Sitting behind a table full of sparkling sun catchers and necklaces, Kim Hall observed the crowd of people browsing and moving between the 40 vendors set up in EMU’s Hall of Nations for the first official EMU Makers Market. On Nov. 22, the usual crowd of students studying and catching was replaced with tables full of everything from baked goods to books. Hall, an instructor of psychology here at EMU, wanted to share with the attendees one of the hobbies she finds joy in. “I love going to thrift stores and antique stores and browsing vintage stuff online,” Hall said. “I get materials that I break down and reconstruct into suncatchers. People can use them as ornaments, rear-view mirror stuff, anywhere that has a sun beam strike, and anywhere people want more of a rainbow and more of a sparkle.”
Along with her usual merchandise, Hall had a bowl or ornaments in Palestinian flag colors and progress pride flag colors. Rather than simply selling these, she used them as incentives. “People can make a donation either to the Sameer Project, which is a Palestinian diaspora led organization providing relief in Gaza, or for the Friendly City Safe Space, which is part of the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center. That’s here in Harrisonburg, providing drop-in services to queer populations.” Hall had low expectations coming into the event saying, “My goal was sell one thing and get one donation made. I met both of those goals and I continue to get wonderful responses.”
Hall was not the only one pleased with the results of the event. “It exceeded all my expectations,” said Nicole Litwiller, the mastermind behind the event. Litwiller was especially pleased by the number of vendors that signed up for the event. “I was tentatively hoping for 20. If we got to that amount, I’d be really excited. Then we hit 40, and that was like my stretch goal.” She says she was first inspired to put on the event by an alumni looking to sell books during homecoming weekend. She says, “That got me thinking. We have lots of makers in the EMU community, both as students, employees, and alumni.” Her interest in hosting the event grew after visiting the local authors section of Parentheses Books in downtown Harrisonburg. “It seemed like there were at least ten books that were written by EMU alumni or employees. And that just got me thinking about how many local creative people we have.”
In order to make the event a reality, Litwiller first needed to find those creative people. She says she started internally. “I wanted to make sure students and employees kind of had first dibs.” After sending some campus-wide emails, she moved on to alumni. “[I] sent an email out to all of our alumni in a 60-mile radius, inviting people to just sign up. There wasn’t really a type of selection process for it.”
One of the alumni who got the message was Indigo Gott, who graduated from EMU just last year. Gott reflected, “I always thought it would be kind of cool to do a market, but never really had a good opportunity.” When EMU’s Makers Market invitation got sent out, Gott jumped at the opportunity. Gott, who started crocheting their junior year of college, was selling an assortment of hats, key chains, and fidget toys. Gott also got a chance to look around at some of the other vendors, remarking, “It’s cool to see all the things people have picked up.”
Sophia Kauffman, a sophomore currently attending EMU, also enjoyed the variety the market had to offer, saying, “I was really happy to see so many vendors there. I also really appreciated how there was a variety of vendors there, ranging from current students, to alumni, to community members. I thought it was a great way to bring together people in the community from campus, but also just in the surrounding Harrisonburg area.” Also present at the event was a pop-up EMU merchandise store for those interested in getting some EMU swag. Kauffman noted this as well, “I also really appreciated how this year there has been more of an effort to have the EMU merch sold more often. I thought that was a cool addition to the event in order to make it easier for students to buy EMU merch more often and not just on an online space.”
Kauffman, along with Hall, expressed a desire to see the event return for next year. Litwiller, who received similar feedback from many of the attendees, said, “I don’t know if I’m ready to commit to that just yet, but it was really a fun event to put on. That amount of meaningful interactions I saw between people who were shopping, the vendors, that I myself had with people that I wasn’t expecting to see, was really heartwarming.” Litwiller isn’t making any promises, but she recognizes the interest in seeing it return. Litwiller also wanted to express gratitude to everybody who contributed to the event’s success. Specifically, the shoppers, the Common Grounds baristas that served the attendees, the organizers of last year’s student maker’s market for inspiration, those behind the scenes, and the makers that made it all possible. About the event in general, Litwiller reflected, “It just brought me so much joy. Seeing people come together in this way to support makers.”
