The life of an artist: ‘It’s not for the faint of heart’

Nancy Arcand’s comeback to the Harrison Festival of the Arts was left in the hands of a jury.

Like many prominent artisan markets, a selection committee determines if an applicant meets the threshold to be a vendor. Just applying doesn’t guarantee a spot and the process can be tense for novice artists. But for Nancy, it's actually what makes the Harrison market so special.

“It’s very well organized,” she said. “The artists are unique and different which makes it desirable for people to come.”

Nancy worked the market for a dozen years before taking a step back. She has since launched a new company and was ready to return. Nancy just had to wait for the festival organizers to give her the greenlight.

Going to market

To make sure every vendor offers something unique, the Harrison market carefully selects the vendors that will sell during the summer festival.

“A lot of times people get rejected because their product is duplicated too many times,” Nancy said. “Markets are always looking for unique and different things that are going to be appreciated by the visitors that come because if you have too many jewelers, it’s just a jewelry show instead of an art market.”

Nancy will return to the Harrison Festival of the Arts in July under a new name: Arcand Artz. After her partner retired, Nancy took time away from markets to focus on her own work. She has been honing her sculpting and silversmithing skills.

Nancy has increasingly been focusing on her Celtic heritage and its connection to animals.

“My Celtic ancestors were astutely aware of the interdependent web of all living things… so that’s why I’m developing the spirit animals, because people always have a connection with an animal of some kind.”

Before that, Nancy was hand building pottery and crafting jewelry from stone.

Nancy has been an artist all her life, and if it were up to her she would be doing it full time.

“If I could, I would, but I have a mortgage,” she said with a chuckle.

Nancy’s hope is to have more time for her art in retirement. But entering retirement would mean leaving behind something else meaningful. For the past 18 years Nancy has served as the executive director of the Mission Arts Council. Now 62, she says she hopes to retire by the time she turns 70.

So the next eight years, she’ll be focused on marketing herself—a vital skill she learned early in her career when she first started working the Harrison market.

“It’s not for the faint of heart.”

Nancy used to rally her kids to help set up and take down her booth every day. She has learned a lot about markets since her early days, including the importance of communication.

An artist sitting in a booth isn’t exactly engaging. “I talk to people all the time,” Nancy said. She describes herself as a people person. But she admits that it’s not an easy skill to master.

“It sort of is a learned skill, but I think being in my job also helps me communicate and be that kind of a person as well,” she said. “And I’ve been doing markets for years, like probably 25 years. So over the course of that time, that also builds the skill.”

The public can strike up a conversation with Nancy and other artists—and browse their creations at this year’s Harrison Festival of the Arts in July. The event will feature a range of live music, workshops, and, of course, an artisan market.