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Last year marked 50 years since the founding of Portland Saturday Market, the country’s largest continuously operating open-air arts and crafts market.
To celebrate, local filmmaker and artist Keelan Booth shot a documentary on our homegrown weekly art fair, interviewing a founder, former and current artists, food vendors and customers. The resulting 83-minute film will premiere at Cinema 21 on Wednesday, April 30.
Portland Saturday Market: Celebrating 50 Years of Craft and Community goes all the way back to 1974, when two women, Sheri Teasdale and Andrea Scharf, organized the market. Vendors just set up wherever they wanted in an Old Town parking lot. Over time, it grew into the cultural staple that it is today, which last year was recognized as an Oregon Heritage Tradition.
Music Millennium owner Terry Currier is quoted in the film about how the market fits into the cultural ecosystem in town.
“I came up with the phrase, ‘Keep Portland Weird,’” Currier says. “There’s unique businesses in town that make Portland what it is. Saturday Market would be right at the top.”
The nonprofit Hatch PDX sponsored director Keelan Booth with the production of the documentary. Last year, Booth not only made the film but also participated as a market member selling her art, which she creates under the name Keebee Studios.
Market organizers are offering $50 VIP ticket packages to the film and after-party, complete with a gift pack that includes such Saturday Market gems as tie-dye socks, a Velcro clutch, and a 50th anniversary poster.
SEE IT: Portland Saturday Market: Celebrating 50 Years of Craft and Community at Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave., 503-223-4515, cinema21.com/movie/portland-saturday-market. 7 pm Wednesday, April 30. $15 general admission, $50 VIP.