Table Troubles: A Recap of Masterman's Art Fair

On November 22nd, members of Vibe, Masterman’s art magazine sprawled out across the patio. Ever creative and charismatic, they politely but enthusiastically heckled passersby and made sales like there was no tomorrow. Of course, there was a tomorrow: their art fair was a two-day event, and an extremely successful one, at that.

The affair was the brainchild of Jocelyn Chiu (12-1), leader of Vibe. “The idea of [an] art fair hadn't arisen from one particular event, but after coming back from a full year of isolated virtual school, I put a lot of thought into ways we could take advantage of simply being in person again that would bring people together as a community in a simple and fun way,” she says. “Art fair is the culmination of this.”

The variety was truly impressive: from crocheted clothing and stuffed animals to sweet desserts, stickers, earrings, and other art pieces. “I wanted to push for ways to give individual artists the chance to act on their own initiative… [including] price, quantity, quality, and even placement of their station,” Jocelyn explained. This is exactly what transpired, and played into the uniqueness of the fundraiser. Students explored the booths that appealed to them and were cared for by business owners who were passionate about the products displayed.

The state of the patio an hour into the first day of the sale was revelatory of the success of the event. Every booth was wiped, and essentially no item was left without a new owner. Eleanor Zdancewic (11-2), who ran an embroidery and jewelry station, sold her entire embroidery backlog. That night, she went home and made more, which sold out the next day, too. “Some artists ran out so thoroughly that they had to take preorders,” Jocelyn noted. This hike in interest resulted in the compiling of business contact information on a master Google Doc.

Not only did the artists mingle with the laymen but also among themselves. Next-door-booth-neighbors swapped success stories as sales stacked up and hours ticked by.

However, there were many villains in this triumphant tale. The first crisis came with the advertising posters, pasted on all the walls with incorrect dates, but later corrected. The November date brought the chill of the season, and it brought wind along with it. Papers were blown off of tables and scattered as booth owners jumped to recover them, and sellers bundled up in their thickest layers in a futile attempt to escape the cold.

But by far the worst of it? The tables, or rather, a lack thereof. “Do you know how rare normal tables are in our school? We had to borrow both of Officer Taylor's tables for the purposes of the art fair,” Jocelyn relayed. On day two, all the difficulty-acquired tables from the prior fair had been stored under the stage in the basement. From a vendor’s perspective, Ellie Zdancewic shared: “We had to get tiny little desks, so we had much less space the second day. That became a problem for [some people].”

Tables aside, the Art Fair was a success, and an event that will be repeated sometime this winter: indoors. Needless to say, COVID-19 precautions will be carefully adhered to, “unless everyone wants to freeze,” Jocelyn jokes.