This weekend, May 11 and 12, Atlas Studios in Newburgh will host its inaugural Spring Market, a botanically themed, outdoor festival just in time for planting and entertaining season.
In 2013, Thomas Wright and Joseph Fratesi bought a 55,000-square-foot textile factory off Liberty Street and moved their business, Atlas Industries, upstate from Gowanus. In the six years since, the brick warehouse has become a hotbed of creativity in Newburgh, housing a range of maker spaces, workshops, and individual artist studios. What better place to host a craft fair?
Atlas first tested the concept this past December with an indoor Winter Market. Artisan vendors and craftspeople converged in their industrial facility for a weekend of wares and demonstrations. “That event was a huge success,” Fratesi says. “Ever since then, we’ve been thinking about markets.”
In the years since moving upstate, his wife Lindsey Taylor, a garden designer and floral stylist struggled to find places to buy good plants for her landscaping work. “Then she had the idea to do a popup plant sale in spring,” Fratesi says. “That was the seed for what turned into a much wider market.”
Though the scope of the market concept broadened considerably from the initial plant sale idea, there is a plant-based thread loosely stitching together the vendor curation, from vintage botanical prints to hand-turned wooden bowls to essential oils to workwear. Specialty plant growers include Atlock Farm, Bunker Farm Plants, Hudson Garden Studio, Issima, Landcraft Environments, and Glover Perennials. (See the full list of 50 vendors.)
“Most people who will be tabling are artisans who make their products by hand. So we tried to get as many of them to show their process as possible,” Fratesi says. Demonstrations include spoon carving, broom making, plant essence extraction, paper making, and offset printing.
In addition to handmade crafts, vintage goods, and plants, the Spring Market will serve up locally sourced food and drink. There will be farm-to-table fare from the Farmers and Chefs food truck will be onsite, wood-fired sourdough pizza from Be Golden Farms, hot coffee and cafe fare from Beacon Pantry, beer from Newburgh Brewery and Threes Brewing, and a signature cocktail from Miss Fairfax.
Each day will feature a keynote presentation in the Atlas gallery. On Saturday, high-profile floral stylist Emily Thompson, who has worked on projects for the Met and the like, will give a presentation on foraging and floral arrangement. On Sunday, local garden writer Margaret Roach will give a talk and sign copies of her latest book.
With dozens of vendors, food trucks, and craft beverage, entertainment for kids, and live demonstrations, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. “I had a great time at Winter Market, and we had a lot more time. I am so looking forward to it,” Fratesi says. “It is going to be very, very beautiful.”
Atlas Studios Spring Market will take place on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 from 10am-5pm, rain or shine. This is a low-waste event. There will be water stations where you can fill your own canteen, but no bottled water will be sold onsite.
