The University art department held its semi-annual Test Print Pop-Up Shop in the lobby of 41 Park Row Thursday, Dec. 1. Student artists in and outside of the major were invited to sell their art in a variety of mediums.

There were around a dozen vendors present selling their work in various mediums—photography prints, crochet, linoleum prints, acrylic paintings, stickers, graphic design prints and more. Pricing varied per piece and vendor but was easily affordable enough for any college students looking to add an original piece to their collection or find a gift for someone else.

Cat Caldarola, a junior studying Psychology and Art at the University was a first-time attendee and vendor at the event selling various linoleum prints featuring vibrant oranges, rabbit skeletons and a piece about self-forgiveness. When asked their thoughts on the event, they felt that “it’s very important for artists, especially young student artists, to have a place to expose their art and sell their work. Unlike most fairs, artists don’t have to pay to participate in the Test Print Pop Up, so this really gives students the opportunity to get their foot in the door.”

Students both selling and attending overall had positive thoughts on the event, and were grateful to be set up in the lobby rather than the gallery this year to help foster more of an inclusive community feeling and benefit from the foot traffic.

University Junior Zoe Griffith was also a first-time attendee and applauded the art department for sponsoring the event, sharing that it’s “really cool to be here supporting student artists selling affordable art. The University doesn’t have a lot of community events so it’s great to be in an environment where we can all socialize and share art.”

Derek Stroup, a professor in the art department at the University who helped organize the event shared that the event was started by now alumni Belle Krupcheck about five years ago with a group of just six other participating artists in the basement of 41 Park Row. The event slowly grew over time, and now happens once a semester during the Fall and Spring terms. Stroup has been happy to see its progress over the past few years and hopes to get the word out to more students so it continues to grow.

Olivia Long, a Junior studying Art at the University, was selling bumble bee linoleum prints and handmade crochet bags and had been a vendor at the event twice now. Long also shared her love for the pop-up, but “wish[es] that it was marketed more because most people don’t know what it is. I have so many people telling me after it’s already passed that they would have loved to go to an event like this.”

There have been struggles to make the event more widely known, but facilitators are working on increasing advertising for the event and getting other clubs involved, such as Photo Club who assisted in designing flyers.

If you missed the Test Print Pop-Up Shop this semester, keep an eye out for when it makes its return in the Spring and try to keep small artists in mind while shopping this holiday season, or maybe even become a vendor yourself.