Even though it had rained and the clouds hung low over the square, families, friends and dog-walkers meandered down Holden Street on Oct. 1 and 2, watching live entertainment, participating in the cornhole tournament and buying art.

  Having never done Burg Fest before, Teresa Scarbrough stood behind a long table decorated with her work – ombre white and forest green ceramic plates, mugs and pitchers. 

  “To be able to visit with this many people at one time and being outdoors like this and having some space … it has been wonderful to have the interaction with people again,” Scarbrough said.

  Though Scarbrough graduated in 2018, she took ceramic classes from UCM through the time of COVID-19 and experienced the lockdown.

  “I tried to set up my spare bathroom as [my studio] because when you’re working in clay, the dust can be very toxic,” Scarbrough said. “So. I needed a room where I could mop, and where it wouldn’t raise the dust and carry it into the rest of the house.”

  Brittany Walquist, who sold her ceramic work at another table alongside Scarbrough, was taking Ceramics III when the lockdown occurred. She explained her professor tried to make online learning as engaging and relevant to their classwork as possible, but ceramics is such an intensely hands-on class.

  “You have the wheels that cost thousands of dollars, you got the kilns, the glazes, the clay,” Walquist said. “This is not something easily done at home at all.” 

  During her five years in college, Walquist has gone to several craft events and farmers’ markets. 

  “Before COVID-19, people were a lot more willing to spend big money on big pieces whereas … now, it’s kind of more like mugs and the small things,” Walquist said.

  “It’s just nice to be able to talk to people again,” Walquist said.

  Walquist was not the only student selling her art at Burg Fest this year. Connor O’Neal, a senior graphic design and printmaking major, participated in Burg Fest, and it was the first event he’s attended where he sold his work by himself.

  O’Neal said he enjoyed selling at Burg Fest. 

  “[There’s] a lot of foot traffic, a lot of people stopping in,” O’Neal said. “I was carving some woodblocks earlier and had a couple people come and watch, which was fun.”

  O’Neal also struggled to do art when his studio classes were online in 2020.

  “It’s very studio-based, so it was definitely difficult to be away, but it’s been really great having [the] community back and having some of the studios open again,” O’Neal said. “Being able to be here and actually sell work I’ve been accumulating over this time is really nice.”

  Graduating this May, O’Neal is looking forward to his career as a graphic designer.

  “It’s been really nice to see events start popping back up,” O’Neal said. “A lot of the work I try to get is posters and stuff like that, so having venues back in person is really nice.”