On a Saturday in late November, the weather outside is frightful, but the spirit inside is quite delightful. Despite the torrential rain pooling outside on Lower Water Street, the historic Brewery Farmers Market in downtown Halifax is packed full of people in every nook and corner, balancing coffee and craft in equal measure.
There’s produce, soap, candles, knitwear, handicrafts, woodworking, glass ornaments, and pottery on offer. There’s a team from Sullivan’s Crossing, blasting its one-minute theme song repeatedly. On the Lower Courtyard steps, there’s a trio of buskers singing their hearts out above the din.
Adjacent to the buskers in a busy thoroughfare connecting the two Courtyards is the NSCAD Community Table, staffed by students Luke Abell and Andrew Cox. Abell, whose line is called Lumpy, features a selection of thick silver rings, delicate earrings and pendants. While Cox’s rings and necklaces boast colourful sea glass.
“I’m really influenced by nautical themes. All I do is fish,” says Cox. “It really inspires me in my work to share what makes me happy. Whether that’s focusing on a certain species, or showing off my lobster pendant, putting a little local sea glass in. Anything to do with the ocean.”
“I like to make stuff with soft edges and funky curves,” says Abell. “Lot of rings and earrings.”
The NSCAD Community Table has been recently dormant at the market, but Kemi Adeyemi-Wilson has resurrected it.
“I wanted the students to be able to get real-life market experience,” says Kemi Adeyemi-Wilson, the Coordinator for NSCAD’s Creative Entrepreneurship Lab, “to help with their confidence, to see all the artisans and makers and see how it all works. You get immediate feedback.”
Abell confirms this. “‘This is too long,’ ‘it doesn’t fit me right,’ ‘I wish you had different sizes,’” he says of today’s customer feedback. “That causes more difficulties when it comes to production, but it’s good to hear—I can head in different directions with what people want while still keeping within my design criteria.”
“You see people come, they look at your piece, they walk away, or people come, they look at your piece, they have questions,” says Cox. “They turn over price tags and you see their expression—is it too expensive, is it not expensive enough? You meet people, you make connections, and you don’t have to sell anything. It’s win-win.”
Both students have had market experience on campus, where the crowd is mostly fellow students and well-wishers. “If we have it on campus and you can invite your friends and family, it’s more of a kind learning environment,” notes Adeyemi-Wilson. “The Brewery Market on one of the last Saturdays before the holidays is quite different.”
“I work retail, I feel like I have a bit of fair experience in terms of dealing with and talking to people, and that has helped me,” says Cox. “But you just have to keep doing it again and again. And then it becomes much easier, just like making art.”
While Adeyemi-Wilson will be managing the monthly table for the rest of 2024, it’s available to students year-round, says Ash Scriven, the Saturday Market Manager for the Brewery Market.
“Students can apply themselves, they can come once a month, and it’s free. We will encourage those students to then apply to be full-time vendors if they want—it’s a way to let them test the waters,” says Scriven. “It’s mutually beneficial. We want them to be here, and then we want them to think ‘Oh I like it here’ and then bring their fine arts to us.”
As the Market hits its lunchtime peak, Abell and Cox are being kept busy by interested patrons pausing by their table. “She bought the $350 piece!” Cox announces in amazement after a customer moves on.
“The support and education we get at NSCAD to make the craft we wanna make is outstanding,” he says later. “I’ve personally seen so many people grow in just a year of making things.”
“Compared to a lot of people I work with at school, selling is on my agenda, it’s important to me,” says Abell, who’s sold more than a few pieces today. “Selling independently is my goal.”
Students interested in becoming a vendor should reach out to cel@nscad.ca for more information.
