Stepping into the South of Downtown Art Hub during Saturday afternoon's Holiday Makers Market, rows upon rows of handmade crochet baby booties and dresses greeted customers.
Crocheting has been Norma Rodriguez's favorite hobby since she learned it from her mother when she was 7 years old in Mexico. Each pair of booties takes about two hours to make, and the dozens of pairs that lined her table Saturday represented countless hours of work and practice.
"I'm really proud," she said through a translator.
Rodriguez was just one example of the variety of artists and vendors invited to participate in the makers market. From woodworkers to watercolor artists to vegan Creole food vendors, the second iteration of the makers market gave local entrepreneurs a chance to show their work.Â
Of the 16 vendors at the event, 14 came from the Near South or Everett neighborhoods. There was no fee to set up a booth, according to South of Downtown community arts organizer Kat Weise.
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Living in the lowest-income neighborhood in the city, Weise said it was important to provide local vendors an opportunity to kick-start their businesses without financial burden.
"Our neighborhood is extremely diverse," she said. "We have the lowest-income neighborhood in the city, so providing opportunities was very important."Â
For many, the market was simply a chance to showcase their passion and, hopefully, make a little money on the side.Â
Michael Harper, a watercolor and pop culture artist, said becoming a full-time artist isn't viable, but the chance to show his work to the community was a great opportunity.Â
"It's great to have local artists like this around," he said.Â
Rodriguez agreed. Since she moved to Lincoln from Mexico 18 years ago, she's seen firsthand the amount of skill the entrepreneurs in her community possess.
"I'm very impressed," she said.
One of the biggest draws to participating in the makers market for Rodriguez was the chance to meet other local artists and entrepreneurs.
"It's nice to learn about different people," she said. "You get to interact and gain new ideas."
Weise has been working with South of Downtown for the past year-and-a-half. She said the feedback from the organization's first makers market in August was great. That event brought in about 340 visitors, something Weise hopes will carry over to future events.
"I would like to have at least three markets a year, if not four, oriented around the holidays," she said. "We want to keep on having this consistent form of income for people, like a consistent resource they can come to."