Albany's Washington Park Lake House, home of the Half Moon Market. Photo: Half Moon Market
A few years ago, Half Moon Market founders Adelia Sugarman of Owlkill Studio (one of our makers who specializes in jewelry design) and Caroline Corrigan (graphic designer) set out to create an event that celebrates some of the inspiring reasons why they love and support the maker movement: the process, the products, and the people. Two women after our own hearts!
The Half Moon Market founders Adelia Sugarman (left) and Caroline Corrigan (right). Photo: Katie Anello
After a long winter, the Half Moon Market returns this Saturday and Sunday (April 27 and 28) to its home venue, historic Washington Park Lake House in Albany, with a roster of 40+ extremely impressive makers, plus food, booze, vintage clothing and home goods, and handcrafted New York ice cream — sounds fun and delicious! Catch the much-anticipated, free community event from 11am - 6pm both weekend days.
Keep reading for our interview with Adelia and Caroline on their Half Moon Market.
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New York Makers: Can you tell us how the Half Moon Market came to be?
Adelia Sugarman: Caroline and I had been talking about the idea of putting together a makers market in Albany for a couple years, but we had a hard time imagining the perfect venue — then one night over some cocktails at the Speakeasy downtown, we had a lightbulb moment when we realized the Washington Park Lake House would be perfect. From there we started reaching out to potential vendors to gauge interest, and the response was overwhelmingly positive, so we put together our first event in October of 2015. We’ve had the support of the City of Albany from the very beginning, which has been incredibly helpful.
Shopping the Half Moon Market. Photo: Half Moon Market. (We spy New York maker MW Neighborhoods!)
NYM: Name one maker that everyone reading this needs to see in person at the Half Moon Market, and why.
Caroline Corrigan: I don’t think it’s possible to narrow it down to one! Everyone participating has something really special going on. Eighth Belle of Kingston (Editor’s Note: also a New York Makers’ maker!) makes beautiful bags using repurposed sails (from sailboats!). The Binderie, based right downtown in Albany, creates quilts that could pass for modern abstract paintings. Erina Pearl designs, hand dyes, and block prints silk clothing in Pleasant Valley. We could go on and on! When something catches your eye at the market, we urge you to talk to the maker and just ask about their process. You’ll probably fall in love with their work even more. We have so much admiration for these artists, many of whom are doing this as their full time occupation.
Eighth Belle (left) and Erina Pearl (right). Photos: Eighth Belle and Katie Anello
NYM: Why would you argue community-centric makers markets are important?
CC: So much of the way the world works right now goes against the idea of a community-centric makers market. You can buy something on Amazon by talking at a speaker in your house; you can communicate all day and even form/maintain friendships almost entirely through the use of social media and texting. Giving people in a community a chance to convene in person and appreciate art and objects made by hand feels more important than ever. It also feels more and more rare. Most of us could stand to get out of our houses, maybe put our phones in our pockets for a little while, to gather and connect with one another.
NYM: Name your favorite thing about Washington Park Lake House, and about Albany.
AS + CC: Washington Park is definitely a gem in the middle of Albany that we feel really lucky to have. We love the history behind the Lake House. It’s a beautiful 1920’s Spanish Revival style building that replaced the original structure, which was sadly lost in a fire. Because it’s in the middle of the park, it’s easily walkable from a lot of neighborhoods, and we love that the market is an excuse for people to get to appreciate the architecture and history of a space that gets overlooked most of the time. And anyone who’s spent any time in Albany in the springtime knows about the tulips, which are just starting to come up!
NYM: How do you keep the Half Moon Market growing?
AS: It’s been amazing to see how well the local community has received the event. We feel incredibly grateful to have so many people come out to the market every time. Because of our space constraints at the Lake House we’ve been able to keep it to a really tightly curated group of vendors, and I think we’ve gotten a reputation for being a high quality market without any filler. We try to do exciting, different things with our branding and illustrations for every event (that’s all Caroline!) and also make an effort to have a good number of new vendors at each one so that our returning shoppers can discover new things every time.
Last year's enormous balloon installation by Rose & Dale Photo Co. Photo: Caroline Corrigan
For more information on the Half Moon Market, click here.
Catch some of the New York makers we work with in person this weekend: Eighth Belle, Owlkill Studio, Tellefsen Atelier, SO Handmade, and Village Common!
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