We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vanessa Frost a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Vanessa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

MUSEjar is a space for all things creative with a goal of inspiring and supporting wellbeing through self-expression. Our main mission is to inspire our community and encourage people of all ages to follow their creative passions. Whether it’s a professional goal or an emotional release, art is a powerful tool and we want to make ourselves accessible to everyone so they can learn how to tap in!

Over the last ten years we have made an impact on the community in ways we could have never imagined. We’ve become a safe and creative place for all ages and abilities including kids with learning disabilities. We take pride in the bonds we’ve developed with the community and the families of our students. Parents have expressed their gratitude for the positive impact MUSEjar has had on their children’s development. For example; working through depression, bullying at school, language delays, and most importantly learning the skill of self expression through art.

Vanessa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

MUSEjar is a small business that is owned and run by women artists. It began ten years ago as an idea to create a destination for both artists and community members to find inspiration and to support wellbeing through creative self-expression. We started as an art supply shop and have evolved to include art classes, lessons and private events like birthday parties.

In our retail shop we offer art supplies in addition to handmade goods sourced from local and small artists from all over the world. We have a growing art education program which nurtures and supports young artists. Currently we have 50 students taking private lessons and we’ve recently expanded our class offerings with a new pottery studio, which has been a long awaited dream of ours.

We are most proud of our growing studio and the ability to offer all different types of classes, resources and services to our community. We want to be accessible to everyone of all ages and abilities. We have classes for as young as 1-3 years old (baby muses). Art should not be a luxury, it should be available to everyone.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of mouth! One of our favorite parts of the job is helping our customers. From custom work, hunting down an art supply, troubleshooting projects, shopping for a special occasion, to bonding over our favorite pen; we love it all. We love connecting with our community; our customers become family.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We recently had to relocate our shop and studio and it happened under unusual circumstances. The buildings that we were renting were put on the market without us knowing and we were forced to find a new home within the year. Luckily we found the perfect building, but it needed a complete remodel. We had to rezone the property and partially rebuild. It was a larger space, and much more expensive. It required more loans and a big leap of faith. We went for it and completed the project within the year. We had to keep the business running, while building a new one behind the scenes. We moved the entire store and studio (5,000 sqft) in one weekend, while also setting up a new pottery studio.

The fear of closing only made us stronger and propelled us into a space that is a much better fit.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.musejar.com
• Instagram: musejar
• Facebook: musejar
• Linkedin: vanessa frost
• Youtube: musejar

Image Credits
Natalie Hofert Photography