The Friends of Forbes Artisans Fair will return to Forbes Library in Northampton for its fifth year on Sunday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will feature 50 artisans selling handmade items, raffles, food, family activities, and live music from the Fiddle Orchestra of Western Mass, Forbes’ Ukulele Strum Group, and the Smith College Vibes.
For Pascale Jarvis, who’s been part of the fair every year since its inception in 2022, taking part again this year was a no-brainer. Jarvis, a linocut printmaker who creates work under the name “raskl.,” takes part in dozens of artisans fairs a year, but this one is special, they said, because of the beautiful setting and the turnout, which includes locals and leaf-peepers from out of town.
“There’s something about library people, [who] are such enjoyers of the arts. They want to have real conversations, and that’s really satisfying as an artist,” Jarvis said.
In fact, Jarvis’s first time taking part in the Friends of Forbes Artisans Fair was “one of the first places I felt that I could actually do this for a full-time living,” they said. “That was an amazing, euphoric feeling. People really wanted to connect with the art. … To see that people wanted the work and wanted to buy it and wanted to wear it. It was just so good. It was so good.”
That feeling proved correct: making art is now their full-time job. It’s time-consuming – “I’m working 11-hour days, seven days a week,” said Jarvis, who finds the practice very meditative at the same time.
Akemi Rice, who weaves baskets and makes other traditional crafts from her home country, Japan, first took part in the fair three years ago; her daughter, who makes origami cranes, joined in Rice’s second year. Rice finds her work very meditative, and she appreciates artisans fairs as a way to showcase her talent.
“English is second language, and it’s very difficult to speak, but the craft of my basket is, I don’t need a language. I can just show how to do it,” she said.
Jasper Alexander, another returning fair participant, also makes a living through his art, which is primarily linocut relief printing; he, too, goes to numerous artisans fairs every year, and those “end up being what pays the bills most days,” he said.
He appreciates artisans fairs like this one not only to make money, but also to connect with people in a way that he can’t do through his online store: “Being lucrative is not the end-all, be-all of whether or not a market is worth it to me or feels good,” he said.
“Obviously, being able to see those numbers at the end of the day and go, ‘Great, that’s groceries handled,’ or, ‘Great, we can keep the lights on here’” is good, he said, “but honestly, bigger than that is, it’s this experience [in which] you get to be outside of the studio and experiencing other people experiencing your work, experiencing other artists’ work alongside that, and it’s this moment where you show up and do it out loud.”
At artisans fairs, Alexander often gets to hear about the person that a customer is buying some of his work for— a sibling, a friend, etc.
“I can’t think of a higher compliment than knowing my work is being given to loved ones,” he said. “That is a really, really sweet and lovely experience.”
The fees that the artists pay for their tent space benefit Forbes Library, as do the proceeds from raffle baskets with goods from local businesses and raffle items provided by the artists. The fair also brings in money through sponsorships and donations.
Besides its annual garden tour, the library used to host a wine tasting fundraiser, but after losing one of the event’s key organizers, the Friends of Forbes Library needed an event to replace it. Martha McCormick, a Friends of Forbes board member, is an artist and teacher, and she had the idea to create an artisan fair.
“We just went for it for the first year,” McCormick said. “It was great, and every year since, it’s been building, so here we are now, in our fifth year.”
Supporting libraries is important, Alexander said, because they are “the cornerstone of our societies.”
“Libraries are what keep our neighborhoods afloat,” he said. “They’re always there for us, and so people should show up and support them too.”
Admission is free. For more information about Forbes Library, visit forbeslibrary.org. The event is rain or shine.
