Photo by Ali Meizels '23. The Mount Holyoke Art Society held its Fall Arts & Crafts Fair in Blanchard Community Center.
By Fang Cieprisz ’26
Staff Writer
The Mount Holyoke Art Society hosted its third annual Fall Arts & Crafts Fair on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, in the Community Center Great Room. That afternoon, the room was filled with tables from many different student artists selling a range of creations, from tote bags to earrings to stickers.
In addition to the vendors and their art, the Great Room was abuzz with the sounds of students milling about, appreciating their peers’ artwork. “I just really liked being in that kind of environment and looking at people’s art and crafts. … It was so cool to see the kinds of things people have made,” Antara Yogeshwari Roy Tripathi ’26 said. In an economy where art is often mass-produced, students flocked to the student-owned small businesses that put time and effort into their craft. The fair’s impressive turnout demonstrated the Mount Holyoke community’s dedication to the arts, as well as students’ desire to support their community members, whether they know them or not. “I was tempted to buy so much stuff. [I] spent too much money and wanted to spend even more,” Tripathi added.
Vendors also spoke about the positive experiences selling their art at the fair. Jordan Boatman ’26 said that she had spent weeks preparing collages specifically for the fair, catered towards Mount Holyoke students, and the results were a success. “I was really surprised at how much people loved them. Everyone was so extremely kind. Even if they didn’t buy anything they made it known that they loved my work,” she said. Boatman also emphasized the connection with other vendors, saying “everyone was super nice and helpful and made sure that we weren’t in each other’s ways. … It was also really cool to be able to see the work of the other students and many of my classmates.”
Luna Bawa ’26, another vendor, also spoke about the ability to connect with other artists: “I think it’s a really nice way for artists to share stuff they’ve been working on with other people and to also sell some of it. I was able to connect with some studio art majors through the craft fair which was really cool! It was also really great to see how many people showed up [and] how involved the student body is with the visual arts on campus.”