If you’ve ever ventured down Bonita Avenue and into The Village on a Sunday, then you’ve surely found yourself swallowed by a bustling crowd of colorful clothing, flowers and fragrances.
The Claremont Forum Farmers & Artisans Market is a place for the local community to gather every Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Founded in 1996 in a small parking lot, the market has grown considerably in scale to the Harvard Avenue spectacle you find today.
One of my favorite Claremont weekend activities is drifting through the market without any particular goal in mind besides taking in the sights, sounds and scents of the block. Oftentimes, these excursions bring me to the produce vendors.
The organic produce sold at the market is on the pricier side, but it’s clear that every vendor and farmer here cares deeply about what they’re selling.
When my friends and I took a trip to peruse the market on our very first week at college, we shared a basket filled to the brim with fresh berries. Each juicy bite felt like a burst of summer, an encapsulation of the hot desert sun beating down upon our skin mixed with the giddy joy of new experiences.
Not only are there produce booths selling a variety of niche goods, such as microgreens (it doesn’t get more SoCal than that!), goat cheese, kefir yogurt and Mediterranean breads, but the market also features craft vendors.
I spoke with three local artists who sell their work at the market and asked them about their artistic inspirations.
Arlene A. Moreno is a native Californian painter with Yaqui heritage. She’s been practicing art all her life, but has been able to paint much more of what she wants since retiring seven years ago.
Moreno comes to the farmers market once a month to sell her prints. She’s also been a member of the Pomona Valley Art Association, a volunteer-supported organization in the Village, for about 18 years.
“One of my favorite Claremont weekend activities is drifting through the market without any particular goal in mind besides taking in the sights, sounds and scents of the block. Oftentimes, these excursions bring me to the produce vendors.”
“I like organic things,” Moreno said of her inspiration. “Flowers, birds, landscapes.”
Moreno’s earthy watercolors cover a variety of animals and landscapes, but when asked about her favorite pieces, she pointed to a horse shaded in blue.
“I always think of what Picasso said: When I don’t have red, I use blue,” Moreno said. “What it means is you can use any color to paint a painting, you don’t have to be stuck with what you’re actually looking at. You can imagine whatever you want with whatever colors you have.”
Rebecca Rowe, founder of independent jewelry design studio Elk Neck, moved to Southern California from the east coast 10 years ago. She found the opportunity to sell jewelry at the Claremont Forum Farmers and Artisans Market by googling vendor opportunities in the Inland Empire.
A multidimensional artist, Rowe explained that she created her business because she’d spent too much money on earrings; she decided to make herself some earrings, which eventually expanded into a jewelry business.
“I like when my jewelry makes me want to eat it,” Rowe said. “When I start working with the metal — I make everything by hand — I can feel what the metal wants to do and what it doesn’t want to do. I listen to it and I make it. I don’t force my shape to happen. I have an idea and I listen to the metal and it becomes what it becomes.”
Clothing designer Vecani Ramirez has been living in the Inland Empire for 35 years.
“This is my market,” she said when asked about her decade of experience as a vendor.
Vecani creates her clothing using the process of ice dyes. She covers the cloth with ice, sprinkles the color dyes in between and waits for the ice to melt. The resulting flowy dress is an ombre of brightness.
Since they’re handmade, each piece is one of a kind and Vecani makes new pieces every week to bring to the market.
“It’s good to know why we’re here and why we support our community,” Vecani said. “This is the best market in the whole area and Los Angeles because the people are wonderful. We have a lot of visitors from the colleges. Parents come and visit the kids and they visit us and shop from us.”
These three vendors, along with fresh produce and greens, are just a tiny look into all the market offers.
Beyond the price tags, I enjoy the mundanity of seeing families, retired couples and non-college students. The “Claremont bubble” can be suffocating — engaging with locals by buying fruit or talking with residents helps strengthen your relationship with the community.
Everyone should spend at least one Sunday morning here, whether it be a quick trip in between loads of laundry or a leisurely stroll while waiting for Frank Dining Hall brunch.
Who knows? You might just leave with a newfound fondness for microgreens.
Michelle Zhang PO ’27 is from the Bay Area. She’s a proud lefty and considers people-watching a hobby.
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