We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David & Alicia Leingang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David & Alicia below.

Hi David & Alicia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our mission is, to make memories last through artful framing services. This is really the foundation of a custom framing business. Creating an experience and design that caters to what the customer is looking for, or to help them discover something about the item they are framing that they hadn’t noticed before through the many framing and color options we have at our fingertips.

Through this discovery process, we connect with the customer and their project. We help them find a new level of joy in the item they are preserving for generations to come and make them a part of the project so when they see their project hanging on the wall, they can feel pride and ownership in their project.

We love to tell a story by bringing treasured memories back to life in the most special way possible. Its through the collaboration between us and the customer that helps us create something genuinely unique, as well as form a connection that makes them feel like family and helps them trust us with their precious memoires.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Carden Custom Framing is a local love story. It’s a story of the love shared by the
company’s original owners: their love for each other and for the art of framing.

Carla and Dennis Leingang, whose names served as inspiration for the shop, opened the doors
to Carden Custom Framing in 1989. Highly supportive of the arts and local community, the
duo recognized an opportunity to showcase both through professional framing services.

Carden’s original mission was more than memory preservation. Carla and Dennis believed
that framing could not only preserve memories, but help celebrate and share experiences
across generations. The Leingang’s provided custom framing for 30 years before turning
the business over in 2019 to the next generation of Leingang’s – nephew David and his wife Alicia.

Committed to Carden’s original mission and more, as new services in printing and digital image restoration have taken hold, as well as an expanded footprint that allows more space for quality art supplies that can’t be found anywhere else in town. Carden Custom Framing’s new leaders encourage everyone to enjoy photos, artifacts, mementos and art by taking it out of the closet or off of the cloud to be shown, shared and revisited on the wall.

Their focus has also extended beyond the walls of the business as David and Alicia strive to have Carden Custom Framing be a regional hub for artists of all levels. They have begun achieving this by providing opportunities for artists to set up and display their craft in the store once a month as well as space in their open studio for artists to attend and create freely.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Helping to become a bigger part in our local arts community, as well as fostering our own little sub community within, has helped us tremendously. Through our participation and presence at local art events, and gallery openings, we believe artists have begun to trust us as a business, and therefore send any customers, friends, and family to us for their framing needs.

Alicia and David are both artists in the community, with Alicia artwork being displayed regularly at two local galleries. Through involvement on that level as well as the trust we have built within the arts community, we have noticed a momentum in our business that has helped us.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

With Alicia and David both being creatives in and outside of the business, it has attracted a new type of clientel over the last 5 years. Understanding the cost for an artist to create, frame and present in a gallery can be quite the investment. With that understanding, Carden Custom Framing offers a %15 discount for artists who frame their own works, and will work on pricing with them if they have a gallery opening/art show they are preparing for. Along with the break in framing, there are opportunities for artists to save on art supplies that they request or need for a new piece of work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cardencustomframing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cardencustomframing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cardencustomframing
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cardencustomframing436