve been buying for almost 30 years,” Covington exclaimed. 

The steel sculpture designer says the show is like a family, knowing the owners for years and the other vendors. Although his favorite part is the environment. 

“It doesn’t matter where you came from, who your parents are. The only thing that matters is what you put out on your table, all the racks. And that’s the only thing. So you’re equal. Everybody here is equal is what I love about it,” Covington said. 

Throughout the festival’s 50-year history, Gilmore estimates it has generated millions for the local economy. 

“I love looking for gifts, honestly, for family and friends, for people who they might be used to getting things from a big box store. But this gives something with a story behind it. Someone’s heart and soul has been poured into this and their talent and creativity,” Gilmore said. 

The Craftsmen’s Classic also has a Holiday Market held at the Coliseum in November, and has other locations in South Carolina and Virginia. 

To pre-purchase tickets, visit the Craftsmen’s Classic website. Tickets are $10 at the door Friday and Saturday. To celebrate the milestone, on the last day of the event, which is Sunday, Nov. 26, tickets will be $5 at the door.