Stepping across the barricades at the Heart of Campus that mark the entrance to the ASUO Street Faire is like stepping into another world; a world where normally fast-paced college students amble slowly with their eyes wide open, searching for the perfect purchase to make their day.
With the annual fall fair running until Friday, students, faculty and community members alike are given the rare opportunity to take a few minutes out of their busy days to slow down, relax and shop.
Jess Hogan, a University alumna and vendor at the Faire, said she distinctly remembers the days when she begrudgingly stepped off her bike and walked it through the hoards of people crowding the booths along East 13th Avenue. Now, however, she’s more than happy to be a part of an event known not only for its uncanny ability to tie up on-campus traffic but also for its vast array of wares from the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
“What was once a ‘pain in the ass’ is now helping us pay our bills,” Hogan said Wednesday.
Although Hogan and her husband, Scott, have been hand-making glass bead jewelry for about five years, Hogan said she’s been making jewelry since she was a child. The couple work out of their studio in Portland, but travel around to different fairs almost every weekend, selling their creations at about 40 different fairs per year.
To pay homage to their alma mater, Hogan and her husband make special duck beads that they turn into both pendants and earrings. She said that they like coming back to Eugene and that as long as they continue to be successful, they will to return.
Just a few yards away from the Jess Hogan Designs booth is Martin Owino, standing in the midst of his batik wall hangings, wearing a shirt emblazoned with “Kenya” written in bold yellow letters across his chest. Owino, a native Kenyan who moved to the United States five years ago, said he has been making batik since he was born. The technique, a style of dying cloth that originated in Indonesia but has become popular internationally, is something that has been passed down for generations through his family, he said.
Owino, a four-year Street Faire veteran, said he comes back each year because he enjoys the environment.
“I love Universities,” Owino said. “The people here are so diverse, it’s all about mixing different people together.”
While vendors commonly sell items like clothing, shoes, jewelry, artwork and food from all around the world, Bryan Parks unveiled for the first time his passion for making items such as purses and fruit bowls out of recycled chopsticks. Parks, who is originally from Colorado and recently moved to Eugene, said the idea for chopstick objects came after living in China.
Seeing the utensils going to waste on a daily basis, he developed ways to create useable household objects out of cleaned, recycled chopsticks.
“I started to get into street fairs because they’re a good outlet for my things since they’re very unique,” Parks said while standing amidst half a dozen boxes full of various chopstick creations. “I don’t know how my stuff will sell with a college crowd, though. Ask me again on Friday.”
Maryam Aleisa, an international student from Kuwait starting her first year at the University, was one of the many students shopping the booths Wednesday morning.
“I really like it,” Aleisa said while examining a Peruvian knit hat.
Aleisa said she was surprised to see the marketplace when she came out of her morning class.
“It’s nice to have shopping at the University,” Aleisa said. “Plus, everything is cheap.”
This year, in addition to showcasing roughly 80 vendors, the faire coincides with National Coming Out Week, organized by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Alliance.
Zoe Monahan, the ASUO’s marketing director, said that the Street Faire, which has been a University tradition for more than 30 years, is not only a welcome distraction for students, but it is also a giant fundraiser for the ASUO. Each vendor is required to pay for the space needed to set up their booth, and the money that the ASUO collects from vendors goes toward helping them co-sponsor student events throughout the year.
“A goal we always have is to earn enough money so that we can help programs do what they want,” Monahan said.
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