By HAZEL FIEDLER/Oregon Coast TODAY
Art comes in every form at the Artisan Faire at Salishan Marketplace and each artist is a master of their craft. A small market with big offerings gives customers the opportunity to keep their money in the community and support creativity.
Kathleen Shepard is a founder of the fair. She is the owner of Avani Herbals and sells colorful knit wear and homemade herbal balms and oils. She has seen first-hand how the market has grown and the ways it has impacted the Salishan plaza.
“When we started to market about seven years ago the stores in the plaza were only about one-third of the way full,” she said. “By the end of our first season all of the shops were full. This market has brought people in and revitalized this area.”
Using high-quality yarns from around the world, Shepard creates vibrant shawls and hats.
“Knitting is my yoga,” she said. “I love the feeling of the fibers in my hands and picking the colors and textures.
A retired therapeutic massage therapist, Shepard transfers her knowledge into her herbal products, guiding people to healing with the all-natural salves, balms, oils and creams.
Nissa Parker and partner David Wolf took over managing the market in 2021. Along with organizing and running the operation, they sell home decor and jewelry made from natural materials at their booth. Parker is proud of the market quality.
“I’ll hear from customers who say ‘This is a small market but every booth is worth looking at’,” she said. “When you stop here you’re going to find quality products no matter who you’re shopping with. There is something here for everybody.”
Parker appreciates the impact markets like this one have on the community as a whole.
“Small producers and local artists bring so much vibrancy to communities,” she said. “It allows a place for vendors to express their creativity and for local community members to support that creativity,”
The Willamina Meat Service made their Salishan Artisan Faire debut this year, offering a variety of meats including pepperoni, sausage, bacon and steak. The business started with a butcher shop in Willamina and a cattle ranch off Drift Creek in Otis in the 1960s. It has been run for the past 20 years by Stephanie Alger and her husband.
Alger is proud of the natural production of the meat they offer.
“All of our products are done with a wood chip smoker; we don’t use liquid smoke in anything we produce,” she said. “Buying your meat this way ultimately means that it’s fresher. We package it on the premises, put it in the freezer and then it comes straight to the market.”
Willamina Meats offers custom, professionally prepared smoking.
“Custom orders are the majority of what we do,” Alger said.
Michael Dodson, an artist and middle-school art teacher from Woodburn, offers clothing patterned with his block printed art and Riso graph prints. This year he has started to incorporate thrifted clothing printed with his unique designs.
He starts with his own original drawing before transferring it onto a rubber plate to be printed. Dodson’s work is inspired by native designs as well as the contrast of positive and negative space.
Dodson’s original Riso Graph prints highlight his skill with layered color combinations.
“The way I describe riso graph printing is if a photocopier and a silkscreen had a baby,” he said. The same image is run through the printing process multiple times, using a different color in each print to create a vibrant, layered piece.
Fresh produce is a market staple and Guerrero farms has you covered with their family-owned and operated farms in Amity and McMinnville. The Guerrero family started selling at coastal farmers markets 14 years ago and have been part of the Salishan Artisan Faire for five years.
“Our strawberries are a customer favorite,” owner Fernando Guerrero said. “We usually sell out. People buy them by the flat.”
Their market table is covered in a rainbow array of fruits and vegetables, including cherries, peaches, snap peas, cucumbers, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, corn and zucchini.
“We have watermelon coming later in the season,” Guerrero said. “As well as eggplants, peppers and pumpkins.”
If you’re looking for a treat, they also offer chocolate-covered strawberries, as well as honey sourced from the hives on the farm.
- The Artisan Faire at Salishan Marketplace is located at 7755 N.W. Hwy. 101, and is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, go to www.artisanfaireatsalishan.com
-
For more arts and entertainment news go to Oregon Coast TODAY
