This week artists are hauling folding displays and boxes of finished work up to the second floor of the old Carnegie library at 600 Phoenix Street. The South Haven Center for the Arts gave booth holders four days to set up their upstairs spaces, Wednesday, November 11 through Saturday, November 14. The last drop-off day for the downstairs gallery was Tuesday, November 10. The preview party on Friday, November 20 opens the 40th Mistletoe Market, and the public market starts Saturday, November 21.
Most people around town treat it as a holiday shop, and from the inside it does work like one. Underneath, though, it is the Center's fundraiser, and the fundraising explains almost every detail a shopper runs into. That includes the price tags, who gets to sell, the days the doors are open, and why the evening hours are a short window.
Where a Mistletoe Purchase Ends Up
Under the 2026 terms the Center published for artists, the seller keeps 65% of each sale and the Center keeps 35%. For its share, the Center runs the register, takes card payments, handles social media, advertising and marketing, and wraps the gifts. Artists also pay to take part. A spot in the downstairs gallery costs a $30 entry fee, and an upstairs pop-up booth costs $75 once accepted.
The arrangement goes back a long way. When the market held its 25th edition in 2011, organizer Janet Beatty told MLive that it was the art center's second-biggest fundraiser.
Fundraisers have always kept this building standing. According to the Center's own history, the 1905 Carnegie library sat empty through the 1970s and the city considered tearing it down. In 1984 the Art Association signed a 20-year lease at $1.00 a year to save it, at a time when the group had $25 in its treasury. Art auctions, performing arts events and the art fair helped pay for six years of renovation. The South Haven Center for the Arts opened its permanent home on June 9, 1990. A gift bought at Mistletoe sends money into that same building every December.
Why the Price Tags Cluster Where They Do
A fundraiser that depends on a commission needs things that sell, and the Center says so plainly in its call for entries. It describes these as ideal items for the downstairs gallery:
- Fine craft priced around $25
- Fine art priced at $75 to $200
- Stationery and ornaments
- Ideally fewer than 100 pieces per artist, with the show curated for variety, medium and size
That explains why the main gallery fills with stocking stuffers and pieces in the range of a typical gift budget. The staff curate it as one shop, not as a row of separate artist stalls.
Upstairs works differently. Each 6-by-6-foot pop-up space is "arranged and curated by you," the artist, while the Center staffs the floor and handles sales. The two floors give shoppers two experiences: one mixed gallery downstairs, then a set of small single-artist displays upstairs. The FOX 17 coverage of last year's 39th market described it the same way, with work on both the first and second floors.
Who Is on the Shelves
In 2011 the selling point was where the work came from. Lou Ann Vidmar, then the Center's executive director, told MLive that everything in the market was made by Michigan artists, and put it this way:
"How many businesses can say everything they have is made in Michigan? People who buy here are supporting the local economy. It's not mass produced. It's all unique made by local and area artists."
That year 48 participants took part. One of them was Roxanne Middleton, a leatherworker who had spent 40 years at the craft and taught classes at the Center.
The 2026 rules are written another way. This year's call accepts "anyone making original art and crafts," does not allow buy/sell goods, and says artisanal foods can be entered after the staff check whether they qualify. The firm rule now is that the seller made the work. Last December, FOX 17 reported 40 artists and locally made goods covering jewelry, textiles, ceramics and paintings. Visit South Haven credits this year's promotional artwork for the 40th market to Heather Powers.
A Calendar That Isn't the Center's Calendar
People who know the Center from the rest of the year will find different hours. The building's regular schedule is Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with Thursdays open until 6 p.m. The Mistletoe calendar adds Sundays, lists no Mondays or Tuesdays, and closes for Thanksgiving.
| Week | Days open | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 21 to 22 | Saturday, Sunday | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving | Closed |
| Nov. 27 to 29 | Friday through Sunday | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Dec. 2 to 6 | Wednesday, Thursday | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Dec. 2 to 6 | Friday through Sunday | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Dec. 9 to 13 | Wednesday, Thursday | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Dec. 9 to 13 | Friday through Sunday | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
Opening weekend is just two days, Saturday and Sunday. The calendar then skips ahead to the Friday after Thanksgiving. The after-work hours come only in the two December weeks, when Wednesday and Thursday run until 6 p.m. That is one more late day than last year. FOX 17 reported that the 2025 market stayed open until 6 only on Thursdays. Anyone who works daytime hours on weekdays gets four evenings this year, December 2, 3, 9 and 10, plus the weekends.
The Preview Party Is the Fundraiser Out in the Open
The preview party is a ticketed event that comes first. It runs Friday, November 20, from 6 to 8 p.m., under this year's "All Aboard!" theme, which the Center bills as a ride on the "Mistletoe Market Express." Guests get wine, hot chocolate, appetizers, desserts and live music, and they shop before the public opening the next morning.
Tickets cost $20 for Center members and $25 for nonmembers. Participating artists get one free ticket, Supporter and Patron members get two, and Benefactor and Director's Circle members get four. Fifteen years ago, MLive listed admission to the 2011 preview party at $20, with the market free to the public afterward. Today the price depends on membership, and members at higher giving levels get more free tickets.
Fitting Mistletoe Into the Two Big Phoenix Street Days
The market's 11-to-4 hours line up with two other holiday events this season.
On Sunday, November 29, the Historic Scott Club at 652 Phoenix Street holds Brunch with Santa, with seatings at 10 and 11 a.m. It is free, but reservations are required by email at [email protected] or by phone at 269-449-0290. The Chalkboard Kitchen restaurant cooks the brunch, and children leave with a book, a gift bag and a craft. This year an elevator-style lift takes guests to the second floor, so everyone can reach the visit with Santa. The market opens at 11 that morning a short way down the same street.
On Saturday, December 5, Visit South Haven's Holiday in the Haven starts at the Michigan Maritime Museum with a holiday craft, Cocoa with the Captain and a sing-along. The parade steps off downtown at 5 p.m. and ends at Dyckman Park for the community tree lighting, and pictures with Santa begin at 5:30 p.m. Mistletoe closes at 4 p.m. that day. To do both, shop at the Center in the afternoon and walk to the parade route after it closes. Groups that want to be in the parade need to send their applications by Friday, November 27.
The market's last day is Sunday, December 13. The Center's activity calendar also lists youth Center Studio sessions on December 2 and 9 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and adult open studio on those Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. On those nights, the building is open for both shopping and studio time.
If you're thinking about what a 40-year community tradition like Mistletoe means for the home you own a few blocks from Phoenix Street, I'd be glad to talk it through. Amy Osullivan follows South Haven closely through every season, holiday weekends included. Get your home valuation.
