Artsy Fartsy Creative Center building sense of community

When Artsy Fartsy owner Jeffery Pace moved his art gallery out of the tidy 400 square-foot cottage at Telegraph Square and into a Victorian home around the corner along Nevada Street, his plan was to keep the original building and turn it into an artist studio.

Pace said he didn't expect what it would take to turn such a small space into a creative center where art and learning could mix.

"It was a lot more money than I expected," he said. "When I was opening up the gallery, I kind of knew what to expect. We put a few ducats aside. We were ready for that. I wasn't ready for this."

But despite its challenges, the Artsy Fartsy Creative Center opened late this spring as Pace had anticipated. He credits the new addition to his business to a lot of support from the people of Carson City.

"Thankfully, our community supported us and our sales have continued to grow, so we are able to reinvest back into the community," he said.

Paying it forward to the Carson City community is the vision Pace has for the new Creative Center, which opened for use about five weeks ago.

"It really does take a community to make a small business work," he said. "We're proof positive of that after six years in Carson City, where we're expanding and giving back, and our community's loving it."

This past Friday, Pace said the Creative Center was host to a watercolor class taught by renowned artist Colleen Reynolds, who recently moved to the Nevada state capital from Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband.

Word reached clear across the country — all the way to the Atlantic coast — that Reynolds was teaching a class in Carson City.

"When we put it out there that she would be teaching here, we started getting phone calls and emails," Pace said. "We have a gentlemen who flew in from Atlanta, Georgia, and a lady from Chico, California, who drove up specifically for this course."

Pace said this sort of attention only benefits the community, because it means more outside dollars coming into Northern Nevada.

"They are both staying at hotels in the area," he said. "That's bringing in a little bit of revenue into our community, too."

Pace said his original inspiration for the Artsy Fartsy Creative Center was to help his artists out by giving them a space in which they could teach and share their crafts.

"When the space was made available, I thought about what we could do for our artists, and at the same time giving back to our community by helping to promote the arts and in a round about way it will help out the gallery, too," he said. "It was really about giving my artists a venue, some place to teach their passion."

Pace said teaching is what many of his artists do to pass along their art. He said he wanted to give them a place where they were compensated fairly for their time.

"A lot of my artists are instructors, and they've really been priced out of the ability to teach their passion and share it with the community," he said. "A lot of the organizations and facilities in Northern Nevada retain anywhere from 70-80 percent, where the instructor is walking away with 20-30 percent for an entire day's work. It just wasn't fair."

Although the tiny Telegraph Square cottage is small, its cozy space fits well with Pace's vision of promoting a stronger community.

"It builds a community in there, too," he said. "The closer you are, you are going to talk a little bit more to the people to your left, to your right, in front of you, behind you. You are going to remember those people wherever you might be and you see these people."

Last Friday's class was full with eight students plus the instructor, Pace said, but each student had their own work space, a table on which to create their art.

"It's comfortable in there, but nobody's really crowded," he said. "It's bringing so many diverse individuals together to create."

Students aren't all amateurs, either, Pace said. Even other artists are taking classes so that they can try creating in a different medium.

"We have other artists who want to broaden their scope, to see what they can do," he said. "They want to challenge themselves."

Since its opening in June, Pace said the Creative Center has more than met his expectations as an addition to Artsy Fartsy Gallery.

"I haven't seen my back parking lot so full in so long," he said. "To see people back there in that creative center learning something and sharing with each other, it's exciting."

For more information on classes, visit Artsy Fartsy online here or follow it here on Facebook.

Those interested in registering for classes can email Pace at artsyfartsy111@gmail.com or by calling the gallery at 775-885-2787. He also suggests coming by the art gallery in person at 405 N. Nevada Street near the corner of Telegraph in downtown Carson City.

Artsy Fartsy Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.