The weekly farmers market in Batavia offered by the Batavia MainStreet group on Saturday mornings offers a twist once a month, with artisans taking part selling a wide variety of items.
Last weekend, more than 50 artisans participated in the event downtown.
Alex Musser of Batavia and her husband Tristan often shop at the Batavia Farmers Market and enjoyed the artisan spin on the event on Saturday.
“We come to this regularly and I like seeing all the crafters along with the market people,” Alex Musser said. “I love seeing all the handmade things and the earrings and some of the woodworking stuff. I also enjoy the painting and watercolor things. I really admire that so much of this is authentic. It makes you feel like you’re supporting your neighbor’s family.”
The Artisan Collective featured artists, crafters and salvaged-goods vendors with displays set up on River Street just north of the farmers market. Items for sale included handmade jewelry, bath and beauty products, vintage clothing, embroidery, ceramics, woodworking and more.
Elisabeth Haskins of Geneva was offering items at the market from her Devine Paint Co. business including handmade calendars, invitations, watercolor sketch books and more.
“I started making custom pieces of someone’s story and pictures for families. I do sonograms, pets, postcards and it has morphed into an appreciation of the area,” Haskins explained. “I moved here last year and this is my way of exploring and painting the various locations of the Fox Valley area.”
Batavia MainStreet Assistant Director Kristen Desler said the third Saturday of every month has included the Artisan Collective at the farmers market for many years.
“We invite artisan vendors to join the farmers market and there are a minimum of 50 each month,” she said. “This season, we have accepted over 85 artisan vendors to the collective. You’ll see a few repeating faces but there are new artisans every month that we invite in.”
A craft area “is a really nice addition to the market,” Desler said, who noted that “the artisan vendors are required to make at least 70% of their products by hand themselves.”
“Many of them make 100% of their product, but 70% is our minimum ask,” she said. “We try to curate things that people can’t find easily in the rest of the downtown, things that are really unique. It’s a really wide variety.We’re always looking for uniqueness.”
Haskins said this was her first summer at the market and was impressed with its organization.
“This started in May and there has been a lot of foot traffic,” she said. “I can’t say enough about this artisan market and how beautifully put together it is and the people we get to meet every time we do it. It’s really neat to see the community support this kind of market and I love hearing people’s stories. It’s been very fulfilling for me.”
Tristan Musser said he appreciated the craftsmanship of many of the vendors and was humbled by their skills.
“It’s incredible to see how talented they are to just make stuff, more or less, out of the blue. I mean, there’s no way I can do that,” he said.
Barb Gunning of Batavia said she has visited the market before and enjoys when the artisans take part in the event.
“I look at the creative ideas people have,” she said. “My interest really isn’t focused in one area. This is kind of a two-for-one as you have two markets at once.”
Maureen Buckley-Rogers of Batavia said she “comes every week to the farmers market.”
“I’m here whether there is the craft fair or not. Every time, there is something new and different,” she said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
