SoHarlem Holiday Market Brings Local, Creative Entrepreneurs to the Manhattanville Campus

The Lee C. Bollinger Forum and Columbia University Facilities and Operations Construction and Business Initiatives partnered with SoHarlem to bring local, creative entrepreneurs to the Manhattanville campus for a holiday market from December 18 to January 3. SoHarlem designers showcased and sold their clothing, jewelry, home décor, and other accessories at this event in the Bollinger Forum. 

“The ability to have an accessible street-level location made a huge difference for the designers,” said Janet Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of SoHarlem. “We hope to come back to the Bollinger Forum. It’s a really good reminder for the community to see all these beautiful things that are made right here in Harlem.”  

“We are so glad to be able work with local entrepreneurs who do not have immediate access to a storefront,” said Sanjay Mahajan, assistant vice president for Columbia Event Management, whose team’s efforts were pivotal in hosting the market. “This collaboration helped showcase their work to the community. We hope to be able to host future events of this kind at the Bollinger Forum.” 

A Columbia University School of the Arts alumnus, Rodriguez founded SoHarlem to support artists and designers in achieving economic self-sufficiency and to ensure Harlem’s aesthetic future is as vibrant as its past. “We’re part of a community in West Harlem that’s trying to make a change… to redevelop this area and to ensure small businesses have a role in the redevelopment of our community,” Rodriguez said of SoHarlem.  

Supporting local entrepreneurs, she said, is also a sustainable alternative to fast fashion, which is often “made poorly and garments may last only a year.” The vast majority of SoHarlem’s goods and equipment are made from recycled materials that would have otherwise been headed for landfills. Designers prioritize upcycling, tailoring clothing, and creating custom pieces from a customer’s measurements.  

Check out some of the vendors that participated in the Holiday Market in SoHarlem’s shop and their websites: 

• Triangle Design – one-of-a- kind, unique jewelry that focus on environmental and social responsibility 

• Gladys Perez – upcycled accessories and Ebru home décor pieces made for marbling on plastic 

• JPR Creations – accessories and designs for celebratory occasions 

• Javier Valencia – couture to streetwear designs incorporating prints, colors, and textures 

• Blue Olive – casual and cohesive designs that allow for self-expression and are ageless, and home décor pieces where beauty and self-expression take center stage 

• Art in Heaven – streetwear and professional sociable designs that emphasize the importance of channeling energy and emotion 

• K A Media – visual storytelling through film and social media content creation 

• Void Asylum – streetwear created from digital and hand-designed graphics 

Over the past year, the Bollinger Forum has served as a space for local businesses to share their products with the Columbia community and neighbors. In addition to collaborations with local businesses the Bollinger Forum hosts many free community events including Music Mondays, Crafts on the Corner, and Films at The Forum.  

The Bollinger Forum is looking forward to more upcoming events featuring with local businesses and creatives in 2025.