Find Unique Wares and Good Times at the Anti-Robot Club’s Final Market of the Year

The Anti-Robot Club’s final marketplace of the year is happening this Saturday, December 16, from 4-7 p.m. at the Farm Fresh Rhode Island building on Sims Avenue in Providence just in time for your last-minute holiday shopping needs. This month marks the second full year of Anti-Robot Club’s free monthly market where emerging and under-the-radar artists have the chance to gain exposure and network with other small businesses and creatives while selling their work to the community. The monthly Marketplace was founded by visual artist Spocka Summa, and the free, family-friendly event takes place on the third Saturday of every month.

Summa founded the marketplace because he saw a void in the community. There are many arts marketplaces in the state, but most are geared toward established artists and may not always include music culture and fashion.

“I felt there was more of a need for the emerging artists,” Summa says. “The idea is to mesh music culture and food with streetwear, but also celebrate creativity from small businesses and emerging artists to create a new platform with a different vibe.”

The upcoming market will be a little more robust than its pervious iterations, featuring more vendors (115 as opposed to the usual seventy-five to ninety) who will be selling everything from vintage clothing, indie streetwear and high-end finds to vinyl records, upcycled art, resin work and more, as well as a few new and exciting activations like caricature artist Dillon George (@dillgeo), ceramicist Joseph De Pinho (@uhh_pots) and visual artist Nick Groleau (@grolo_art). Food vendors include Comfort Your Soul southern comfort food, and Kristi’s Kraftails, serving delicious mocktails and cocktails. The Farm Fresh RI building also has many food and drink businesses, including Providence Brewing Co., New Harvest Coffee, and Tallulah’s Taqueria, all three of which are partnering with Summa on the event.

“The point of this one is we want to give people another option for your holiday shopping so you don’t only have to go to the mall and get everyone the same exact gift,” Summa says. “This is an opportunity to find something that’s uniquely made and not mass produced, and at the same time you’ll be supporting a local small business.”

Summa is a visual artist who also runs the Anti-Robot Club clothing line. He wanted a place where the smallest of small businesses would have a place to expose the public to their work. “A lot of these individuals don’t have a brick and mortar and some don’t have websites,” he says. “Opportunities like this are a good chance for them to get themselves out there.”

The market follows the same theme that the Anti-Robot Club embodies. “The idea behind Anti-Robot Club means being self-sufficient, and not relying on other systems to do your work for you, but also showing up in person and being present with people,” Summa says. “Some people get lost in technology in this world that provides instant gratification. I think that affects businesses. It affects families. It affects art. It affects the way people communicate. The Anti-Robot Club is a way and opportunity to bring people back down to earth and to be more present.”

The Anti-Robot Club Marketplace gets people out into the community, together in person. “It’s created a unique community where artists can also network with each other,” he says. “Artists have an opportunity to collaborate with other artists there, new friendships are formed, and there are a lot of regulars. It’s become something beautiful.”

Anti-Robot Club’s Marketplace, Farm Fresh RI, 1 Sims Ave., Providence, antirobotclub.com

RELATED ARTICLES

Five Can’t-Miss Events this Week in Rhode Island

27 Fun Things to Do in Rhode Island this November