The fourth annual Maker’s Fair returned to the Arts Complex on Thursday, May 14, to sell and display artwork in a growing campus marketplace.
The fair was a part of a larger event called the Festival of Arts that showcased student work across different academic disciplines related to the arts.
Part of the event was a series of performances, including: a Jazz Ensemble, an Advanced Dance Concert, and an animated projected display of student artwork.
The Festival of Arts was hosted by the El Camino College Art Gallery, the event ran from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Maker’s Fair featured students and recent alumni selling handmade merchandise in a free public marketplace.
Carrie Lockwood, Maker’s Fair coordinator and Art Gallery staff member, said the Maker’s Fair began five semesters ago and has grown each year.
This year’s fair reached its 60-table limit, forcing organizers to close registration once capacity was met.
The fair was originally created to give students learning opportunities on how to sell and present their work while connecting artists with the community.
“It started as an idea and has become a total success,” said Dulce Stein, one of the two founders of the Maker’s Fair.
Stein, a campus curator who served as a Fine Arts ASO Senator from 2022 to 2024, launched the event alongside art student Patrick Hahn, who has since transferred to California State University Long Beach.
Stein said that the first fair was organized through the Associated Students Organization and promoted through invitations and classroom visits.
Early challenges consisted of helping the public understand the concept of the event, Stein said.
The first fair featured about 20 participants and was attended primarily by art students who already knew of the event ahead of time.
Since then, the event has expanded throughout the Arts Complex and areas near the music and art buildings.
The fair, in part, is connected to community outreach and enrollment efforts for ECC students.
“It’s kind of like a farmers market, but for students and community,” Stein said.
Stein added that the event allows artists to create connections through work shaped by their surroundings.
“When we create something, we are heavily influenced by our environment,” Stein said. “It’s a way to create beauty out of our own space, representing where we are in time and space.”
Gabriella Martinez, 19, a former El Camino art major who transferred to Santa Monica College in 2025, said events like these allow artists to support one another through different forms of creativity.
“It’s good to see artists of different mediums and practices and to support them whenever possible,” Martinez said.
Martinez said that art remains a vital creative outlet for personal development.
“It’s helping me explore my emotions and things about myself,” Martinez said, adding, “It gives me a creative outlet for when I get overwhelmed by external factors.”
Stein said that the relationship between the creator and the community is the fair’s core purpose.
“That exchange from public to maker and collector, it’s the most important exchange that we can have,” Stein said. “It is important for the community to know that El Camino is a place that is constantly creating, changing, and learning.”
