Concordia’s festive market showcases talent while supporting Centraide.
The jolly season is right around the corner, and holiday markets are taking over the city. Multiple Concordia organizations have seized the opportunity to showcase student talent in various holiday markets this past week, including Concordia’s Career Advising and Professional Success (CAPS), who hosted the Holiday Market and Centraide Fundraiser on Nov. 29 in the EV building.
“CAPS supports students and their career-development goals,” explained Antonella Nizolla, career advisor and co-organizer of the market. “This market is supporting student artists on campus, helping them showcase and sell their art.”
The ground floor of the EV building was filled with colourful stands and smiling vendors and shoppers. Students sold various handmade items such as necklaces, earrings, scarves, crocheted hats and handbags, paintings, and crystals.
Nizolla made sure to give credit to her colleague Marian Pinsky, who did most of the organizing for the market this year.
Concordia students could reserve a stand to showcase their art for free and keep their sales profits for themselves, and alumni could rent a stand for $25. Those rental fees were donated to Centraide Concordia.
“We also get the Concordia community, which is always so generous, to donate items that we then sell, and 100 per cent of these proceeds also go to Centraide,” said Nizolla. “This year, we have handcrafted and knitted hats, scarves, slippers, preserves, and much more!”
CAPS also collaborated with an off-campus vendor who provided cookies to raise funds for Centraide.
Student Mysha Khan walked past the market on her way home after class and said she had to stop by.
“I wasn’t aware there would be a market here today, but all the colours caught my eye,” she said. “It’s very interesting to talk to the vendors. There are so many talented students at Concordia, and I don’t think we show them off enough!”
Khan was particularly drawn to the crochet stands, which included art education student Trang Ta’s table. She sold handmade hats, neck warmers, handbags, and headbands. Besides making yarn work and crochet, Ta is also a tattoo artist and a figure model for paintings.
“I learned to crochet by myself during the summer two years ago when I had a lot of free time and was going through some stuff,” said Ta. “It helped a lot, and I just kept going.”
This was the second Concordia art market Ta took part in.
“I love that it’s free for students; it’s a great opportunity to sell our art,” she said.
Fourth-year ceramics student Sydney Bocknek also sold her unique handmade creations at the market. Her table was covered in animal skulls and face-shaped ceramic necklaces. She explained that she made all the artwork, the material, and glazes herself. She sold pieces she had made for a shrine-like installation a few years prior.
“I’ve always done some weird stuff,” said Bocknek, laughing. “This is actually me being very toned back. I just wanted to do something for the little weirdos out there.”
Concordia’s holiday markets are over for this year, but there will be other Christmas activities on campus, such as the Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 14. There are also other holiday markets to check out in the city, like the Montreal Christmas Village and the Marché public de Montréal at Place Jean-Talon.
