The Dodd Arts Market illustrates UGA students’ creativity

Music, color and the hustle and bustle of eager shoppers overtook the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art’s main art building Friday, November 6, as this semester’s semi-annual Dodd Market took place. With over 140 student artists selling their work, student bands performing in the courtyard and a food truck serving shoppers who had worked up an appetite, the market showcased an array of creative dawgs. Artists, both veterans of the event and new marketeers felt both nervous and excited as the market geared up. “The print that I thought was the worst sold first,” Anzlee Wilson, a 4th-year art education major, said. “I was super nervous and stressed out at first, but I think after the first customer, I think I felt  immense joy ever since then, so I'm feeling really good. ” Third-years  neuroscience major Kiryuu Wong and graphic design major Heather Bos ran a booth featuring aquatic-themed keychains and trinkets made from upcycled materials. Their fish and fisherman outfits respectively drew attention to their booth, located in an off shooting hallway of the market. “So far, we've had to raise our prices a little bit because our little fish are going too fast,” Bos said. “We didn't make a lot. It's always a goal to make them in advance even when we end up procrastinating. But it's still a lot of fun. The amount of attention always kind of shocks me in a good way. ” Fellow artists, visiting parents and curious students alike milled through the market, discussing the art with its creators and toting their finds. With the market sprawling from the entrance of the building, through a series of hallways and into the courtyard, an array of booths each offered unique pieces and enthusiastic artists. “It's a very manageable volume which I like,” Rio G, a transfer interior design major, said. “There’s a lot of variety. It's not just art prints or keychains and stuff. There's everything.” The Dodd Market began in 2021 with the help of the Lamar Dodd School of Art’s ambassadors. Since then, each new group of ambassadors has worked to uphold the market’s tradition and support artists in the school consistently. “I feel like it has a lot more artists than usual, which is really cool to see,” Kaitlyn Klein, a third-year ecology and biology major, said. “I feel like it's kind of been growing every time I've come here.  It's a lot of fun, and there's a lot of really cool art pieces, and it's incredible how talented some of these people are.” Because the market aims to provide a free space for UGA’s creatives to profit off their work, the booths — run by students and student organizations — keep their profits. “I think it's just really great that Dodd does this every year,” Maya Shrivastav, a second-year ceramics major, said. “It's definitely a great opportunity for a lot of artists to both have the experience of selling at the art market and also to just be able to get more involved in that community of artists.”