Mobile Museum of Art Holiday Market Adds an Hour for Dec. 5 Open House; Vendor Applications Due Nov. 1

MOBILE, Ala. — The Mobile Museum of Art will hold its Holiday Market & Open House on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 1 to 5 p.m., with local shopping, children’s activities, live music and food trucks. This year’s event runs an hour longer than before. Artists and makers who want a table have until Nov. 1 to apply.

The museum’s event listing says admission is free, and that includes entry to the museum’s galleries during the open house.

What’s planned

The afternoon combines holiday shopping with a free day at the museum. Planned activities include:

• An artisan market with local vendors selling handmade and locally made goods
• Children’s activities, including holiday ornament making in the museum’s Education Wing, where families can make ornaments to take home
• Live music through the afternoon
• Food trucks on site
• Free admission to the galleries

The longer hours give shoppers more time to browse and give families more time to split the afternoon between the market and the galleries.

Vendors: apply by Nov. 1

The application for Holiday Market vendors is open now and closes Nov. 1. Here’s how the process works:

• Deadline: Applications are due by Nov. 1.
• Selection: The museum will pick vendors the following week and let every applicant know whether they were accepted.
• Fee: The table fee is $50, and only accepted vendors pay it.

Since the fee is charged only after acceptance, there’s no cost to apply. Makers should have their application ready well before the deadline, because the museum plans to make its choices within about a week of Nov. 1. More information is available on the museum’s website, mobilemuseumofart.com.

Tips for makers applying

Juried holiday markets usually draw more applicants than they have tables, so a strong application helps. Artists and makers thinking about applying should consider these steps:

• Show your best work. Clear, well-lit photos of your products give reviewers the best sense of what you’ll bring.
• Describe what makes it local and handmade. Explain your materials and process, and say where your work is made.
• Plan for a family crowd. The open house draws families, so a range of price points, including smaller gift items, can work well.
• Watch your inbox the week after Nov. 1. That’s when the museum plans to tell applicants whether they were accepted, and accepted vendors will need to pay the $50 table fee.

A chance to see GATEWAY

Open house visitors can also see the museum’s major exhibition of the year, “GATEWAY: From Graffiti to Gallery.” The show brings together 28 works by Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, KAWS and Kenny Scharf, five artists who helped move street art from city walls and subway cars into museums and galleries. The Mobile Museum of Art is the exclusive host venue for the year-long exhibition, which is on view through Sept. 1, 2027.

For families who haven’t been yet, a free afternoon of holiday shopping is an easy reason to stop by the galleries.

A growing holiday tradition

The Holiday Market & Open House has become a December regular at the museum. Recent editions were held in 2023, 2024 and 2025, each built around local artists and makers, family art activities and a free look at the galleries. Adding an hour this year gives the event more room to grow.

Holiday markets like this one also help the region’s independent artists. Many local makers depend on the last weeks of the year for a large share of their sales, and a juried market at an art museum puts their work in front of shoppers who are looking for something handmade.

About the Mobile Museum of Art

The Mobile Museum of Art is at 4850 Museum Drive in Langan Park, the city-owned park in west Mobile also known as Municipal Park. It traces its beginnings to the 1960s and describes itself as the only accredited art museum in south Alabama.

A $15 million expansion completed in 2002 tripled the museum’s size. The building now covers more than 86,000 square feet on about 9 acres, and its glass-walled lobby looks out over the park’s lake. The permanent collection holds more than 6,400 works, including paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, works on paper and crafts. Its strengths include American, European and non-Western art.

The museum’s permanent galleries include:

• The Katharine C. Cochrane Gallery of American Art, with furniture, sculpture and paintings mostly from 1770 on
• The Mary and Charles Rodning Gallery of Asian Art, ranging from ancient Chinese bronzes and ceramics to early 20th-century works
• The Maisel Gallery of European Art, with paintings, prints, sculpture and decorative arts
• A contemporary glass collection that began with a gift from Elise and Dr. J. Rhodes Haverty of Atlanta and now numbers more than 180 pieces

Executive Director Jon Carfagno has led the museum since February 2023, with a focus on reaching more people and expanding programs for families and schools. Free community days such as the open house are part of that effort.

Making a day of it

• Come early for the best selection. Handmade goods at holiday markets often sell out, especially one-of-a-kind pieces.
• Bring the kids. The ornament-making station in the Education Wing gives children something to make and take home.
• Plan time for the galleries. With free admission, the open house is a good time to see GATEWAY and the permanent collection.
• Enjoy the park. Langan Park’s lake and walking paths are right outside the museum.

A busy holiday Saturday

Dec. 5 falls on the first weekend of December, one of the busiest stretches of the holiday calendar on the Gulf Coast. Because the open house ends at 5 p.m., it’s easy to pair with evening plans elsewhere around Mobile and Baldwin County that night.

If you go

• What: Mobile Museum of Art Holiday Market & Open House
• When: Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 to 5 p.m.
• Where: Mobile Museum of Art, 4850 Museum Drive, Mobile
• Cost: Free, including museum admission
• Highlights: Artisan market, children’s activities and ornament making, live music, food trucks
• Vendors: Apply by Nov. 1; accepted vendors pay a $50 table fee and will be notified the following week