NIPAWIN — With owner Carmen Drapeau moving to Maple Creek alongside her husband town administrator, Barry Elliott, she said Art on Main will be sold with the future owners determining the location’s fate.
Created in August, 2019, by Drapeau, Art on Main sells handcrafted work produced by local artisans and artists, features gallery displays, art classes, and offers design services.
“I think that it would be great if somebody would continue doing a similar thing,” Drapeau said. “We have 117 artists, we sell the work of a lot of people and I think it’s a great venue for that – but I don’t know, it could be a space for a lot of other great businesses too.”
Since starting the shop and art venue, Drapeau and Elliott put 18 months of renovations into the building which features two differently sized classrooms, separate office, retail space, outdoor space and a storage room.
As far as business went, she said Art on Main remained profitable throughout the pandemic and the decision to move was in no way impacted by COVID-19. Rather, she attributed the move to her husband’s job and 小蓝视频 near her family who is from the area.
She called the move “bittersweet.”
“I think that a lot of people think it’s because of COVID but we opened right before COVID and we stayed open, except for a couple months,” Drapeau said. “It’s not a decision really about that, it’s about getting closer to family.”
Looking into her personal future, Drapeau said she intends to continue graphic design work in Maple Creek and continuing to take local clients virtually. She is considering her last day operating Art on Main to be in late February, but is open to change depending on circumstance.
“I would love to take the building and bring it with us, I love that building. We designed it so it would be comfortable to work in, it’s different, it’s cool – that’s the only thing,” Drapeau said.
“It’s a venue that could really promote the arts and there’s potential for more, that would be great but it’s not the end all and it’s not the only thing.”
