By Alex Paramo
Authors Note:
My involvement with the Rail Yards Market began early last year when my publishing company, Community Publishing, was called upon to program the Kids Zone at the RYM. Along with co-founder Yvette Sandoval, artist Vanessa Martinez and artist/educator Stephanie Galloway, we were able to provide educational programming for the first months of the 2014 season.
The RYM is more than just a farmers market, arts/artisan market or a venue for entertainers or educators. The RYM has the potential to serve as a sanctuary where folks from the community can come enjoy and/or participate in a paradigm shift. A shift that includes the belief that we as a community of people are empowered to change our city, our society a just, equitable place that puts the interests of the people ahead of profit. If we bond together in mutual support we can take the power out of the few and give it back to the many for the benefit of all of us.
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The Rail Yards Market (RYM) is excited to announce that we are back and better than ever! The 2015 market opens on May 3rd and will run most Sundays from 9AM-1PM through October. We aim to continue and improve upon this community-powered movement to stimulate local economic growth in Albuquerque and expose the community to local artists and educators.
Highlights of the 2014 Season
The Albuquerque community really made our inaugural season a rousing success. Due to your support we:
- Welcomed over 120,000 folks through our doors in 2014
- Generated over $500,000 in local business revenues
- Amassed over 16,236 volunteer hours
- Provided a platform for 730+ vendors & artists
- Amassed over 11,000 fans on Facebook
Additionally we featured dancers, poets, fortune tellers, bike valet, a FUSION Theatre production of Princess Marisol & the Moon Thieves, high-wire acts, and information from various community health care organizations.
Diversity
National Institute of Flamenco
Diversity is of paramount importance to us at the RYM. Therefore this season we will be welcoming more vendors on the day of the market and more vendors in total. Artisans and Artist will be rotating to allow for us to give more opportunities to our talented community members. In addition, our Educational Zones will include more community organizations and will be focused toward a specific theme.
While we will be bringing back some favorites from last season like morning exercises, poets, and flamenco dancers, we will also be diversifying our entertainment options. Musically we plan on mixing up the lineups we have to include traditional New Mexican music, Latino and African American music artists, Native American acts as well as music offerings from all around our local community and our international community.
With an eye toward expanding our culinary offerings, we are reaching out to our Asian American restaurateurs. Continuing with the theme of reaching deeper into our community, the RYM is hiring a Community Outreach Coordinator who will be tasked with forging connections and creating alliances with neighborhood groups around the vicinity of the RYM and beyond. Their duties will also include fundraising and the disbursement of our RYM tokens throughout Albuquerque.
3 Things to Look Forward to in 2015
1. More Vendors: we have increased our vendor numbers to roughly 100 every Sunday.
2. WIC & SNAP: we will start accepting WIC (Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Food Program) as well as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) funding. Participants can use their SNAP “double up food bucks” at the RYM to buy double the produce for half the price.
3. Monthly Newsletter: we will publishing a monthly newsletter that will contain information and discounts. Be on the lookout for signups shortly!
Participate
The Rail Yards Market is focused on building a resilient, sustainable local economy that we all love to work and play in. Through food, art, and music, we hope to bring our community together in an atmosphere of fun, learning, and creativity.
We are a community-run, volunteer-powered organization and we always welcome your participation. We are holding Community Forums open to the public where we welcome your input. To volunteer, partner, sponsor or for more info please visit http://railyardsmarket.org today!
This article originally ran in the City of Albuquerque’s AVCB’s website ABQ365.
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Alex Paramo
Alex Paramo is an Author and Co-Founder of Community Publishing. Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as multimedia eBooks while promoting literacy in our communities.
We are proud to be a community partner and digital programmer at Rail Yards Market. #JoinOurCommunity at http://communitypublishing.org
