Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Smith.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mary. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
In 2014, I finally tried out an idea that had been on my mind for years — offering fun, creative workshops, mostly to women. A couple of friends had opened an art gallery and were looking for ways to attract customers.
They invited me to experiment with my workshops in their space. The early workshops were a lot of fun and the word began to slowly spread. Soon, the City of Alvin Parks and Recreation Department invited us to offer workshops through their program and the response was great.
Michelle Nesrtra, the city’s Recreation Manager talked me into offering an art summer day camp for school age children and we welcomed close to 20 kids to our first camp.
We now offer 6 weeks of fun-filled art camps for children and an after-school art club throughout the school year. After about a year of offering workshops on a part-time basis, I broke away from the art gallery and moved Gander Studio to a new location, (in an old house), and began to offer workshops full time.
Our adult workshops have evolved into painting wooden projects. Our most popular project is our 6 foot Porch Sign, which is painted with words such as Welcome, Howdy, Blessed, and seasonal ones like Merry Christmas and Give Thanks. Many of our customers become hooked on the Porch Sign; one young woman has painted eight signs to date, with a few more ideas up her sleeve!
We also paint cute wooden door hangers in a wide variety designs like the state of Texas, a Mason Jar, Christmas Ornament, Christmas Reindeer. We paint plank signs with Scripture verses, popular phrases, family names and more. Our seasonal projects like our Porch Christmas Tree, Christmas Sled, and Reversible Pumpkin/Snowman all sell out quickly.
Gander Studio hosts private workshops for birthday parties, holiday parties, bridal showers, and more. Pretty much any reason to celebrate can become a fun paint party. Our open workshops are just that – open to any adults. Several carpenters stay busy building our projects and I have become quite proficient with power tools!
A part-time staff of several more workshop assistants help our clients find their inner DIY at our workshops. My husband, although he has a full-time job as a Human Resources Manager, is my business partner, wood buyer, project planner, carpenter, and so much more. Our 10-year-old daughter hangs out at Gander Studio and has become invaluable to our success!
I graduated from Southwest Texas State, (now Texas State), with a B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences and a minor in Business Administration. I landed my dream job with Foley’s as a manager trainee, where I worked in management and buying. After marrying my husband, who also worked at Foley’s, the stress of two retail careers began to take its toll.
I ventured off into marketing for smaller companies, eventually working at a local church for several years before catching the entrepreneurial bug and opening Gander Studio. We have been very blessed by the response from Alvin and the surrounding communities.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s difficult running a small, growing company. There are never enough hours in a day to get everything done! In the beginning, you are the owner, operator, janitor, marketer, bookkeeper, chief of everything. The biggest struggle is figuring out when to let go of some of these roles and trust that you can afford to hire help.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Gander Studio – what should we know?
Gander Studio offers paint workshops to adults and kids. Adult workshops are held in the daytime and at night. We paint on wooden signs, door hangers, centerpieces, sleds, and more. We show you a variety of fun and easy paint techniques, and offer over 50 color choices! Stencils are used to add lettering and phrases to your project, making all of our projects beginner friendly.
Adults are welcome to byow, byob, byof – bring your own wine, beer, and food. We provide all the supplies, the setup and the cleanup. It’s a fun place to get together with friends in a relaxed setting. enjoy refreshments, and create a project you’ll be proud to use in your home.
For children, we offer preschool projects for parents and children, themed summer art camps filled with creative and fun projects, after-school art club and paint birthday parties.
Throughout the year, vendors set up on our lawn to sell their wares and we offer express paint events during those events. To express our deep appreciation to our community for their support, we donate to local fundraising events and host fundraising paint nights.
Gander Studio is home to several other small, local companies: On Cloud9 Event Rentals, Don’s Pottery Shop, (offering fine pottery and lessons), and S&L Enterprises (offering floral arrangements and gift items.). All American Pest Control, a woman-owned pest control business has office space in our building. Together, we offer a wide variety of services and support each others’ small, local businesses.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Gander Studio would not be here without my family – my husband, daughter, and mother have provided endless support. My sister and sister-in-law live in Maryland but cheer me on daily in countless ways.
My extended family and friends are always there for me – to provide a listening ear, support my crazy ideas, and tell me when they think an idea won’t work. I’m forever grateful to my friends who share my Facebook posts, tell people about the studio, come to our workshops, and consistently give me ideas as to how to improve and make our operation run more smoothly.
Lisa Belletto, with On Cloud9 Event Rentals, doesn’t just run her successful business from our location. She is constantly there with creative ideas to draw customers into our building, working hard to make our Vendors on the Lawn Events successful, and supporting Gander Studio.
So many clients have come back to Gander again and again. We are grateful that they love to create and love to come to the studio.
Pricing:
- The average adult workshop fee is $40-50 and is a great value.
- Kids workshops average $15-25.
Contact Info:
- Address: 415 S. Gordon St. Alvin, TX 77511
- Phone: 281-686-2057
- Email: ganderstudioalvin@gmail.com
- Instagram: @ganderstudio
- Facebook: @ganderstudioalvin
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
