MECA&D students work together to clean up and decorate the college’s experimental space at 49 Oak. St, where their class is hosting a pop-up market in the first week of December. Left to right are Nicole Murphy, Hannah Holt and Brooklyn Green.(Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

Katie Clark, a sophomore studying ceramics at the Maine College of Art and Design, had a problem many artists face at one time or another.

They ran out of space.

“Ceramics really collect,” Clark said with a laugh.

One way to make room on the shelves is to sell. So Clark signed up for this year’s Holiday Sale, an annual tradition that features students, alumni and faculty. This market will be their first.

“I’m excited to test the waters,” Clark said.

Shoppers in downtown Portland have two upcoming opportunities to buy directly from local art students.

The first weekend of December, the Holiday Sale will transform the Porteous Building on Congress Street into a marketplace with 75 vendors, including students. Around the corner, a class will run a pop-up shop in the college’s experimental storefront at 49 Oak St. for the first week of the month.

The Holiday Sale is an annual tradition at MECA&D. Pictured here is Leigh Kapantais, who graduated from MECA&D in 2024 and now owns Leekappart and is also an admissions seasonal recruiter at the college. (Photo by Annabelle Collette)

These markets allow young artists to develop skills they might need to balance creativity and commerce in their careers.

Evelyn Wong, an adjunct assistant professor, teaches printmaking and book arts. This semester, they are also teaching “Art of Selling Out,” which focuses on the economics and logistics of selling artwork. Their students are running the pop-up shop.

“This is information I wish I could have learned when I was a student,” Wong said.

‘AN ICKY SUBJECT’

On Thursday, Wong unlocked the door to 49 Oak St. and led their students inside. Everyone carried bins of handmade items and bags of winter decorations.

“Hopefully, a couple of y’all thought about what design you want to put on the window,” Wong said, and two students raised their hands for the task.

MECA&D student Brooklyn Green draws on the window on Nov. 20 as students decorate their pop-up shop at 49 Oak St. In the background is Hannah Holt. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

During the semester, Wong shared their own experiences of balancing wholesale accounts and gallery exhibitions. They prompted the class to research artists in their chosen fields and retailers in their hometowns. Students visited a book fair for small publishers at Mechanics’ Hall, and a friend of Wong’s showed them his wholesale catalogue.

“These are actual members of our community who are living off their art,” Wong said.

Wong taught the students how to make items that might sell well at markets — handmade notebooks with different binding techniques, personalized zines, letterpress prints. They also talked about different approaches to pricing those creations. Wong shared the formula they use, and the students priced a zine based on time spent and cost of materials.

“It’s an icky subject for a lot of artists to think about money, to talk about money,” Wong said. “But it’s also very real.”

Hannah Holt, a senior sculpture major, worked on the shop window with a chalk marker. She signed up for the class because she’s thinking about life after graduation.

“It’s a no-no to talk about money sometimes,” Holt said. “It feels great to get transparent and honest answers about things people usually don’t talk about.”

MECA&D student Ezekiel Bliss shares a laugh Nov. 20 with fellow students as they decorate their pop-up shop at 49 Oak St. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

‘DON’T GET DISCOURAGED’

Jenny McGee Dougherty was a student when she first sold handmade craft boxes at the annual Holiday Sale. Now, she organizes the event as the director of the college’s Artists at Work program.

“It’s one of the very few events we have per year where the public can come into the building and see the magic that happens in here,” McGee said.

As many as 4,000 people will come through the Holiday Sale during the weekend. About three-quarters of the vendors are alumni. Students don’t have to pay a fee to participate, and they can set up solo or in groups. Photography students will be running a photo booth, and animation and game art students are hosting an arcade to fund a professional development trip.

“We’ve been really focusing a lot of our efforts on giving more opportunities to try these things,” McGee said.

Jaden Kyung-Moon Bauch, 22, of Portland, graduated earlier this year with a major in painting and a minor in art and entrepreneurship. An unexpected dental bill early on in college put her in a difficult spot, and she started learning more about personal finance. Now, Bauch balances her painting practice with a coaching business for creative professionals and is studying to be a certified financial planner. She works one-on-one with clients and also travels to art schools.

“Students really want the knowledge,” Bauch said. “They want to be financially successful. They might mistrust certain financial professionals, or they don’t know where to look, or they don’t know how to find resources that are designed for artists.”

She’ll have a table at the Holiday Sale this year. Talking to other vendors at markets, she said, helped her develop her own strategies.

“Your first time vending at a market, it is quite possible that you will make no money,” she said. “Don’t get discouraged in the beginning.”

The Holiday Sale is an annual tradition at MECA&D. This year, more than 75 vendors will take over the Porteous Building on Congress Street. (Photo by Annabelle Collette)

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Joshua Harkins is going into the Holiday Sale with the experience of a year of First Fridays. A sophomore studying animation and game art, he’ll be vending stickers, prints and pins along with a friend.

“I definitely had to learn that just because something isn’t selling, that doesn’t say anything about your art or your product,” Harkins said. “It just tells you that you need to change things up a bit.”

For example, he’s learned that shoppers will shy away from unfamiliar characters, so he’s leaning on recognizable subjects. (Penguins are a big hit.) His friends nudged him to increase his prices for stickers and introduce a sliding scale for prints. Over time, he’s built his confidence.

“I’ve always had trouble just talking to random people,” he said. “That has helped.”

Evelyn Wong, an adjunct assistant professor at MECA&D, sells their own art at a past Holiday Sale. The Holiday Sale is an annual tradition at MECA&D. This year, more than 75 vendors will take over the Porteous Building on Congress Street. (Photo by Annabelle Collette)

Clark, the ceramics student, has been making a lot of mugs, vases and candlestick holders.

“I don’t want to only be making work that I think is going to sell,” Clark said.

So they’re using the sale as an opportunity to test new techniques for shaping, glazing and firing. It’s just another chance to learn.

IF YOU GO

Holiday Sale, Dec. 5 and 6

522 Congress Street, Portland
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit meca.edu/holiday-sale/ for more information.

‘Art of Selling Out’ pop-up shop, Dec. 1-7

49 Oak St., Portland
Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The shop will have an opening reception on Thursday evening.