Market Milestone: Art Squared celebrates 10th anniversary

Art Squared has become a popular activity amongst San Marcans, as it is the largest art market in the area, located in the heart of Downtown San Marcos. From its humble beginnings in 2012 as ‘Art Unhitched,’ Art Squared has become an important part of over 40 artists’ businesses nearly every month. Kathryn Welch, the current Market Director of Art Squared, has been involved since 2015 and has seen firsthand how this art market has transformed from a weekend activity to a San Marcos institution.

“It’s been a great experience, very challenging at times, but overall, I’m super proud that our little market has grown to be an institution in San Marcos, and a monthly event that our locals look forward to and bring guests to,” Welch said. “To imagine that we’ve been around for 10 years now is a little overwhelming, given the many obstacles and challenges that we’ve overcome. But the original market started with a vision, and we haven’t lost that vision in all these years, and that’s why we’re still here, month after month, bringing art to the public.”

After the first year of the market in 2012, Art Unhitched vendors started to organize and formed a planning committee that later became the Art Squared Advisory Committee, made up of artists and art enthusiasts. After careful consideration, the artists, along with members of the Arts Commission, decided to relocate the Art Market to the historic Hays County Courthouse lawn in downtown San Marcos. The new and improved Art Squared Arts Market debuted in March 2014, and became a program of the San Marcos Art League, a 501(c)3 organization.

Ten years later in 2022, the organization can see the lasting effects Art Squared has had on both artists and community members as it has become a downtown staple. “Art Squared has benefitted the San Marcos community in so many ways,” Welch said, “both tangible and intangible. The market has given artists a venue for meeting the public, showing their work and making sales. I’ve seen many artists get their start at Art Squared and really bloom and prosper over the years. The market has also become a mainstay of downtown cultural life and has brought attention and increased business not only to the artists but to all the downtown businesses. Many events have sprung up over the years that have used Art Squared as their cornerstone. But most of all, Art Squared has become a cultural event that San Marcos can rely on, month after month. Everyone knows that our hard-working artists will be setting up their tents, carefully displaying their creations, and that anyone can come to the market to see the art, visit with the artists and hear live music.”

With many successful years of Art Squared under the belt and the future on the horizon, many are hoping to see this art market continue to grow, including Welch.

“I see Art Squared continuing to rebound from the restrictions that the pandemic has forced us to reckon with,” she explained. “We’ll continue to offer artists a space to sell, a venue for nonprofit organizations to educate the public on their missions, a place for live music to be enjoyed and a place for kids to create crafts and for Art Supply Swaps to take place. We’ll continue our collaborative partnerships with the city and other organizations to bring fun and exciting cultural events to our city. And most of all, with the support of the Arts Commission and the San Marcos Art League, we’ll continue to spread the word of our unique event to those from outside of our area, so that San Marcos will be known as a place where the arts are valued.”

Art Squared is held every second Saturday in Downtown San Marcos from March to December from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (9 a.m. - 2 p.m. in July and August) and is sponsored by the San Marcos Art League and in part by the San Marcos Arts Commission.

Art Squared Market Director, Kathryn Welch (on right) poses at her vendor booth for River City Glassworks with her business partner Sondra Kretchsmar (on left) in Downtown San Marcos in 2021. Photos submitted by SMAL

The first Art Squared Arts Market of 2022 kicks off on March 12. To find out how to can attend or become a vendor at Art Squared, visit artsquaredmarket.com