Photo by Renee Navis
Falcon Flea
Falcon Flea
Falcon Flea is a vendor market series that takes place at Falcon Bowl in Riverwest. Organized by Andrea Dolter and Renée Navis, the markets fill up the neighborhood establishment’s newly renovated ballroom with vintage, upcycled goods, handmade goods and art vended by both individuals and small businesses. The series has typically been monthly although Falcon Flea takes months off here and there.
The series originated last December as a holiday season idea. Andrea Dolter and Renée Navis are both vending artists themselves; Dolter is behind To Hell and Back Vintage while Navis is behind IV I IV Ceramics. “I was in a bowling league at the Falcon at the time,” Navis recalls. “Andrea had just moved back to Milwaukee, and we decided it would be a great idea to talk to the past owner about doing a market, and that rolled into a full-fledged partnership with the new owners.”
After rallying interest from community artists and vendors, the first Falcon Flea became a huge success, inspiring Dolter and Navis to have a second one in April. “Every single market has been so wonderful and very much focused on a sense of community,” Navis said.
Dolter adds, “The new owners have been really awesome to us with trusting our vision and letting us use the Falcon Bowl name.”
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Riverwest Hub
Photo by Renee Valdex
Falcon Flea
Renee Navis, Bill Walker of Fruit Bowl, and Andrea Dolter at Falcon Flea.
The organizers appreciate the Falcon Bowl for its central location and reputation as a community hub. “It’s like the heart of Riverwest,” Navis remarks. “There’s so many people in the neighborhood who have gotten married or had birthdays there, and it’s been cool bringing people in to see the renovations they’ve been doing.”
Vendors and artists interested in Falcon Flea fill out an application on their website. For indoor events the market accepts 24 vendors and for outdoor events on the street they accept as many as 40. Due to the high volume of applicants Falcon Flea receives, they do their best to rotate vendors each month.
“Because there’s so many creative and talented people in the neighborhood, we try to make sure that we’re always offering something different,” Dolter notes.
Over the summer, Falcon Flea introduced their event Fruit Bowl where LGBTQ+ vendors, makers and artists are centered while they also raise funds for a social justice organization. The first Fruit Bowl supported Black Trans abolitionist collective Sun-Seeker MKE, for whom they raised $635. “We’ve only done one so far, but it was so heartwarming to see people going up to every single booth and having engaging conversations with each and every vendor,” Navis reflects. “We heard a lot of feedback afterwards that a lot of these vendors didn’t even know each other so it was great being able to foster that sense of community for everyone.”
As Falcon Flea began having consistent markets, they would eventually land partnerships with adjacent business Riverwest Co-Op and live music series Sidewalk Sessions for block parties in both June and August. The events had solid turnouts despite inclement weather during June’s edition. “The August one was our chance to really do it the way we envisioned it,” Dolter said. “The Co-Op was vending food and Shell Bells curated the lineup of music and it was all just so full of talented people.”
Dolter and Navis hope to partner with more local businesses and organizations in the future.
The next Falcon Flea market is their second Fruit Bowl coming up on Sunday, Oct. 29. In the spirit of the season, the event will have a costume contest, art activities and carnival games while once again supporting Sun-Seeker MKE. Their remaining markets of the year will be on Nov. 26 and Dec. 17.
Visit Falcon Flea’s website at falconflea.wixsite.com/home.
