The mountainous landscape of upstate New York is what first drew Interior Designer Brad Ford to the Catskills. “It reminded me of Arkansas, where I’m originally from,” he says. But it was the area’s wealth of talented artisans that kept him enamored. He enlisted local makers to supply furniture and lighting for his eponymous firm’s residential projects, filling New York apartments with pieces handcrafted Upstate.

Back in the city, Ford saw his favorite makers getting lost or overlooked at enormous design shows and fairs. “I wanted to gather these people who I thought deserved more attention in one place,” he says. In 2014, on a late summer drive through High Falls, he spotted a beautiful black barn being renovated, right in the center of town. “I stopped to ask the gentleman working on it what he planned to use it for, and he didn’t know.”

But Ford had a vision for the space, and went into action planning the first Field+Supply Market (F+S MRKT), with his sights set ambitiously on Indigenous Peoples Day weekend, just a couple of months away. As it happened, two thousand people showed up to see Sawkille’s tables and chairs, Michael Robbins’ playful furniture, and other art, objects and products from two dozen up-and-coming Hudson Valley makers.

“Oh no,” Ford thought. “This means we need to do it again.” He immediately got to work putting together a market for the following spring. Every Memorial and Indigenous Peoples Day weekend since (with a few COVID-related exceptions), F+S MRKT has set up shop. While the original bucolic black barn is now home to local favorite, Ollie’s Pizza, Ford has made good use of Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, filling the space with not only makers’ tents, but food vendors and live performances.

Every market has been bigger than the last, and this fall’s event was no exception, with more attendees and more vendors than ever. Pet products, pantry items and jewelry were displayed alongside the curation of furniture and design pieces that Field+Supply is known for. The addition of smaller crafts was, like everything Ford does, intentional.

“I want the market to feel considered and elevated, but never exclusive,” says Ford. “Yes, there may be an expensive, one-of-a-kind dining table, but we also have candles, honey, and jewelry that anyone can pick up.” He describes F+S MRKT in its current iteration as a “lifestyle fair.”

Ford has managed to translate the market’s sense of discovery to online shopping — no easy feat in a saturated e-commerce landscape. Where Field+Supply’s IRL events feature live music and food, fieldandsupply.com offers playlists curated for shopping, and recipes from local chefs. During a pandemic-era virtual F+S MRKT market, guests could interact with a map of Hutton Brickyards and “pop in” on vendor tents to see what they might find.

“A slow-growing tree has the strongest roots,” says Ford of his approach to growing the market, both virtually and geographically. He seizes the opportunities that feel right. When Charleston, South Carolina’s tourism board approached him about hosting a local pop-up this holiday season, Ford jumped at the chance to work in an area ripe with talent. The market will feature makers from the city and surrounding areas, as well as F+S regulars.

But, even as Field+Supply grows, the bi-annual F+S MRKT at Hutton Brickyards isn’t going anywhere. After all, Ford’s heart remains in the Hudson Valley.

Find @brad_ford_id’s @fieldandsupply in Kingston, New York. www.fieldandsupply.com

By Tess Falotico-LaFaye

Images courtesy of Field+Supply

Volume 9