Ember Duke | Layout Editor
Despite the drizzles of rain, Squirrel Hill’s Murray Avenue flooded with people Saturday night, the air filled with music and the competing smells of food trucks. The Squirrel Hill Night Market had set up camp for the evening.
Tents lined either side of the road welcoming patrons into the world of Pittsburgh’s craft scene. The market is a showcase for local artists, artisans and business owners to share their work with the public.
Jamison Juda-Combs, membership and events director and creative strategist for Uncover Squirrel Hill, one of the companies that runs the event, said the aim is to promote the community in a casual way. Many familiar Squirrel Hill store-fronts, like Aiello’s Pizza, Steal City Vintage and Orange Avocado Juicery participate alongside vendors who travel to the event.
“We love that every single time that we have a night market, it’s such a chance for folks to reconnect with their neighbors and to meet each other,” Juda-Combs said. “It’s also built a sense of community among the artists and crafters and different merchants that are there … it gets our business owners to participate. It’s another chance for them to connect, kind of outside of their brick and mortar store and really get to know each other as well.”
Juda-Combs said the event usually averages 1,500 visitors, and many vendors sell out by the end of the night.
“The goal is to bring people into the neighborhood, have them uncover a new favorite restaurant, favorite store and really uncover how great Squirrel Hill is, and help people gain exposure to the neighborhood,” he said.
For Alex and Emmalee McMullen of Alex’s Stupid Studio, an artist couple who specialize in screen printing and embroidering apparel out of their apartment, the market is an opportunity to see familiar faces and cultivate new interest for their work. From the first creative spark of a design to the moment an item is shipped, they are hands on. The event gives them a chance to bring their regular stock items to a new audience.
“Usually we have to make new products to put on our social media and website to get people excited,” Alex McMullen said. “Whereas here we can take stuff we’ve made for a long time, and people that we’ve never met can have a fresh reaction to it.”
As returning vendors, they have noticed a small uptick in local orders after attending the market.
“This is one of the few events that we go to all the time. So it’s just like, it feels kind of like our home … It’s run well, with a good potential to make money,” McMullen said.
Local fine artist Erin Auses also said the festival draws attention to her work, even post-event. Her business Cityhopper Studios is focused on detailed drawings of cityscapes which she then reproduces as prints.
“I specialize in pen and ink, architectural portraits,” Auses said. “It’s more getting the word out about the art. I also do architectural portrait commissions and house portraits. So I do end up getting a lot of business after the fact, with people taking my cards, seeing what I can do here, and then commissioning a portrait.”
In the whirl of clay, bright textiles and paint, patrons stopped to enjoy the night’s atmosphere. Live music from local artists poured from the small stage on Darlington Avenue Clusters of patrons formed around the warmth of food trucks, sitting on curbs to enjoy food from the Pittsburgh Pierogie truck, Patti’s Pastries and other treats.
For Juda-Combs, the Squirrel Hill Night Market is about building a closer community.
“Really, over the years … a lot of the artists and crafters have become friends,” he said.