Giuliana Maresca, a mixed media artist who teaches digital photography at the Art Students League of Denver, believes the work of local artists make great gifts because they are often one-of-a-kind and have a unique personality from the artist.
“As we navigate this world where small businesses are slowly falling and big corporations are taking over, I feel that as human beings in these wonderful communities, we should support these art makers … more than ever,” Maresca said.
The community will have the opportunity to do just that with the ASLD’s inaugural Winter Holiday Art Market, WHAM, on Dec. 9 and 10. WHAM is a seasonal event modeled off ASLD’s Summer Art Market, SAM.
ASLD has been hosting SAM for 30 years, and got the idea for WHAM from faculty who wanted more opportunities to showcase their work and promote the organization, said Tessa Crisman, director of communications and development at ASLD.
“For people who love to go to SAM and have artists they always stop to check out, this will be a great way to meet some new people in our community,” Crisman said.
WHAM will feature art from 30 artists, all of whom work and teach at ASLD. Because WHAM will feature a smaller group of artists than SAM, it will allow people to explore their work more in depth, Crisman said.
“It’s very fun to be in a room with these people who are part of the same arts community and show up for each other and together,” Crisman said. “That energy really comes across when you attend one of these events.”
The Dec. 9 market will take place in the evening and will have a live DJ and food and drink from Trve Brewing and Music City Hot Chicken. Dec. 10 is geared toward families, and takes place during the daytime.
All ticket proceeds from both days will go to support ASLD’s programs and classes, and all artists will keep the proceeds from the purchases of their work.
Conner Choi, a painting and drawing teacher at ASLD, is excited to see his colleagues’ work after his first session teaching. Choi enjoys selling his work at markets because it lets him connect with people interested in purchasing his paintings.
“I really like that you can interact with people who are looking at your work,” Choi said. “If someone decides they want to buy a painting, you can be there to talk to them about the process and what inspired you to make the painting.”
Choi paints many iconic Colorado scenes that people will likely recognize, and will have prints and original pieces available that make great gifts for locals, he said.
Maresca plans to sell a variety of her handmade bags, which include vinyl bags with her photographs screen printed onto the material, and hand sewn bags made from faux fur that are designed to look like spiders.
Like Choi, one of Maresca’s favorite parts about art markets like WHAM is getting to have conversations with people who attend and hear how they interpret her work.
Often people who are coming to art markets are positive, kind people, who make the event really enjoyable, she said.
“It’s a wonderful thing to support these nonprofit organizations and artists who really love art and sharing it with other people,” Maresca said.