Spirit of Old Portsmouth 2024 Summer Market Application

The Spirit of Old Portsmouth is a multimedia effort based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with an art market residency at The Press Room: an iconic cultural hub that’s been keeping it weird/keeping it real in Downtown Portsmouth since 1976. Our mission is to provide a platform to support the independent artists, writers, and makers that are still clinging on to the ethereal grit that is Old Portsmouth. We believe that it is imperative to shop small, shop sustainable, and to support independent makers in order for our creative community to survive.

Are you an artist interested in participating in the upcoming Spirit of Old Portsmouth Summer Markets? Please take a moment to read through all of the necessary information, and complete our artist/vendor application. In addition to filling out this form, all applicants must send up to five images of their work to oldportsmouthartmarket@gmail.com (at least one image of your setup is required for your application to be considered, please also include pictures of what you plan to sell. Applications that do not include images will not be considered).

While we wish that we could accept all applications, there has been a lot of interest and space is very limited. All artists selected to participate in these markets will be notified by email no later than May 15th, 2024. If your application is not selected for the Summer Markets, please consider applying again when we open our books for the 2024 Winter Market.

Please Note:

The Table Fee for these markets is $50 per market, and must be paid within one week after receiving an acceptance email to secure your space. Details about Table Fee Payments will be included in the welcome email to accepted artists.

For safety reasons, open flames, hanging hardware, torches, pressurized tanks/containers, and other potentially hazardous tools and objects are strictly forbidden from the market. All displays must be sturdy and stable. If you have a question about your setup, please feel free to ask!

While we aim for flexibility in terms of setup, we have a strict footprint for displays, and cannot accommodate tables larger than 2x4’ or any setup larger than 5x4’ (with artists’ seating included in this measurement). We realize that a 2x4’ setup is on the small side, but due to venue size and overwhelming interest - we do our best to keep the table fee as low as possible and allow as many artists as possible to participate.

The Market takes place on the top two floors of The Press Room. While it is an amazing space for an art market, it is also an old building with no elevator access. Artists must be able to load in and out on their own. Each artist is responsible for their own booth, and conducting their own sales. These markets run from noon to 4pm, with an hour set aside before and after for load in/load out. All artists/vendors must be completely set up and ready to sell their work by the time that the doors open to the public.

Thank you for your interest!