Featuring All About Art!
I am so excited to share this little glimpse into our neighboring shop, All About Art, which is producing gorgeous stoneware mugs for the café. I have taken my children in to paint gifts for others and fun items for themselves, and now we are picking glaze colors for our mugs and can’t wait to show you the variety and beauty that comes from hand-painting each one individually.
Jessica Goodson, owner of All About Art Studio
Jessica Goodson owns and runs this fantastic business, and she agreed to answer some questions and let me come in to film and take pictures when their day campers were working on projects (now I can see why the camp fills up so quickly). A big thank-you to the parents of these young artists for letting me capture the fun.
CC: How long have you been into art, and what initially sparked your interest in the arts?
JG: I did not discover my “talent” for art until later in life, but I had always appreciated it before then. I took elementary and middle school art and have very vivid memories of those classes (more so than others). They were greatly impactful from a very young age. Although I loved it, I did not see myself as “very good” at it (compared to others) in school.
When I got to college, I took a few classes as extracurricular and found a real passion and “knack” for the visual arts at that time. I blossomed during that time, if you will.
CC: What inspired you to open All About Art Studio?
JG: After graduating from Huntingdon College with a Business Administration Degree, I went on to work at a bank as a credit analyst. It had a great starting salary, great coworkers, I lived in my own apartment with big girl responsibilities in Montgomery, with lots of fun things to do socially. BUT, I was miserable. It was a 9-5 draining position that required a ton of computer time and very little human interaction. I found out quickly it was not for me. I was disappointed and really did not know what to do next.
On a trip home to Enterprise to visit my (now husband) then boyfriend, Sam, I ended up having a very random conversation with someone I had not seen in a couple of years about a friend of a friend who was selling her “paint your own pottery studio”. I was like, huh, well, I have never been to a paint your own pottery studio, but I HAVE heard of them, let me do some research.
After a few minutes, which turned into several hours, of research about this industry, I was HOOKED. My family says I am like “a dog with a bone” with certain things, and this was one of them! After, a short while, and lots of elaborate charts and spreadsheets, I convinced my parents it was a good investment to purchase the inventory of the previous studio, rent the space downtown, and start ALL ABOUT ART in the Summer of 2010.
CC: Why Enterprise?
JG: The opportunity may have originated in Enterprise (being that the previous business was located there) but I would not have wanted it to be opened anywhere else in the world.
Enterprise is special (if you can’t already tell). My childhood, adolescent, and some teenage years were lived in Birmingham, AL in the suburbs. It was a nicer area of the city and I went to a well funded school system with lots of wealthy families’ kids. And even though it was a privileged community, it was not a very happy existence.
When we moved to Enterprise my 9th grade year, I was nervous that “the new girl” would have a super hard time plugging in to this community (because that is what I has seen all my life where I lived). BUT, I was wrong. I came home after the first day of school and had made several friends, one in particular that I am still best friends with to this day (She lives in Canada).
This community, because of Fort Rucker and all of the diversity it brings, is incredibly accepting of the transient persons that are in and out of here all the time. We love to work hard, play hard, and, in the end, the people here are present for each other. It is a community full of opportunity, but also full of love and personality and togetherness. We know the people whose services we use—and they use ours. Our pediatrician is a frequent flyer at the studio. The grocery store worker’s kid takes art lessons. The city hall workers have personally delivered paperwork on their lunch break to us, “because they would be downtown anyway”. The downtown small business owners support each other, work together, and collaborate to create something incredibly personal for our patrons.
Needless to say, we love this community! I fell in love young and that love has only grown as I have. When the opportunity presented itself here, it was a no brainer. I was all in.
CC: How did your mom get involved in the art endeavor? Did she start The She Shed before or after you started the studio?
JG: After about two years working the studio, business was doing well, and beyond what I could do on my own. I asked my mom, who has had the most incredible working background, in the corporate world, small business realm, and has always been such an incredible influence on my own work ethic and motivations. When she came on, we doubled our sales over just a short time. Business has been incredible for the last 11 years. In 2020, my mom, Regena, and Aunt Cindy opened the She Shed, and, of course, even in the midst of Covid, it has become a great success. They are continually growing and bringing even more people to this beautiful downtown of ours.
CC: What is your vision for the future of the arts in Enterprise?
JG: I would love to see the arts continue to grow and thrive. The more outlets our young people (and older people) have in the creative fields, the more well-rounded they will be. We are just a small part of the beautifully balanced world we are hoping to create here.
CC: You are supplying our wonderful stoneware mugs and joining our Early Risers Club, so what color will your mug be?
JG: The stoneware mugs are incredible and the color choices are endless (which is one of my favorite parts). I will probably lean toward a purple (since it is my favorite color). The flexibility of the stoneware is my favorite part. You can dishwash, microwave, bake, and enjoy your mug for years to come. CAN NOT WAIT to grab a cup of joe from y’all!
Thank you, Jessica and Regena, for letting me in behind the scenes. I am in awe of what you do and how you are giving back to this wonderful community of ours. And I’m tickled PINK that our mugs for the café are coming from right around the corner. Huzzah!
