About Us

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ArtSpring, LLC

In the Spring of 2008, 5 neighbors -- all artists and creators making beautiful artwork and crafts in our basements, bedrooms and dens -- decided to invite our friends and neighbors to a neighborhood art show. A local musician/composer provided music, a husband with a background in the wine industry conducted a wine tasting and a wonderful local bakery provided "decorate your own cupcakes" on a warm, sunny Mothers Day afternoon. We dedicated a portion of the proceeds to a local not for profit we all cared about.

We made so many friends that day and realized that art was happening in basements and studios all around us! We also discovered a community of willing buyers/collectors eager to make affordable high quality art part of their daily lives. Thus began the concept behind ArtSpring. The discovery and promotion of artists and artisans in our own backyards, making their work accessible to the local community through sales and hands-on workshops, dedicating a portion of the proceeds to a neighborhood non-profit.

Currently, thanks to wonderful people and to the wonderful commitment of dedicating a portion of community space to the promotion of art, we are located in a beautiful space in downtown Silver Spring. Sales of all the work in the store support the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, a 501 C 3, also dedicated to promoting art in the community.

Creating
"Founders' table", June, 2008. Founders' table can be seen at ArtSpace.

The Players:

Linda Blackbourn, a Wisconsin girl at heart -- Linda has adopted Silver Spring, MD as her home, with her husband and three great kids.

Linda has lived a lifetime in the arts, having grown up with a gallery/frameshop in the family, she went on to found a corporate art and framing business in Chicago, IL, and an art gallery in Houston, TX. Since Arriving in MD in 2002, she has focused on her handcrafted jewelry business, A-Z Jewelry Design.

"Creating handcrafted gemstone jewelry is my passion. I feel so lucky to have met these vibrant women and to have the chance to build ArtSpring here in the center of Silver Spring. Life is good!"

Chris DerDerian has over 35 years of experience in the management of museum stores, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh and the Washington National Cathedral. Currently she is Director of Retail Operations at the National Archives, Washington DC. She has worked with world renowned artists and crafts persons in the development and sale of products to a diverse audience, including Jenny Holzer, Keith Haring and the estate of Andy Warhol. She managed retail operations with sales in excess of $6M and developed and managed catalogue and web operations. In addition she has extensive experience in working with board members in the support of non-profit entities.

Julie Farrar "Clay is my medium. I studied functional pottery at Penland School of Crafts with Byron Temple and with a Kaqchikel Indian family in Guatemala. I do enjoy sitting at the wheel and making vessels. But I also like to go beyond the vessel. I am always curious to see where I can take clay. If I see a draped cloth, I wonder if I can drape a slab of clay and sew it or cinch it as though it was pliant fabric or create beautiful typography into three dimensional forms. Once the shape is created the fun really begins when I hand-"paint" each piece with colorful glazes that come alive when fired in the kiln. My goal is to keep exploring in this medium. My studio is my lab.

My day job also draws from my right brain. I am a graphic designer with a specialty in 3D illustration. When I render illustrations on my computer I have the "undo" command to fix a mistake. It allows me to stay focused on the intended outcome. In my clay studio there is no "undo", instead a mistake becomes an opportunity to explore another direction. Such is life."

Laura Ferrara was born in 1966 and grew up in Kansas. She moved to Chicago in 1987 and spent 12 years there before moving to Silver Spring in 1999.

Whether drawing or painting, she attempts, through the use of images and symbols, to recreate her perceptions of communication, feeling and experience as she beholds them in her mind’s eye.

Annette Florin is FrouFrou a GoGo! Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, lived on Manhattan's Upper East Side for many years, now resides in fabulous Silver Spring with her two amazingly fantastic boys, 16 and 12.

FrouFrou a GoGo! thrifts the world, (ok, ok, the neighborhood), for rejected treasures, then with a little paint and polish transforms them into object that are colorful, functional and fun.

Words of wisdom from Ms. FrouFrou: Let's promise to fill our lives with
joy, art and color.
luvluv,
Ms. FrouFrou

... and a little help from Steve.