Handmade Arcade marketplace goes virtual, adds classes, studio tours

Pittsburgh’s popular Handmade Arcade, a twice-yearly market featuring wares from cutting-edge craft-based artists, designers and makers, is going virtual.

The winter marketplace is usually a Friday evening and all-day Saturday event in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Going online due to the pandemic just might have some advantages, said executive director Tricia Brancolini-Foley.

First, if shoppers couldn’t get downtown for that one day, they were out of luck. Previous markets didn’t have an online component.

Second, the virtual market won’t come and go in one day — it will be available Nov. 28-Dec. 6.

Third, because in-person markets are so busy and crowded, shoppers rarely have a chance to talk with makers. The virtual version will offer artist demonstrations, panel discussions, studio tours and an array of workshops and classes.

While some of those opportunities require advance registration, all of them are free.

“When the decision was made in June (to go online), it seemed like a super-great idea,” Brancolini-Foley said. “It’s been more work than we thought it would be, but it’s going great. We’ve taken the opportunity and really run with it.”

Reusable resource

The virtual marketplace will link to the websites of the 137 featured makers, where purchases will be completed, she said.

“The great thing about what we’re building is that it’s a reusable resource,” she said. “The virtual marketplace is evergreen. Going forward, we will always have a virtual component.”

Special events will include a “Meet the Maker Happy Hour” at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 4, during which Brancolini-Foley will host 12 featured makers discussing everything from their “biggest inspirations, to their wildest dreams, their biggest successes (and fears), to their most memorable moment at a Handmade Arcade event.”

Virtual class topics include glass mosaics, needle felting, essential oils, holiday decorations, paper cutting and more. Participants in an engineering challenge at 3 p.m. Nov. 28 will use materials found around the home to build a bridge, while learning about engineering principles and the history of bridge-building around the world.

Some workshops require purchasing a materials kit from the host, while others employ common materials found at home. Details for each one are available on the website.

Design and creation of the Handmade Arcade Virtual Marketplace, the corresponding curriculum and e-commerce toolkit was made possible with support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

The virtual marketplace was built by the Pittsburgh-based website-building firm, Imagebox.

“The Richard King Mellon Foundation has been strategically investing in Pittsburgh’s maker community for years,” said Sam Reiman, foundation director. “Our makers are successors to Southwestern Pennsylvania’s proud manufacturing past. And they are more important than ever as we strive to ensure our collective recovery from the devastating economic impacts of covid-19.”

“Without their support, this marketplace would be some sort of Instagram posting,” Brancolini-Foley said. “They’ve been so supportive.

“Being able to re-imagine the in-person event as a cohesive, compelling, virtual marketplace has the power to help keep the region’s makers sustained during a time when their annual schedule of physical marketplaces (and chances for revenue and increased audiences) continues to disappear,” she said.

“Pittsburgh has such a unique and vibrant maker community,” she added. “The creative community has taken such a hit through this time. We’re really encouraging the community to spend their holiday budget this year with the small and local businesses and artisans.”

And while organizers are holding out hope for an in-person spring event, they’re also planning for several smaller themed online events throughout 2021 to help makers recoup revenue lost in 2020.

Details: handmadearcade.org