A Guide to Exploring What Denver Art Markets Have to Offer
The art market scene in Denver has always been huge, but this year it is booming. With Art markets happening multiple times a week, almost every week, there is never a day without something to do here. Denver has always had a great artist community with multiple art districts throughout the city and plenty of people with their art to sell. The art market and vendor community have been growing daily. Art markets in Denver are essential to keeping the city’s creative vibe alive, and they also showcase the number of talented people who live here, all while providing options to shop from small businesses and artisans rather than big chain stores. Finding one-of-a-kind art pieces in Denver is much more accessible than you may think.
From the first Friday art walk on Santa Fe, to the final Fridays on Pearl Street, to the Tennyson Street markets, you can find art on almost any corner of the city if you know where to look. The best way to find these markets is on Instagram, usually by searching #denverartmarkets or by finding one market or vendor, and then seeing what other market accounts they follow. As a general rule, first and last Fridays in Denver tend to have the most activity going on for art markets, and you can almost always find something going on in one of the art districts, whether its a market big enough to cause street closures, or pop-ups in restaurants, there will be something for you to find especially as we are going into the summer and farmers market season.
Art markets are great ways to buy sustainably, meet new people, and find art that you might never have come across otherwise. There is always a chance to support the artists when you attend, whether or not you buy anything, you can grab their business card, give them a follow on Instagram, or simply post a picture of their work on social media, which gets their name out to people who may not have been following them before. Regardless of the amount of cash in your pocket, this type of exposure is essential to grabbing the attention of more potential customers and becoming known in the Denver art market scene, which is a friendly community of vendors all trying to share their work with the world.
However, if you do have the cash, or an active Venmo account, I would highly suggest coming to an art market with a tote bag big enough to fill it with handmade items to your hearts desire, because lets face it, we would all rather be buying things that are so unique we simply cant pass them up for fear of never seeing anything like them again. This is another appeal of the art market community, sometimes you may see the same vendor twice, other times you may only have the chance to cross paths with them in this universe one time, and you absolutely must take that chance to acquire whatever it is that calls out to you, that way you will never be left wondering about what could’ve been if you just would’ve bought that amazing print that you think about for years later, or the beautiful ring that you once saw in a dream and materialized right in front of your eyes one lucky day while walking down Santa Fe.
