In a collaborative effort by Student Activities, the Fine Arts department, the Entrepreneurship Club and Her Campus Brandeis, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Campus Center Atrium held the first- ever Student Vendor Arts and Crafts Fair on Friday afternoon. The atrium was filled with tables overflowing with student-crafted artworks and wearables-from jewelry to T-shirts to photographs. The students meandered from table to table, shopping and admiring the handmade pieces.

After speaking with some of the vendors, I discovered that many of them have actually been selling their work for some time now. Many said that they make sales on Etsy, an online store for independent artists, or that they have their own websites to sell their merchandise.

Andrea Stern '14, who is involved with Her Campus Brandeis, Marissa Lazar '14, an undergraduate departmental representative for the Fine Arts department, and Nathan Feldman '14, one of the heads of the Entrepreneurship Club, were key players in the planning of the event. In an interview with the Justice, first printed on Tuesday, Jan. 21, Stern commented, "we have so many vendors that come-outside vendors that don't work for Brandeis." The fair's purpose was to give students an opportunity to show off their hard work and artistry to both their peers and the faculty who they work with on campus.

One vendor, Gustavo Lopes '15, said that he got his start in high school when he started making graphics under the label NLIGHTN. He then transitioned into silk screening and started to create apparel. Lopes said that when he was in high school, he would get up around 6 a.m. and create a shirt that he would wear that very same day to school.

Lopes says he gets his inspiration from street art and that he is interested in addressing current political issues in his work. For instance, one of his shirt designs depicts a young African-American boy holding a bucket emblazoned with the Obama logo. Underneath the graphic, the shirt reads, "Begging for Change." Lopes says that he does not know if he will make a career of his hobby, but still says he is certainly interested in continuing.

Another vendor, Olivia Leiter '14, sold earrings at the fair. From a distance, Leiter's earrings look like beautiful beads, but a closer look will show you that the earrings are actually made out of little pieces of folded paper-works of origami. Leiter said she started making origami when she was just seven years old and began making her work into earrings during her middle school years.

Leiter noted that the earrings are completely durable despite being made of paper, as she soaks them in polyurethane to harden their forms. Lazar said that she hopes this fair will be "the first of many," and that the new UDRs for the Fine Arts department carry on the tradition after she graduates in the spring.
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