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When Hannah Contardi started selling her artwork, she heard the glorious sound of her first sale, money transferring from someone’s credit card to hers.
“It was an absolutely exceptional feeling. I worked on something that somebody liked enough to pay me for it,” says Hannah, who is a junior at the University of Arizona. “It was a phenomenal feeling. I want to give that to everybody else — before they all choose engineering majors and suddenly no one has time to (make art).”
Hannah is the Events and Partnerships Manager with Student-Made Arizona, a collective of student artists at the UA. Student-Made Arizona, part of a nationwide group, launched in Tucson in 2024.
While Student-Made has hosted a number of smaller pop-ups on campus, April 17 will mark the first-ever Future Cats Market — a market featuring student artists ranging from elementary age through college.
The idea was inspired by Johnny Carrillo, who works with the Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition to host the biannual Made in Tucson Market, which Student-Made was part of last fall. When Made in Tucson decided to take this spring off, Johnny knew he still wanted to work with Student-Made in some way.
Initially, Hannah was just thinking about a small pop-up shop.
“Johnny planted the seed. He said, ‘Let’s think bigger. What if we do a full market?’ At first, I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Sure, we’ll do a market,’” Hannah says, brushing off the idea initially. “But then I started thinking about it and I was like, ‘We should do a market.’ By then, the seed was already planted and watered.”
The market will feature as few as 10 vendors, but hopefully as many as 30. Two food trucks and a DJ are also part of the market, which takes place from 5-8 p.m. at the Coalition Space, 311 E. Seventh St. Hannah is still looking for vendors — applications close March 15.
“We were just going to do a Student-Made pop-up shop, but once we started thinking about a market, we were like, ‘Why does it have to just be us?’” Hannah says. “There are so many students that make things. Student-Made can extend to so many other groups besides college students. In a way, (this market) breaks all the red tape that markets typically require — a website, a business name, a business license. We want to cut all of that red tape.”
You’ll be able to find jewelry, crocheted items, stickers, paintings, apparel and more. Hannah is a mixed media artist with an emphasis in wood burning and engraving — she sells coasters, wooden decor, ornaments and more.
“In high school, I was fortunate enough to learn Adobe Suite, specifically Adobe Illustrator and Adobe PhotoShop, as part of a graphic design program,” Hannah says. “I started making little gifts for people. I would make pins, I would design my own cards.”
When she moved to Tucson for college, she eventually found CATalyst Studios, a maker space on campus. She made a beeline to the laser cutter, received her certification to use it and continued to make gifts for friends and family. It wasn’t until she found a Student-Made flyer inside CATalyst when she decided to start selling her work.
“I signed up for Student-Made before I even knew what I wanted to sell,” Hannah says. “I felt more connected to the spirit of Student-Made than the products I’d make.”
At the Future Cats Market, Hannah is excited for young entrepreneurs and artists to make sales of their own — and she hopes that the adults in the room feel inspired to host student-involved markets of their own.
“I would love for (attendees) to take away that there’s such a young and thriving art community that’s just waiting to grow,” Hannah says. “I’d love for this market to be a starting point for a bunch of other student markets.”
🎨 The Future Cats Market takes place 5-8 p.m. Friday, April 17 at the Coalition Space, 311 E. Seventh St. For more information, head to Student-Made’s Instagram page. 🎨
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