A group of 27 artists from Southwest Michigan have come together to sell their work in a shop known as Lotsa Little Things/Gallery 248.
The store at 248 N. Kalamazoo Mall behind the Kalamazoo Valley Museum features fine art of all kinds including oil, acrylic, and water color paintings, jewelry, fiber art, ceramic, and much more.
Owner Mary Heynig says the idea for the store came about because she, her brother and her sister all are artists and they want a place to display their works. She and her husband decided to create a place to show their chain mail jewelry and armor and as the word got out that the store was opening other artists wanted to join. Now every surface of the nontraditional gallery is taken up with art work.
The shop, which opened in July, has been growing in sales every month. Art Hop, the first Friday of every month in downtown Kalamazoo, has been big for Lotsa Little Things.
"We went from no one knowing we existed to sales going through the roof," Heynig says.
The 1,100-square-foot shop at the northernmost end of the Kalamazoo Mall that once housed a moped retailer also serves as a studio where artists can work while they are waiting for customers to drop by. "The artists who work in the shop sell more. The public sees them, they can talk about their work. Some have gotten commissions," Heynig says.
So far, she is the sole employee as the artists working there have made it so that hiring has not been necessary. The store is open Monday through Thursday noon till 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday noon till 8 p.m.
"We have art for everyone -- all prices ranges, sizes, and styles," Heynig says. For those looking for decorating advice there are people who can help with that, too.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Mary Heynig, Lotss Little Things
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