Laura Escobar has loved artwork and handmade creations since she started crocheting in high school. Now, her passion for the arts fills her day-to-day as the owner and founder of Hive Market & Gallery in downtown Oyster Bay.
“I’ve always appreciated handmade, authentic, one-of-a-kind things,” she said.
Escobar said that for years, she had wanted to open a marketplace for locally sourced, handmade products. She began as a vendor at street fairs and eventually found a permanent location at 100-102 Audrey Ave., where the former Oyster Bay Railroad Museum was located.
The Hive opened four years ago, though it looked a little different.
Under the name “Hive Market & Maker’s Space,” the business primarily focused on serving as an “outlet” for artists to sell their work, as well as offering art classes. When Escobar bought the business from her former business partner, she wanted to add a gallery space to the space’s previously blank walls.
Now that it’s been rebranded under a different name, Escobar said the space has a rotating gallery that highlights Long Island artists. The gallery element had “called to her” since Hive’s inception, she said.
The first gallery exhibition, “Powers of Freedom,” was displayed in May to celebrate Hive’s four-year anniversary in the space. Escobar said she was inspired by her own experiences as a Blue Star mother or a mother with a child in the military.
After the first exhibit’s success, Escobar decided to put on another one, themed around pollinators, titled “Cross Pollination.” She said it was especially fitting, as one of the market’s best-sellers is honey, and June is National Pollinator Month. The juried exhibition is featured at two locations: The Hive and The Firefly in Northport.
With four years under her belt, Escobar said the Hive is a space she is proud of. Located in the heart of downtown Oyster Bay, Escobar said she gets visitors from all over the island. Artists, too, come from all over, representing Oyster Bay, Seaford, East Meadow and Bayport, to name a few.
Escobar said artists Laurie Drew, Stephanie Wills, Mary Ellen Wayman, Katie Moehring, Christy Cropanese, Angelica Melo, Frank DeBiase, Magali Modoux and Sue Herbst have been especially supportive throughout the past four years.
Escobar said the market is her “happy place.” What makes it so special is that each piece is created with intention and a story behind it.
“It’s not just a watercolor… It’s somebody’s story,” she said.
Escobar said that all of the artists highlighted at the Hive have full-time jobs outside of the arts industry and that the marketplace allows them to showcase their passion and creativity. Before her work with the Hive, Escobar said she worked in corporate America.
“I’ve always felt a pull towards the artistic side of my life,” she said. She said she still has art projects from high school, including coasters and hand-painted tissue boxes.
Escobar said the business offers beginner-friendly art classes, offering everything from stained glass making to needle felting.
“Whatever somebody wants to do, I’ll find someone to teach it,” she said.
For more information on the Hive and its offerings, visit hivemarketob.com.
