Artist puts on her business hat with Make Art Supplies
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It's not completely out of the realm for artists to combine creativity with business.
Concetta "Connie" Owens can be counted among those people who has embraced entrepreneurship after years of pursuing her artistic talents.
In July 2022, she launched Make Art Supplies, a storefront in the vast Pajama Factory complex and former warehouse building in Williamsport.
"I always wanted to do it," she said.
The business offers a large inventory of art and craft supplies where local artists can buy materials and indulge their passions.
Owens has big plans for the business, including expanding the storefront and offering classes for people interested in pursuing their creativity.
Most recently, she hired business, retail, and merchandising managers to help her with the operation of Make Art Supplies.
"I think when people walk in here, they really like the store," Owens said. "We fill a niche."
There are no shortage of artists and crafts people around Williamsport, including in the Pajama Factory, which in recent years has become its own kind of creative community.
One of her hopes, she said, is to make rural communities such as Williamsport aware of the economic benefits of the arts.
"I started out as a mosaic artist. I was also a decorative finisher," she said.
But Owens also learned about business. Her late spouse was a business owner, and she has her own business experience flipping houses and running art studios.
Make Art Supplies, she noted, began with a basic line of art products, and has since grown to include a more expansive inventory as she became more fully aware of the demand from local artists.
"I do my best to get what they need," she said.
Customer support is a big part of the business and adults and kids alike can often find what they need at her store.
She hopes to eventually offer various classes for children.
Owens admits she's learned a lot about running the business.
She has found that tasks such as bookkeeping take up a lot of her time.
Immediate plans include establishing a website for the business.
Her advertising consists of social media, print media, and, of course, word-of-mouth.
In the meantime, she has not lost her creativity and finds it vital in her approach to business.
"Creative thinking is vital to everything you do," she said.
She feels the storefront at Rose Street and Park Avenue at the north end of the Pajama Factory is a good spot for the store.
"There are artists right her in the neighborhood," she said. "So, I like the location."
Her dream, she said, has always been to create an artists' colony.
"You can learn from each other," she said. "It's sort of like what you have here at the Pajama Factory."
Owens feels that Williamsport is striving to become a strong arts community.