The weekend following Thanksgiving has traditionally been the start of holiday shopping, but many retailers now welcome shoppers before the dinner dishes are done. American Express started promoting their trademarked Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a shop local event between Black Friday and Cyber Monday and, if the visitors to Summit Artspace are any indication, the respite from the malls and big box stores is a welcome one. Crafty Mart vendors set up at three locations in downtown Akron, one of which was Summit Artspace.

As the booths closed for the day the galleries opened with receptions for new exhibits: Kaleidoscope in the Summit Artspace Gallery and Black and White in the BOX gallery. A third reception celebrated the release of Present Tense, a contemporary art book from Artists of Rubber City.

Scheduling everything on a holiday weekend was brilliant. Next up: the December Artwalk!