Handmade Arcade is an annual independent craft fair in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The fair focuses on

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

upcycle Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...

recycle Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

d, and

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

materials and techniques. Vendors come from multiple states; in 2012, participants came from 15 different states. For example, some pieces include purses made from recycled books, camera straps constructed from vintage fabrics, jewelry made from found objects, pillows constructed from vintage T-shirts, and organic bath and body products. Attendance has reached 10,000. In 2007 and 2009, it won the People’s Choice Award for Best Arts Event from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. The first Handmade Arcade was held in 2004 at Construction Junction in Point Breeze. The founder was Gloria Forouzan of Lawrenceville.

The Sprout Fund The Sprout Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to funding various programs designed to increase civic engagement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sprout-funded murals were named the "Best Public Art" by the ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' in 2006. ...

provided critical funding for that first event. That year, attendance was 1,000, with 60 vendors. In 2005, attendance and the number of vendors had doubled. The 2006 version saw 5,000 attendees. In 2008, it had moved into the

Hunt Armory Hunt Armory (also known as Pittsburgh Armory) is a former armory located at 324 Emerson Street in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was designed by Pittsburgh architects W.G. Wilkins Co. Announced on August 29, 1909 and ...

. By 2011, attendance had grown to 7,000, allowing for a move to the

David L. Lawrence Convention Center The David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLLCC) is a convention, conference and exhibition building in downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is served by two exits on Interstate 579. The initial David L. Lawrence ...

References

{{Pittsburgh Culture of Pittsburgh Do it yourself Recurring events established in 2004