POPDUNDEE, a venture set up by animation students to breathe life into city streets through pop-up shops, is hosting the festive edition of its popular market at The Circle on Sunday 11th December from 11am to 5pm. For this event only, the market will not feature any items that cost more than £10.
Vicky Stephen and Ashling Larkin joined forces to give city shoppers an opportunity to buy work by students and young artists in a break from the usual retail environment. They have now showcased over 70 artists and Sunday will be their 14th market.
Vicky said, “At POPDUNDEE we create opportunities for the Dundee community to buy unique and locally produced artwork, and for local artists to develop their confidence and entrepreneurial skills through selling their work. The \'Thrift\' element of this special Winter Market means that there will be something for everyone, making wonderful arts and crafts even more accessible to the public, and just in time for the Christmas shopping season!\"
The Circle, the new community hub in the former Claverhouse Building on Staffa Place, was seen as a good venue for this year’s Christmas event due to the large area of space available, affordable hire fee, easy parking and location in easy reach of the communities of north Dundee.
Nicola Donnelly, Facilities & Services Development Manager at The Circle, added, “We were keen to put an event on for Christmas that would get the community into the building but keep it affordable for everyone. Art and craft markets often target those looking for luxury items but we wanted to offer something more fun and affordable for people wanting last-minute stocking fillers. We want to show you can support local artists and buy gifts on a budget. The POPDUNDEE group seemed like the ideal people with experience to deliver this for us. The message of making design affordable for everyone in the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design is an important one.”
The market will feature jewellery, digital and traditional prints, illustration, comics, trinkets and ornaments.
One of the artists that will be selling their work is Elena Lam. Elena is a recent graduate of DJCAD specialising in illustration and digital storytelling. She works with both traditional and digital mediums and offers everything from cheeky illustrations of colourful cartoon characters to wood panels of the Chinese Zodiac. On Sunday she will present new smokey art prints and a 2017 calendar.
The Circle
The Circle is an award winning 'More Than Profit' organisation that supports businesses to make a difference to communities by providing affordable consultancy, training and workspaces, within an inclusive and friendly community.
