Art & Architecture Week - Makers Market

Phoenix and Scottsdale are in the middle of Desert Design Week, a seven-day run of art, architecture and design events that added a new Makers Market this spring. (phoenixmag.com) Phoenix magazine listed the event in its April 20-26 calendar and said the festival is running this week at multiple venues, with Local Nomad in downtown Phoenix hosting the new market of local artists and artisans. (phoenixmag.com) Desert Design Week’s own schedule shows the spring 2026 edition running from April 16 through April 23 in Phoenix and Scottsdale, with events that include workshops, panels, home tours and pop-ups. The Makers Market at Local Nomad appeared on the calendar for April 18. (desertdesignweek.com 1) (desertdesignweek.com 2) Local Nomad describes itself as a Phoenix shop built around travel and handcrafted goods, with a mix of independent makers, artists and designers and an emphasis on ethical, small-batch products. That makes the market a retail event as much as an exhibition, with shoppers meeting sellers inside an existing design-focused store. (desertdesignweek.com) The festival is in its third year, according to event listings published this month, and organizers describe it as a biannual program spread across Phoenix and Scottsdale rather than a single fairground-style show. That format pushes visitors into galleries, shops and private venues instead of one convention hall. (arizonafoothillsmagazine.com) (inbusinessphx.com) That matters in downtown Phoenix because Local Nomad sits inside a broader arts-and-small-business corridor, where Roosevelt Row and nearby blocks already host recurring artisan markets and gallery traffic. Sidewalk Saturdays, another downtown market series, says it was founded in 2020 to connect local artists, brick-and-mortar shops and community events. (azcentral.com) (sidewalksaturdays.com) Phoenix magazine’s earlier April 14-19 calendar also flagged the Makers Market as “new this year,” suggesting the shopping component is one of the clearest additions to the 2026 program. The same listing told readers to check the festival site for schedules, locations and tickets, a sign that access varies by event. (phoenixmag.com) The through line is simple: Desert Design Week is using storefronts, showrooms and event spaces to turn design into a citywide crawl, and the Makers Market gives local artists and artisans a direct sales stop inside that route. (desertdesignweek.com) (phoenixmag.com)