By Gabriel Matnog and Cristopher Correa
For the second year in a row, Malden Arts hosted a Pop Up shop at 480 Main St in Malden, MA. The shop is open from November 16 to December 24, which is longer than last year’s open dates. The whole operation is run by Ose Schwab. When asked about the inspiration for creating the shop she stated “It all started last year. This space has been open for many years, and an artist in the community suggested creating a gallery in this space. It also helped the need of local artists to exhibit their work.” After a few phone calls, they were able to acquire the space and open up the shop.
Although this year, they plan to provide a creative community space where there is art and performances. Schwab stated, “This creative space is meant to inspire and stimulate the community.” There are more artists in the shop this year with a total of 72, while last year’s was a total of 54 artists. A big difference in the shop is the addition of performances, which they host every weekend. They also have much better marketing in the shop, which they hope helps them get more sales than last year.
The items that are on sale in the shop are mostly handmade by the artists themselves, however there are also items that are made in other countries and then brought to the shop. When asked about the items that are on sale, Schwab stated, “[We] have hand printed clothing, quilts, silk screen prints, collages, glass blown items, ornaments, jewelry, textiles, baskets from Uganda which are sold by a non profit organization called Project Have Hope. [We] have photography, mosaics, books, CD’s, and wood art.”
Schwab believes that, “More marketing and getting the word out to more people, and merchandising is something that [they] look to improve on this year.” They also want more artists to come to the shop and be present to the public. Schwab also wants to even out the duties between every volunteer so that she is not the one doing all the work.
Most of the art that is on display is from local artists, fine artists, or artisans from different parts of the world such as Zimbabwe. “It ranges from people who rely on their art as a living to those who have jobs but are skilled in a craft and don’t have the time to put their art on exhibit.”
When the shop closes, Schwab is going to sit on some citywide committees that discuss arts planning, such as possibly creating more pop up programs in different parts of the city. “We’ll be expanding the business and expanding the Malden Pop Up’s program.”
