Art Bazaar celebrates one year anniversary with Art on the Bluff
Attendees shop at the 901 Fantasy Wars fashion event July 3, 2021, hosted by Art Bazaar at 901 Studio at 136-138 Cumberland Street. (Courtesy Adarryl Jackson)
October marks the first year anniversary of Art Bazaar, a series of popup artist vendor events in Memphis.
To celebrate the occasion, event director David Yancy III will host Art on the Bluff, the series’ first out-of-town camping festival event, this weekend (Oct. 15-17) in Halls, Tennessee.
The event will feature seven live muralists, live electronic music, a popup market, food and outdoor activities like kayaking and hiking.
“For this one year birthday for Art Bazaar, I wanted to think outside the box,” Yancy said.
The inaugural Art Bazaar occurred in partnership with Paint Memphis in September 2020 at 901 Studio at 136-138 Cumberland Street, featuring an artist market with art in forms of graphic design, paint, photography, clothing, music production and more.
“At the time, COVID had just hit pretty hard,” said Yancy, who is also a board member of Paint Memphis. “A lot of people were struggling, especially artists. So our goal was to bring people to one place where people can shop and support the artists.”
Since the inaugural event, Yancy has hosted four other Art Bazaars. Most of them have taken place at 901 Studio, aside from the latest Art Bazaar Fashion Show Sept. 12 at Black Lodge, a video rental store and event venue at 405 N. Cleveland St.
Yancy said he tries to give each event a different theme in order to honor artists of all media. Other themes have included 901 Fantasy Wars, a runway show that showcased special effects makeup by Kenneth Dunn and two other competitors.
This event’s theme will center on murals. Seven muralists, all from Florida, Chicago and California, will lay mural designs out on 8-foot by 8-foot wooden panels. Panels will be spread out throughout the acres of land Yancy has rented from partner Woodland Tree Service for the event.
Yancy said murals may remain at the venue, but they can also be purchased. Proceeds would go directly toward the artists.
Muralists include Eric “Artist Esh” Hornsby (Tampa Bay), Austin “SLIM” Gee (St. Petersburg) and Daniel “Mister Toledo” Toledo (Los Angeles). All muralists, some of who also work with Paint Memphis, will have free rein on what to base their murals on.
Hornsby said he is looking forward to participating in Art Bazaar for his second time since the inaugural event.
When he spoke with The Daily Memphian, he was working on finishing a mural project with Paint Memphis. The idea for his Paint Memphis mural, which displays ancient Egyptian images and themes, came to him as he was painting it.
Models line up on a runway at the fashion event hosted by Art Bazaar at Black Lodge Video on Sept. 12. (Courtesy Adarryl Jackson)
During Art on the Bluff, he said he will likely do the same and find inspiration for his live art while he is in the moment.
“I’m kind of intuitive, so when I see the wall, it inspires a bit of my intuition,” he said.
Two electronic music artists, Don Twan and Gutta Nation, will provide a soundtrack while muralists “do their thing.”
Don Twan, otherwise known by his birth name Antonio Walker, will play subgenres of electronic music including Phonk, wave, grime and “whatever fits the vibe.”
Art on the Bluff will be Walker’s second Art Bazaar after a Black Friday event last year.
“I’m really excited to be a part of something so different,” Walker said. “My love for graffiti and street art started when I was in my early teens, and DJing came in my later teens. But having everything come full circle is really dope.”
Other live artists include poet and singer Sea Air Rah and musician Psy-Fi.
Although themes differ for each Art Bazaar, all events have one thing in common: an artist market full of booths run by local artists.
“Art Bazaar wouldn’t be what it is without the vendors,” Yancy said.
Francisco Flores, one of 11 local vendors who will be at the event, has taken part in all but one Art Bazaar.
“I had COVID that week,” he said. “That was pretty rough.”
Kayaks await the crowds in a Halls, Tennessee, outdoor venue rented by Art Bazaar for the Art on the Bluff event this weekend. (Courtesy Adarryl Jackson)
Under the brand Mala Leche, which means “spoiled milk” in Spanish, he designs graphics that are transferred to t-shirts, coffee mugs, skateboard grip tape and more. He also designs all of Art Bazaar’s flyers.
“Art Bazaar is an amazing place to really showcase your work,” Flores said. “If you’re an artist that’s on the come up, or if you’re just wanting to be a low-key artist and cater to local Memphians that are supportive, that is a good spot to meet people and network.”
Other vendors include Faceplant, Prozak Glass, Art N’ Freid Junk and Abby Brooks.
So far, 50 tickets have been sold. Yancy said he expects to sell a total of 150-200 tickets.
Half of the proceeds from ticket sales will go toward paying live artists. The remaining proceeds will go toward future Art Bazaar events and toward the venue.
Art Bazaar will return to 901 Studio in December to center on the holidays.
“I definitely try to plan it around the seasons and around times where people have a little bit more leisure time and have the ability to be able to do things,” he said.
Topics
Art Bazaar Art on the Bluff Paint Memphis David Yancy IIIJulia Baker
A lifelong Memphian, Julia Baker graduated from the University of Memphis in 2021. Other publications and organizations she has written for include Chalkbeat, Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent magazine and Memphis magazine.
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