Illustrator-Run Event is a Trade Show Alternative with a Cocktail Party Twist

For many peo­ple in the illus­tra­tion world, it’s SURTEX season—a gigan­tic mar­ket­place held in New York City where retail­ers, man­u­fac­tur­ers, and licensees can find unique pat­terns, prints, and oth­er designs for com­mer­cial use. For three days, there are over 1,000 artists under one roof! But that’s not the only illus­tra­tion event being held. On May 21 is Field Trip, an artist-run col­lab­o­ra­tive mar­ket­place that show­cas­es the pat­tern and illus­tra­tions of a small group of illustrators.

Field Trip bucks trade show norms and presents works on a more inti­mate scale. Their goal is to unite artist and clients to pur­chase or license illus­tra­tions, as well as dis­cuss pos­si­ble col­lab­o­ra­tions. “[Field Trip] tries to bring a lit­tle joy and fun into the busi­ness side of buy­ing art and com­mis­sion­ing illus­tra­tion and pat­tern work,” Kim Hall of Not­tene tells me. “We are all inde­pen­dent oper­a­tors but real­ly love work­ing togeth­er for this event every year.” The event is infor­mal, and guest sip cock­tails and sam­ple nib­bles. This year, they’ll hear sounds from a DJ.

In addi­tion to Not­tene, oth­er illus­tra­tors include Amper­sand Design Stu­dio, Biki­ni Sous La Pluie, Car­olyn Suzu­ki, Eliz­a­beth Olwen, Jil­lian Phillips, Kel­ly Ven­tu­ra, Moni­ka Fors­berg, Sara Boc­cac­ci­ni Mead­ows, Suzy Ult­man, and Vic­to­ria John­son.

Field Trip is an invite-only event. If you’re inter­est­ed in attend­ing future events, you can request an invite.

These are just some of the products that the Field Trip participants have produced…

… and here are scenes from past events. Looks like fun!