Frenchman Art Market: Nighttime Shopping For New Orleans

Hourglass Productions- purchase it online here

Made & Made- custom handmade millinery 

I love strolling through a good art market, discovering little handmade treasures from local artists. But most of them are daytime outdoor events, which means slathering on sunscreen and sweating it out during the summertime. And since I'm working weekends now, my work schedule doesn't always align, and the tables are packed up long before I'm punching the clock. Frenchman Art Market founder Kate Gaar is helping fill the need for an alternative time slot every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 5:00pm-1:00am. The market is located in the midst of Frenchman Street, New Orleans' venerable hot spot for good eats and live music when the sun goes down. Tucked into an empty lot across from D.B.A. and next to Spotted Cat, it's easy to catch your favorite band, then stroll across the street with beer in hand to scope out another form of local talent-handmade crafts. There's plenty of art, jewelry, re-purposed vintage clothing, housewares, even twinkling fleur-de-lis topiaries and a documentary film maker were out on my last visit.

John Dyer, a friend and co-organizer, explains how the Frenchman Art Market came to fruition.

"Basically this was a pop-up market that started during Jazz Fest weekends this year. Kate just has a passion for art and artists and has basically single handedly (excluding yours truly) put this together.  We are seeking a very diverse group of art vendors.  We don't really want food/drink vendors and we definitely don't (can't have) musicians because it's already on Frenchmen and there's plenty of other places for that.

This is a venue strictly for diverse local artists and we want to gear it towards festivals/conventions that are in town. Meaning we want to have a strong base of artists that we can book according to what's happening in the city that weekend.  As of now we are leased through January and hoping we can sign longer.  We have started a petition at the market and are trying to get as many locals to sign it in show of support to the city."

Keep up with the Frenchman Street Art Market on their Facebook page. If you're an artist interested in participating http://neworleans.craigslist.org/ats/3194148695.html