Two Big Shopping Events!

Want to snap up your own masterpiece—without the huge cost? Or better yet, that sweet pair of designer jeans for a lower price? Art Fair on the Square and Maxwell Street Days are just the answer to your shopping desires.

First, this weekend’s Art Fair on the Square is a bonanza of artists selling everything from: mixed media, ceramics, drawing, graphics and printmaking, fiber/leather, furniture, glass, jewelry, metal works, painting, photography, sculpture and 3-D mixed media and wood. Phew, that’s all of the categories! That’s about five hundred artists showing off their wares, folks.

While it’s not a “sale,” items range in cost from affordable jewelry and prints to pricey ceramic and glass pieces and everything in between. It all depends on what you’d like to spend—and of course, what pieces speak to you. So pick up your own little piece of art, whether it’s a pair of earrings or that must-have painting.

Yes, the Square can get crowded but Art Fair only comes around once a year—so why not embrace it, take your time, and support local (and national) artists?

Images courtesy of MMoCA.

Art Fair on the Square, July 11 (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) July 12 (10 a.m.–5 p.m.). Capitol Square. Mmoca.org

Next weekend (July 17–19) is Maxwell Street Days. What is Maxwell Street Days, and why the heck is it called that when it’s on State Street?!

“Maxwell Street in Chicago, Ill., was home to a famed outdoor market and ‘urban bazaar’ from 1871 to 1994. In 1975, Martin’s, a Madison, Wis., clothing store and tailor shop, founded an outdoor sidewalk sale to showcase the State Street shopping district, starting Madison’s very own ‘Maxwell Street Days’ tradition.”

That’s according to downtownmadison.org, of course. Anyway, deals abound at the largest sidewalk sale in Madison. And I mean sidewalk sale in a classy way of course, not in a rummage-sale-selling-cheesy-owl-tapestries way. More than eighty shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants (most locally owned, of course) will have bargains on clothing, jewelry, home goods, shoes, active wear and more.

I must confess I am looking forward to bop’s sale. The fun, fashionable women’s shop will offer killer deals on tons of items in the store—including their best denim sale of the year. If you make the pilgrimage to bop, be prepared to wait in line around the corner—the sale is just that good.

Maxwell Street Days, July 17–18 (8 a.m.–6 p.m.) July 19 (10 a.m.–5 p.m.). maxwellstreetdays.org, visitdowntownmadison.org