Feature: The inside scoop on Trans Art Mart on Dec 14th, 2025: An Interview with Miller Potoma
Photo credit: Angel Edwards
December 2024 was my first going to Trans Art Mart. I had just gotten my job as Art Exhibitions Manager here at the William Way, but I was feeling a little disconnected from the community due to last year’s unexpected temporary building closure. I heard about the event somewhere on instagram, and I made a point of going. What I experienced was incredible—an entire gymnasium packed with trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive creatives. The range and quality of the art, crafts, homegoods, clothes and more was astounding, as was the sense of joy and community. It reminded me how large and diverse Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ creative scene is, and why I made the decision to work managing LGBTQ+ art exhibitions.
A year later, I’m excited I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Miller Potoma, Trans Art Mart’s Event Manager. Through our conversation, I learned that Miller has also shown artwork here at the William Way LGBT Community Center and served on our Arts Committee. Many parallels emerged in our conversation—from the importance of queer and trans-led cultural programming, to lessons learned when organizing events, and the feeling of joy when you bring our community together.
Whether you’re looking for a holiday gift, searching for objects for your home, or seeking to network with trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive creatives, Trans Art Mart can’t be missed! Enjoy our interview, and I’ll see you on December 14th.
Jake Foster: So my first question: for readers who’ve never been, what is Trans Art Mart?
Miller Potoma: Trans Art Mart is a market that highlights trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive makers, artists, and vendors in the greater Philadelphia area.
Jake Foster: Amazing. I’d also like to hear the origin story—how Trans Art Mart came to be and how it has grown and evolved over the years.
Miller Potoma: Basically, the market was founded in 2019. A non-binary person—not me—was getting invited to a lot of very gendered markets that didn’t fit their identity. They decided to start a market specifically for trans makers. At the time, I was looking to start a trans artist collective. We met at Feminist Flea, a market that used to happen in Philly, and I got connected and asked if I could help put this on.
We organized for months. That first market would have had about 20 artists and was supposed to happen in March 2020… and of course it didn’t happen because of the pandemic. We were originally supposed to be on the second floor at Tattooed Mom’s. They’re still big supporters, but the market never actually made it there.
The original founder moved out of state, and I asked if I could continue the project. In 2021, I started planning again. An artist from Brooklyn who was living in Philly at the time, Theodoor Gabriella Grimes (they/he), joined me, and we organized the first two markets. The first was Spring 2022 at Love City Brewing, and the second was at Bok. Unfortunately (for both of us), Theo moved back to Brooklyn.
Since then, I had another co-organizer in 2023. At that point, I stopped serving as a curator who selects vendors. Since 2023, there has been an unofficial board of three Philly creatives who choose the vendors each year.
My role now is events manager—handling all the logistics. This year, the actual selection of vendors is done by three Black Philly trans artists, two of whom will also be vending this year. So that’s how we got to where we are today.
Jake Foster: And how did you get into this? Are you an artist or a creative in any way?
Miller Potoma: I was a vending artist from 2019 to around 2022. Then Trans Art Mart took off and required a lot of planning. My art-making became more private. I do mixed-media, collage, and digital work. I vend at the market, but my newer work tends to stay close to the chest—though I might share more in the new year.
The reason the event felt so important to get off the ground in 2019 and then again in 2022 is that, because of the work I was making—and even more so now—I wouldn’t be appealing to some other markets. I’m not someone who holds back my beliefs or opinions. I wasn’t getting accepted to many markets I applied to, and even more so, other people I knew really weren’t getting accepted—unlike with this market.
Jake Foster: Right. The queer and trans sensibility of the products and artworks appeal more to our audiences… I find the same is true with our exhibitions at the Center, the artworks resonate with our own community more than they would somewhere else.
Miller Potoma: Yes. There were markets I went to where I knew I was one of the token trans or queer people, and they tended to put us all near each other. You could tell we were making explicitly queer and trans things that didn’t match the overall vibe. When you go into this market, you just know that’s what’s going to be there.
Jake Foster: What kind of things can people find? What vendors are you especially excited about, and what are some of your favorite things you’ve found at Trans Art Mart?
Miller Potoma: I haven’t gone through the vendors in detail yet, but I have the list and I’m organizing them all. One of my favorite artists is a florist named Dean of Fruitcake Flowers. They make bouquets. They were at Trans Art Mart in 2023, and I’m very excited that they’ll be doing bouquets again. You don’t usually go to a market where someone is making bouquets.
I’m biased because they’re my friend and colleague, but Newton Rogers is an artist who creates really cool paintings and digital work, and they’ll be vending.
We’ll have painters, prints, handmade clothing, woodworking, rug-making and tufting, perfumes, functional ceramics—there’s something for everyone. I truly mean that. I'm really excited to check out the work of Seamone Farries (Khaleelart).
We have about 55 artists this year. We’ll also have two Philly-based reparation groups we’re raising money for; they’ll be tabling and speaking to folks. And, as a note, the event is also connected with a therapist co-op that I’m a member-owner of.
Photo credit: Angel Edwards
Jake Foster: What’s your best advice to people interested in visiting Trans Art Mart?
Miller Potoma: Bring a reusable bag. I save bags all year, and they’re gone in the first three hours!
We aren’t requiring vaccination proof anymore because it’s gotten too complicated, so we’re asking people to bring proof of a negative COVID test. Don’t bring the actual test—bring a picture of it. If people don’t have one, they can take a test at the event. Mask up.
The busiest times are 1 PM to 3 PM; I like to let people know that. Also, if you’re someone who doesn’t want to be around a lot of people, come at 11—come first thing in the morning. It will be the calmest.
Jake Foster: That’s great to know! Last year, I think I came in the mid-afternoon, and it was quite busy. I typically like to go to markets early, because things sometimes sell-out.
Miller Potoma: Yeah, that’s the one thing I would add. We usually have a couple of vendors come to me around 3:00 saying, “Is it okay if I go? I don’t have anything left to sell.” That’s happened a few times.
Jake Foster: Oh my gosh. It's wonderful that they sold so much!
Miller Potoma: Yes—early is best, especially if you don’t like crowds. We don’t have a set sensory-friendly hour yet, but I think next year we’ll have a dedicated period without music and things like that. It is a very loud and bright space, so I like to give people a heads up, even though we offer headphones or earplugs. It’s a lot, energy-wise.
Jake Foster: Awesome. This next question is really just for myself: Trans Art Mart is an extremely successful event—an amazing selection of vendors, really well attended.
What have you learned through organizing Trans Art Mart, and what advice can you give others organizing queer community events?
Miller Potoma: The number one thing—and I wrote this down—is to be humble.
That’s something I’ve really pushed into myself. It can be easy to get into a position where there’s a lot of… I don’t know what other word to use besides “clout” (I don’t even fully know what it means; I just hear my Gen Z clients use it). But you can end up on a kind of podium where people put you on a pedestal. I’ve made a real effort not to be the face of this thing. Humility, being open to learning, and listening to people—that’s huge.
Also, it’s been important to listen to friends who say, “Dude, you’re taking on too much. You need to learn how to… what’s that word?”
Jake Foster: Delegate.
Miller Potoma: Delegate—yes. You have to learn how to delegate, which is so hard. The first two or three markets, I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off the entire day. And then I had friends saying, “You need to stop. You hire people to work.” We hire trans people to work, and we pay them. You need to let other people take things on, if you can.
But humility—being open to being wrong, being open to making mistakes and saying, “Yeah, I messed up”—is really important. I think that’s why this has been such a success: the things artists come back with, and the things community members come back with, are actually taken into consideration.
Jake Foster: And you can tell. There are so many considerations you’ve made—masking, intentionally hiring queer and trans folks—it’s all so intentional.
There are so many reasons why cultivating queer and trans community is important. What are some of your favorite reasons for organizing Trans Art Mart?
Miller Potoma: To get trans artists and makers seen, and to get them paid.
Also, I’ve had people put this in better words than I can, and I should probably ask them to write it down. But there’s this sense of joy when I’m at Trans Art Mart.
Other people have conveyed it to me in much better words: being in that room as a queer person, and especially as a trans person, knowing, I’m in this gym, and so many of these people are also trans. Everyone is there to be together and have fun. People are buying things, having fun, and meeting each other.
My favorite moment every year is this: there are bleachers that go up—because it’s an old gym—and there’s a staircase. Nobody else can go up there, but I like to go up and look out at everything that’s happening. It’s huge, and it’s really beautiful that hundreds of people come out to support trans artists and trans people, period.
Everything about Trans Art Mart just screams community. And being able to visually see that is… (I’m doing a lot of talking with my hands, because words don’t fully express how joyful it is).
Jake Foster: Yes! It is incredibly joyful… and so fucking creative, too!
Sunday, December 14, 2025, 11AM to 5PM
Bok Bulding (WKSHP entrance, Market will be in the West Gym)
821 Dudley St, Philadelphia, PA, 19148
$5 entry fee, negative COVID test and mask required.
For accessibility and more information, see transartmart.weebly.com
Featured in the Issue 17: December, 2025 edition of WayOut, your Philly Queer Arts Publication brought to you by the Arts Committee at the William Way LGBT Community Center. To get our monthly newsletter in your inbox, subscribe here.