photo: Eva Mestas adds the finishing touches to an earring she made for her jewelry business, mst by mestas / GINA APPERSON

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A new market in the Alameda de Hércules, created by the Andalusian Association of Epilepsy, brings together local artisans and businesses to celebrate the blossoming of new opportunities.

Between the floral scarves on the table, one will find a watercolor canvas of the flamenco dancer, Lola, dancing with a green fan in hand. The light between the clouds reveals the ruby pigments in her dress. The color red is the same of this artist’s glasses, Concha Barón. The painting captures the attention of a blonde girl with a bright smile, who asks Concha, “Is this painted by hand?”

It’s 11:30 AM, and now this is not just a painting of a flamenco dancer in the middle of a market. It’s the first sale of the day.

Concha , along with 57 other artisans and businesses, can feel the excitement in the light breeze this Sunday, March 30. All of them are ready for the birth of the new market, the Gran Soho Alameda. In front of the nineteenth century romantic palace, commonly known as the community center, Casa de las Sirenas, tables and tents form two lines that parallel the sets of two Roman columns that Pablo de Olavide brought to the Alameda de Hercules in 1578.

Uncovering the archeology of the Gran Soho Alameda reveals connections between making things by hand and helping the community, as in the case of the Andalusian Association of Epilepsy (Ápice).

Ápice organized the Gran Soho Alameda to bring together the people in Seville and to raise awareness of a disease relatively unknown. The initiative also aims to help local businesses. After 14 years implementing several programs for people with epilepsy, Ápice has arrived to the next step in their story: the construction of a new Integral Center of Epilepsy in Gerena, Seville, the first center of its kind in Spain. For the organization, there is no better way to construct something new than to gather groups of people from all walks of life. That’s to say, the young and the old, the curious from all ages, are not in the Alameda by accident. The venders carry blue and black suitcases full of objects to sell and stories to share. They’ve travelled across Europe, founded families y fought for their dreams. For Eva Mestas, a jewelry-maker, these people are her neighbors.

Ápice organized the Gran Soho Alameda to bring together the people in Seville and to raise awareness of a disease relatively unknown. The initiative also aims to help local businesses. After 14 years implementing several programs for people with epilepsy, Ápice has arrived to the next step in their story: the construction of a new Integral Center of Epilepsy in Gerena, Seville, the first center of its kind in Spain. For the organization, there is no better way to construct something new than to gather groups of people from all walks of life. That’s to say, the young and the old, the curious from all ages, are not in the Alameda by accident. The venders carry blue and black suitcases full of objects to sell and stories to share. They’ve travelled across Europe, founded families y fought for their dreams. For Eva Mestas, a jewelry-maker, these people are her neighbors.

In the absence of work two years ago, Eva started her jewelry business. “I started to think of what I could do with two hands, only two hands,” Eva says. One day, she decided to create earrings for a friend and later for weddings and birthday parties. Currently, she works for an electromedical company, which manufactures pacemakers, and by night, she makes jewelry.

Her earrings on the table in the Alameda are landscapes of jasper, amethyst, jade, quartz and other stones. At home, with the help of Javier, who studies the properties of the rocks, Eva researches and creates different designs for her clients. “I never make the same design twice,” she explains. She also can change the earring designs for her customers who have already bought earrings so that they could use them for another occasion.

After completing her fine arts degree , Concha dedicated herself to silk painting and textile design, which she has been selling for ten years. She currently works in her studio in Seville’s historic center, on the street Muro de los Navarros, a 20-minute walk from her house at the Puerta de Jerez, where she lives with her parents.

She smiles after her first sale of the day , taking a sip of her hot chocolate. She says that she normally wears gray and blue clothes, but today is different. The springtime colors of the sweater and scarf she wears contrast with her dark hair. Concha, who loves to travel and meet people to improve her art and her business, doesn’t just apply creativity to clothes and accessories. “Creativity is a way of expressing yourself and to provide what’s yours to others,” she reminds us. She has participated in other street market in Seville, including the Zoco Parque María Luisa, having arrived here through a friend, Charo Padillas, one of the organizers of the Gran Soho Alameda.

Charo and her partner , Carmen Quirce López, has not only organized many artisans for the event, but also a number of companies with original products from Seville, like the store Zaguán 24. Brother and sister, Pablo y Sofía Gómez Liaño, opened Zaguán 24 in 2011 in the first floor of their own house in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz in the historic center. While her brother stayed in the store today, Sofía has come to the Alameda to sell olive oil, tortas de aceite and natural cosmetics, including Bendita Luz, the only brand that uses the scent of the oranges from Seville.

They both wanted to take advantage of the potential of the ground floor of their house and do something different. After studying early childhood education, Sofía wanted a more active life that allowed her to do something new everyday. “Your own store is something that you create on your own, and something you develop by yourself,” she explains, with a pen in one hand and her ten-month year-old son in the other.

Their parents , Pedro y Sofía , arrive to the Alameda to help Sofía with the people who approach their stand. Once in a while, her mother asks Sofía how much a product costs so she could help a customer. With a smile, Sofía explains the variety of tortas de aceite, some made with rosemary and others with cinnamon, but the most popular of the day are the ones without sugar. Sofía and Juan now hope to open an online store for Zaguán 24. Additionally, in the long run, they hope to make their own products, all close to home. When asked about the future, Sofía gives her baby a squeeze. “This is the future.”

For Concha Agudo , the secretary of the board of directors for Ápice, the future is her daughter, as well. Concha works so that the association can foster the independence for people with epilepsy, like her daughter, Luisa. Ápice’s programs focus on promoting personal autonomy by organizing cooking workshops, arts and crafts and excursions for young people. In the future, the center in Gerena will offer specialized support for people with epilepsy. Also, Ápice will collaborate with the university there in order to advance the research and knowledge of the disease.

“This project is very important , very big. We are here today so that everyone knows this disease, and so that we can give people with epilepsy the best quality of life possible,” says Concha, who accompanies the members of Ápice, her daughter and her friends in the Gran Soho Alameda. All wear blue t-shirts and pass out flyers about the association and its activities.

At 4pm , nobody knows if it’s going to rain. However, the venders talk about the next Gran Soho Alameda, which will take place the last Sundays of every month. The people take home new treasures they found here. Children walk hand in hand with their parents. All are artists, and as in any good community, their hands are never empty.