Sunday, November 1, 2009

Business Profile # 2: The Art Garden

Yesterday, we introduced you to SpinDoc and its new owners, Kirk and Chandler. Today, we are introducing The Art Garden. Here are the Q & A's:

Business Name: The Art Garden
Location: Building B
Owners: Jessica and Mark

Q) Tell me about your business (experience, past businesses, dream, > vision, etc.)

A) Mark and I have many years of experience in the gallery business, both in Santa Fe and previously in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although both places offered fun and adventure, we enjoyed the California location more because our gallery was located in a small, somewhat isolated village on the coast just below San Francisco (pop. 2500), and we were very much a part of that community. Although it drew tourists because it was right on the coast highway, the gallery was primarily a place where local residents could hang out, and shop for handmade, fine crafts and artwork. We had soft music, fountains, good coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, and soon became the favorite place to stop and shop for the locals.When we moved to Santa Fe (to exchange our constant fog for lots of sunshine), we found that running galleries for tourists lacked that special feeling of getting to know your customers, so we took a hiatus from the gallery business.

(Q) Why did you choose to open a business in Eldorado?

(A) When we heard that La Tienda was in the hands of some lively and talented people with such a strong sense of community, it re-awakened our desire to be a conduit for creativity in a small community context.

(Q) How do you anticipate interacting with the community?

(A) We want The Art Garden to be the place you go when you need a special, meaningful, handmade gift for any occasion, when you just need to spend a little soothing, relaxing time being inspired in our indoor "garden" space - while sipping a mug of tea or coffee maybe, or when you feel like exploring your own creativity by sitting and making some greeting cards, or taking a mini workshop.

(Q) Is La Tienda's vision of community service important to you and why?

(A) Yes, because in this high-tech world, we need community, and community is all about the balance of giving and receiving. Our special soft spot is for animals, and we have several ideas of how we might benefit local sanctuaries, shelters, and rescue organizations through special projects and products, and events.

(Q) What makes your business unique?

(A) Me. I make our business unique. Creating the new and different has been a life-long passion. Nothing interests me more than new ideas.I am an artist myself - working in many media. My galleries and my websites (Cre8it.com and WisdomWoman.com) are artworks to me, and I make them into the most unusual, creative spaces they can possibly be - and then change things around a lot to keep them fresh and interesting. You can be sure that even if you visit The Art Garden every week, there will be new and interesting things to see and do.

(Q) How long have you lived in Eldorado or what is your connection to the Eldorado Community?

(A) We have lived in and loved Eldorado since 1996.

(Q) Any other thoughts and comments?

(A) We are very excited about the company in which we find ourselves as a part of the La Tienda project. The energy is amazing and stimulating. Our community *needs* this and will be such a better place because of it.

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