The Arts & Crafts Market at Justin Herman Plaza is where tourists go to take a piece of San Francisco home with them. As someone who lives in the city, I tend to breeze past this market on my way to the Ferry Building Farmers Market. But one morning I stopped and met Amos Goldbaum, a slightly sunburned, scruffy 20-something. I started chatting him up about the scene: Who are these folks, what do they make, and how did they get here?
They're street artists he said, a community of crafters, many of whom were former hippies who used to sell their handmade goods in the Haight back in the '60s.
Amos doesn't fall into that category, as he's one of the youngest, if not the youngest vendor at the market and stands out not only because of his age, but also because his stuff is just plain cool.
He sells shirts silk-screened with his line drawings of iconic San Francisco images: the Painted Ladies and Sutro Tower sketched in orange, bird's-eye view of the light blue Ferry Building, and yellow Muni buses – all on a soft charcoal color American Apparel tee.
I've seen locals wearing his shirts around the city (my boyfriend included) and was surprised he was courting tourists too (a genius idea, because his clothing is much better than a fleece "I <3 SF" sweatshirt). Inspired by Amos' work, photographer Abby Wilcox and I went to learn more about other vendors and to see if there are more cool SF-made goods to discover.
How'd you get started? My mom's friend was selling and tried to get me to do it forever. She helped me figure out how to get in because there was a lot of red tape.
What kind of red tape? You need a business license, retail permit, and "Certificate Art in Public Places." They're really strict about you making your own stuff. I had to bring in my computer to show them my artwork and a video of myself silk-screening my T-shirts.
What's your favorite product? My pig-on-pig T-shirts. I found a calendar of pigs at BigLots! with pictures of skiing pigs, a Dalai Lama pig, and one with a cowboy pig sitting on top of another. I liked it so much I put it on a shirt.
What's the best part of being an art hawker? You get to be outside. There's plenty of people watching and crackhead theater. Also, my friend Ricky gives me a “Homeless CSA Box” – where he gives me a box of stuff he gets for free from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and I give him money in exchange.
What's the worst part? The weather – heat and freezing wind that can change in the same day. It'll start raining out of nowhere. Plus, there are dates that fall on my head from the palm trees.
What's your best selling item? Lots of my customers like the discretionary features of the flip pipe [which folds onto itself]. We make the flip-style pipe since not every city is as liberal as San Francisco. We use different sustainable woods, such as angico, bocote, cocobolo and ebony.
How did you get started? I've been making pipes since I was in the Navy. I've been doing it off and on for about 10 years.
How long has your business been around? My girlfriend started the business and I help out. We call it a jointless venture.
What's your favorite part of selling on the street? I've got customers from all over the world; people make special trips to find me. Our pipes are in every country except for two – Australia and New Zealand, which has bans on wood imports.
Least favorite part? People trying to steal. I got one this morning. You just have to keep your eyes open.
How long have you been known as The Gnome? Too long to remember.
How did you get your start? Another artist told me about this market. I had been making jewelry as a hobby, but I wanted to find a new way of making a living. Before this, I was a bus driver in Oakland for 10 years and would make jewelry during breaks, at the end of the bus line, and every evening after work.
How do you make your jewelry? I purchase prints from graphic artists, and use decorative paper and vintage maps. I draw a lot of my inspiration from another artist who was selling an online instructional PDFs on how to make Scrabble decoupage jewelry. I evolved it to apply it to different mediums.
What's the most popular item? My Scrabble tile pendants. My current favorite items are my rings with dictionary word cutouts.
What's your favorite part of being an art hawker? I get to reach a very large demographic – both tourists and locals – so my work gets to travel without me having to move.
Least favorite part? The long hours. Part of the public artist program is that you have to sell what you've been approved to sell. I am the only one that can be here – I can't hire anyone else to sell for me. It's their way to make sure artists make it themselves.
How'd you get started? I saw some coasters and decided to make some of my own.
What's your process? I look in garage sales and used record stores. I try to find the ones that have the most nostalgia with people. I sell nostalgia – like records people grew up with: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Jimi Hendrix. I've sold all The Beatles I've made. Everyone likes The Beatles.
Where does the sea glass come from? It comes from an art glass factory in England – known as English sea glass. They would dump their glass into the sea and this is the final product.
Why sea glass? I collected it as a child. Five years ago I found an old box with all my sea glass and thought it would be a nice addition to the jewelry I was already making. Using sea glass made me feel different.
What draws you to this market? I went to this market when I was a kid in the ’70s. As a child, I was drawn to it. I loved the atmosphere and the art. One time at the market, my dad bought a crystal that hangs in the window. It's been a lifelong obsession; I now have over 200 and when the sun comes in my house there are rainbows everywhere.
How'd you get started? I started almost 17 years ago by traveling and watching other artists make jewelry in the street. I was in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Columbia, and Venezuela.
I was attracted to the freedom, not having a boss, and making money quickly. You get paid at the moment and you sell your work. You don't have to wait around a whole month to get your paycheck.
How often do you sell at this market? Not every day since I'm going to school for fine arts at City College. I want to transfer to UC Berkeley or the Academy of Art.
What's your most popular item? The wish bracelet. Everyone makes a wish when I sell them the bracelet, and once it falls off, the wish will come true.
I knew a couple that came to buy my bracelets. A few months later I saw the guy and he said they had broken up. I gave him another bracelet for good luck and after five months, I saw them together again. Later on they got married because of their wish – and every time he sees me he gives me $20.
Where else can people find you? I sell my jewelry at Positively Haight. I don't use websites and business cards because my jewelry is unique, and people should take the opportunity to buy them.
How'd you get started? I've been shooting since I was eight years old. Previous to this I was taking pictures for architecture firms. I had a niche. But the recession hit and three of the firms I used to work for filed for bankruptcy. I decided to do something else.
How long have you been an art hawker? I've been selling at this market for only 10 days. But I actually did sell art in my early 20s, long before the city had an art sellers program. Once they started to regulate, I quit. I was a rebel, had long hair and thought it wasn't fun when there were rules.
What's your philosophy? If I can't say something unique, I don't want to shoot it at all. I don't want to do postcards.
As for my favorite pictures, I can't pick one, they're all my children. My favorite picture is the one I haven't taken yet.
What's your best-selling item? The Golden Gate Bridge and cable car pictures sell well. But you never know.
One of my best sellers right now is a picture I took of a parking garage on Vallejo and Stockton, overlooking downtown during sunset. About one-third of my customers are locals, even though I gear it towards tourist shots. A large percentage of people visiting are people who used to live here. I had two women from Virginia (who didn't know each other) who both lived here three years ago who recently bought prints.
Why San Francisco? I came here on vacation 41 years ago and never left. It's been a long three weeks.
Stop by the Arts & Crafts Market at Justin Herman Plaza, open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. across from the Ferry Building. The market captured our hopes and wishes (Abby and I bought a dream-weaver necklace and wish bracelet, respectively.) There are plenty of unexpected and unique goods to buy for yourself or others, and don't be shy, introduce yourself to these awesome folks!
Or, if you are too shy, you can find out more about some of these artists online:
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