Guest Jurors for 2025 Holiday Market

Handmade Arcade (HA) seeks those with expertise in making and craftspersonship, creative entrepreneurship, and arts and maker festival curation to serve as guest jurors for Handmade Arcade’s 2025 Holiday Market.

About Handmade Arcade Guest Jurors:

Handmade Arcade’s annual events and special programs serve a wide range of shoppers and audience members each year. As such, every effort is made to select a diverse community of makers, artists, craftspeople, and creative entrepreneurs to participate in our events and programs with products that showcase varied aesthetics, lived experiences, materials, techniques, and intended use. Handmade Arcade relies on the support of invited and selected guest jurors to review all of the applications for our events and programs. We are currently accepting applications for guest jurors for our 2025 Holiday Market.

Position Requirements:

Handmade Arcade Guest Jurors:

  • Jury 2025 Holiday Market applications assigned to them by HA’s Executive Director and Program Operations Manager in accordance with HA provided jury rubric and instructions (approximately 12-16 hours of work over two weeks, depending on the number of applicants)

  • Attend in-person jury meeting on Saturday, August 16 from 10 AM - 5 PM (meeting will be held in Pittsburgh, final venue TBD)

  • Disclose conflicts of interest in advance of receiving assigned applications to review

  • Submit a bio and headshot upon acceptance that will be publicly shared on HA’s website so applicants know who the jurors are for specific markets

  • Keep jurying discussions confidential

  • Attend a minimum of six craft shows, markets, or maker fairs each year (as a maker, event staff person, or shopper) to stay knowledgeable about the industry 

Qualifications: 

Handmade Arcade seeks jurors with expertise in any of the following areas: 

  • Craft and maker event planning and curation

  • Artistic curation

  • Creative entrepreneurship or entrepreneur support

We are especially interested in jurors with expertise in the following artistic categories:

  • Bath & Body

  • Glass

  • Jewelry

  • Wood

  • Paper Goods

Jurors should be knowledgeable about the craft industry as well as committed to ensuring that Handmade Arcade markets are reflective of Pittsburgh’s diverse community. Jurors should agree with Handmade Arcade’s core values of anti-racism, collaboration, equity, financial sustainability, and transparency.

Handmade Arcade is committed to maintaining a group of Guest Jurors that is reflective of our region’s diverse make-up of makers, customers, and collaborators. Candidates with disabilities, candidates who are BIPOC, and/or candidates who are members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community are strongly encouraged to apply.

Stipend: Jurors will receive a $350 stipend as well as two (2) tickets to attend one of Handmade Arcade’s 2025 Holiday Market ticketed preview shopping events on December 5 or 6, 2025 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

How to Apply: Qualified applicants should complete this application form by June 17 at 11:59 PM (EST).