Sandpoint Art Market: Supporting local artists one month at a time

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

For Rose Brown, the more chances for local artisans to sell their wares, the better.

Brown founded the Sandpoint Art Market this year for just that purpose – to provide local Sandpoint artists with another place to vend their creations.

“I started getting into doing art a couple years ago,” Brown said. “I discovered it late in life, and wanted a place for beginner artists and artisans to have somewhere to sell their things, but on a low-commitment level, once a month. It’s a place for people who maybe don’t fit into other venues.”

The Sandpoint Art Market takes place every first Saturday of the month from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. through September at the courtyard at MickDuff’s Beer Hall. Brown said the Market aims for fine art and hand-made items such as clothing, woodworking, jewelers, fine art, soaps, lotions, acrylic paintings, birdhouses, garden art and more.

The next Market will take place Saturday, July 6, and will feature live music by Kevin Dorin, as well as the usual eclectic, ever-changing assortment of vendors.

“It’s totally free to come check it out and sit on the lawn,” Brown said. “Have a beer, hang out, do a little shopping.”

A couple of vendors at the Sandpoint Art Market at MickDuff’s Beer Hall in Sandpoint. Photos by Rose Brown.

Brown said this opening gambit is part of a larger vision to make a more permanent art space and market in Sandpoint.

“Someday I’d love to have a gallery and place to purchase art supplies, maybe a co-op art studio for people that don’t have space and need a studio to create,” Brown said. “Then we’d have an indoor market all year round, with several rotating vendors.”

Brown, who doubles as assistant manager at MickDuff’s Beer Hall, claims to be an “uneducated artist,” whose works in acrylic and mixed media are on display and for sale at local venues such as Northwest Handmade, ShakaPaw, Wolf & Belle and Naked inside the Cedar St. Bridge.

Vendors interested in selling their wares can contact Brown at [email protected]. There is a flat $30 fee to sell, with no percentages taken out for revenue earned at the Market. Vendors are responsible for reporting their own city and state sales tax.

Next month’s market will be Aug. 7 and the final of the year Sept. 7, so be sure to check them out when you can. Also, check out Sandpoint Arts Market on Facebook, or “Art Market Sandpoint” on Instagram for more information.