Event organizers and members of New England Artists for Action at the Dark Side of the Rainbow market. From left to right: Kristi Grace of Shades in Shadow, Izzy DelOrfano of Lizard Thing, Janelle Havens of Lustshroom, Etc., Pam King of Bee-Rex Crafts, and Ashley Gonzalez of Velvet Vows bookstore. Photo/Jules Robidoux
MANCHESTER, NH — Ever wonder what you might actually find at the end of a rainbow? While you may never know the answer to that, we now know what you can find on the dark side of one – an impressive amount of genius, creativity, and twistedly-cool handmade goods worth their weight in gold.
On Saturday, July 19, Queerlective, a local arts organization that uplifts queer and BIPOC voices, hosted the Dark Side of the Rainbow Market at the YWCA in downtown Manchester. With the goal of bringing together subcultures within the queer community, the market aimed to draw makers and shoppers straight from the queer goth community of New Hampshire.
From left to right, top to bottom: 1) Shades in Shadow LLC‘s ‘Adopt a Ghost’; 2) Shades in Shadow LLC Glow in the Dark Lost Souls; 3) Shades in Shadow LLC Spider on dictionary print; 4) Kristi Grace, owner of Shades in Shadow LLC; 5) Comic book by Lizard Thing; 6) Izzy DelOrfano, owner of Lizard Thing; 7) Posters and other handmade goods by Lizard Thing. Photo Gallery/Jules Robidoux
Randall Nielsen, Queerlective’s Executive Director, shared that Queerlective recently moved their office into the YWCA, explaining the thinking behind it:
“Basically I’ve realized that there can be quite a bit of siloing in the subcultures within the queer community, and Queerlective doesn’t necessarily always attract the attention of the more, kind of punk, goth-y queers. And so as soon as I signed the lease on this [space], I was really excited to share it with the rest of the community,” said Nielsen.
Community members crafting in Queerlective’s community-powered creative space, CoLab, during their open house in their new office space at YWCA during the Dark Side of the Rainbow market. Photos/Jules Robidoux
Queerlective partnered with Janelle Havens, member of New England Artists for Action and owner of Lustshrooms, Etc., a pastel goth-oriented shop that produces and sources new and pre-loved platform shoes, clothing, accessories, and handmade oddities. Havens has managed to find a foothold – no pun intended – in many of the local alternative markets around New Hampshire.
From left to right, top to bottom: 1) Katie Burnette, owner of KtB Pottery; 2) KtB Pottery goods; 3) KtB Pottery goods; 4) Haeden R. Peastee, owner of HRPots; 5) HRPots Vessels of Queer Joy; 6) HRPots magnets; 7) Mugs by HRPots. Photos/Jules Robidoux
“That’s why I reached out to Janelle,” said Nielsen, “who I knew organized the Queen City Black Market, and I was like, ‘Do you need a space to host your next event?’ and she was like, ‘Literally yes, because the one that we’re working with right now just pulled out.'”
That’s when fate stepped in, wearing black platform lace-up boots, and The Dark Side of the Rainbow market was born. According to Havens, a portion of the proceeds from the market will go to Queerlective so that they can continue their work.
From left to right, top to bottom: 1) Kacie Elizabeth, owner of Crown Street Grillz; 2) Stephanie Gerald, owner of Eerily Stabby; 3) Amber, owner of Amber the Crow; 4) A marketgoer wearing reusable silver metal nails by Kacie Elizabeth of Crown Street Grillz. Photos/Jules Robidoux
“It is for all of the queer community, all of the alternative community… really, the thinking for this market specifically is when we think about like, pride, and queer, and LGBTQ community, we think about like rainbows and unicorns, whatever, and there is a massive queer subculture that is alternative, that might not necessarily jive with that,” said Havens. “So we’re kind of bringing that in alongside Queerlective, which is very much the rainbows and unicorn type – so kind of blending it and just trying to make a nice third space community, bringing them together.”
From left to right, top to bottom: 1) Shi-Min Chin, owner of A Head Full of Stars posing with her shop banner; 2) Eccentric handmade laser-cut earrings by A Head Full of Stars; 3) Shi-Min Chin working on a new design behind a pair of holographic jellyfish earrings; 4) New Hampshire horror artist, Dave Gilbert, owner of Ghost Ship Art, selling gruesomely genius prints at the market; 5) Marketgoers flocking to Ghost Ship Art’s booth. Photos/Jules Robidoux
According to their Instagram, this market was New England Artists for Action’s first in-person fundraiser. The organization aims to fundraise for marginalized groups, especially queer people, but they’ve also done fundraisers for organizations who support immigrants. They are mostly based in Connecticut and New Hampshire, but would like to spread out and host more events in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and all over New England. They believe that through collective action, we can protect and preserve these communities in our region that need support.
Left to right, top to bottom: 1) Bracelets by Creativecinderella AKA WebsbyCinderella; 2) Necklaces and earrings by Creativecinderella; 3) Laura Morriseau, owner of Creativecinderella and WebsbyCinderella, selling items made with preserved spider webs🕷 No Spiders harmed 🕷; 4) Beautifully bizarre quilted goods by Sewbaloo; 5) Lauren Dev, owner of Sewbaloo, selling goods at the market. Photos/Jules Robidoux
The market was followed by Queen City’s REALM: Goth Night, an after party at The Shaskeen Pub & Restaurant promising a goth nightclub vibe where goth attire was highly encouraged. Reflecting on the success of the event, Nielsen said he sees this market as just the beginning of the possibilities for Queerlective’s new space:
Left: Jason DeYoung selling copies of Queerlective’s community board game and storytelling project, We Are Your Neighbors; Right: Jason DeYoung tabling for Queerlective and welcoming marketgoers as they enter the event space at YWCA. Photos/Jules Robidoux
“I think it went really well. We’ve had 270 people come in. Vendors are very happy, and this was a bit of a pilot run for us using the space like this. So, we’re very excited to open it up for more vendors,” said Nielsen. “We have a lot of ideas. I want to do a concert here.”
