Over the weekend, the Woman’s Club of Evanston held its annual Holiday Bazaar, which featured more than 50 vendors.
The Holiday Bazaar dates back to 1987, though it began under a different name. It’s one of the three main fundraisers the Woman’s Club organizes.
“There’s so many moving parts,” said Kristin Heffernan, the chair of this year’s Holiday Bazaar.
Admission was free for the event, which took place from Nov. 18 and Nov. 19.
The event kicked off on Friday with a preview party at the Woman’s Club building on 1702 Chicago Ave. Tickets to the party were $25, which added to the club community fund. Other fundraising efforts at the party included raffle and drink tickets and a silent auction.
Each year, the Woman’s Club has a giving focus — a theme of charitable efforts they donate to — selected with the help of community input. The giving focus guides how the community fund is donated between a few larger recipients and a number of smaller grants.
The Woman’s Club hosts a variety of vendors, and aims to draw people and donations to the event each year.
“We usually have anywhere between 52 and 56 (vendors),” she said. “We try to balance (the types of vendors). We try to make sure they’re all a little bit different so everybody has a fair chance.”
Sebastian Sparenga of Sparenga Photography was a first-time vendor at this year’s bazaar.
A selection of colorful photographs lined the walls of his booth — images of caffeine, soy sauce, aspirin and other chemicals, melted, cooled and viewed at the microscopic level.
“I think what’s really neat is that a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of these substances that are essentially colorless under certain conditions, under the microscope, (with a polarizing filter) they actually show color,” Sparenga said of his medium.
On the venue’s first floor, Mary Lou Cerami sat behind her booth, piled with vintage jewelry and art made from upcycled jewelry. She was there with her mother to sell her art.
Cerami said she always wanted to be an artist growing up, which pushed her toward her current expressive path.
“I only do what I love,” Cerami said of her designs. “Especially as an artist, because we have the ability to put a little bit of ourselves out there, it’s important to stay true to who you are.”
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