The Summer Made Market is returning to Louisville for an eighth year on Saturday, August 3. Featuring the work of 90 local makers with food trucks and coffee available onsite, the day-long event will set up shop in at Mellwood Art Center.
There was a time when craftspeople were everywhere. You could buy your shoes from a cobbler, your clothes from the seamstress, and yes, candles from a candlestick maker, just like in the nursery rhyme. But in recent decades, trades have been all but eliminated by automation and industrial-scale manufacturing, much of which is produced globally and then shipped around the planet for sale.
The Made Market wants to change that. Co-founders Mike and Al Barker say they want to raise awareness that buying hand-crafted goods made by local makers is more than a Cottage Core trend — it can both fortify the local economy and help keep skill sets alive. Without active patronage, some skills and techniques could be lost to automation.
The Barkers acknowledge that factory-made items are convenient, and because of the volume of items produced by automation, they are often budget friendly too. But the Made Market encourages buyers to remember that with convenience and lower price points, there is often a trade-off in quality, longevity, and the production of waste. Their question is: “If you had the knowledge of how and where to find quality small batch goods in your city, would you trade some big-box shopping for supporting small businesses?” For LEO, the answer is yes.
Summer Made Market
Mellwood Art Center
1860 Mellwood Ave.
Saturday, August 3
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
$5
Free for guests younger than 15 years old
This article appears in Jun 5-18, 2024.
