Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Riederer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Anna (my sister) and I came up with the idea for The Art Project over 10 years ago. At the time, Anna had a 3 year old and an 18 month old. Her 3 year old absolutely loved art. She loved glitter, cutting paper, glue and paint. Anna loved her doing art but didn’t love the mess in her house. So, she’d send her over to my house. I am an artist, had a studio in my house, and didn’t mind the mess. We started talking about how there should be a place where you can take your child to make art – not structured, not a class, just a place to take a young kid and not have to worry about the mess. We started looking around and couldn’t find such a place so we decided to create it ourselves.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Over 10 years, we’ve had our ups and downs and learned a lot along the way. I remember the first day we opened being 8 months pregnant crying looking at the art mess kids created on opening day. So. Much. Glitter. I thought, “what have we done!!” But, over the years, we have developed a system for keeping our studio orderly and know lots of tricks for containing the mess. We know what materials are truly washable and what materials we need to hide in the back. I laugh now thinking back on those tears on the first day because watching kids have a place to be creative without fear of making a mess brings me so much joy.
Our most challenging time was when the world shut down in March of 2020. Our studio operates on slim margins, and we truly didn’t know how we’d survive. We pivoted to making and shipping art kits, art camps in a box, birthday parties in a box, etc. It is not easy to suddenly turn your studio from a place where kids run around being creative to a kit factory – especially, without much knowledge or experience in packaging, shipping and logistics. Once we were able to re-open, we spent the next year navigating Covid rules/regulations, fighting supply chain issues and constantly trying to come up with ways for people to feel comfortable gathering indoors. We’d do private Art Free Play sessions, booked smaller parties, continued making kits, etc. Somehow we came out the other side.
Additionally, when we opened our doors – Anna had a 3 year old and an 18 month old and I was was 8 months pregnant. Now between the two of us we have a 7, 9, 11 and 13 year old. Balancing being a mom and running a business is not easy!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Art Project?
We created what we call “Art Free Play.” Kids can come into our space to simply create. Unstructured play and creative experimentation is so important for kids. We offer every material kids could possibly want right at their fingertips. Everything from glitter to markers to glue, crayons, chalk, sensory play, recycled materials, sand feathers, paint and much more. And most important to parents is that the mess is not in their house. In fact, our tagline is Make Art. Leave the Mess.
Each week we have a different theme with 5 stations set up with projects if kids would like something to follow along with. We also offer “Toddler Tuesday” where kids 18 months to 3 years old have access to finger painting, sensory play and other types of process art. We also offer “Storytime & Craft” on Fridays where we read a story that goes with our weekly theme and then guide kids through a coordinating activity. We also offer birthday parties (for both kids and adults), corporate events, camps, classes and have a retail section. Our schedule is posted on our website each week. We encourage reservations to keep our studio from getting too crowded and guarantee your child has a spot.
As moms, we recognized the need for children and parents to equally enjoy themselves while in the space which is a tough balance to strike. We think the design and atmosphere of our space is unique for this reason. We work hard to keep the space feeling fresh and organized. Caregivers are welcome to get creative alongside their kids or they can sit back and relax. We provide free wi-fi, they can get a coffee from next door or we even sell snacks and local beer.
We’re really proud of the fact that we’ve been open for 10 years. We’ve hosted thousands of events, run hundreds of camps, classes and workshops, had pop up studios around the city, hired amazing artists over the years, and most importantly gotten to witness thousands of kids experience joy through art. It is really fun to see kids who were toddlers when we opened now entering middle school.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Memphis afforded us the opportunity to take a very small budget and quickly open this little experiment 10 years ago. And, then Memphians have supported it and us along the way. We are so grateful that the community really tries to support local and also sees the value in kids experimenting through art. There always seems to be a lot of negativity around discussing Memphis – especially as of late. I think sticking with highlighting what we like best is best for all Memphians.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artprojectmemphis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artprojectmemphis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artprojectmemphis
