Black Friday may be one of the biggest shopping days of the year, but the best deals are usually limited to big-box retailers. What if you want to buy your loved ones gifts that feel personal, not mass-produced? In that case, it's the 8th Annual Print Bazaar on Cherokee – formerly the Cherokee Print League Holiday Sale – that has you covered.
The Print Bazaar on Cherokee, which runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 5, brings together more than 40 artists and printmakers from around the Midwest. Twenty-four businesses along Cherokee open their doors to these artists and allow them to set up shop for the day—one of Cherokee’s biggest shopping days.
The free event features artists who specialize in printmaking, letterpress, screen printing and printed fabrics. There will also be art demonstrations, customized printing and on-site framing. One St. Louis artist, Angelina Hristova, will be doing sublimation printing on-site at Blank Space.
See also: Photos from the 2012 Print League Holiday Sale
In past years, the Print Bazaar has seen hundreds of visitors flock from all around the city to help support local artists. Organizers are hoping that two other events in the neighborhood on Dec. 5 – the 32nd Annual Cookie Spree and the 2nd Annual Krampus Bar Crawl – will help boost attendance this year to even greater levels.
“We’ve had anywhere from 500 to 700 people come in past years,” Cherokee Street liaison Anne McCullough said. “We’re hoping that we can see an influx of people thanks to … [Cookie Spree] … and the [Krampus] pub crawl.”
Though some of the 40 artists featured at this year’s Print Bazaar are returners from previous years, McCullough was excited that the bazaar will be featuring many new artists, including Old Suitcase & Co., Sopearb Touch, and Bear & Otter Co.
Prizes will be awarded to the first five people to visit 25 booths and collect the corresponding stamps. Attendees will be given a commemorative, hand-printed passport that acts as both a map and a way for artists to mark that visitors have been to see their work.
The grand prize is a bundle from South City Art Supply that includes a Baron Fig “Confidant” cloth-bound, hardcover notebook, a set of 12 Staedtler drawing pencils and a set of 12 Prismacolor colored pencils. Other prizes include a screen-printed poster from Sleepy Kitty, a wood cut poster from Building Bases Press, a screen-printed “Cherokee Street” poster from STL Style and a $25 gift certificate to Mud House.
