Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Marie Hensel.
Hi Ann Marie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As a kid, I was pretty average at sports, I played them, I enjoyed them – but it was never my niche. I was very good at school, and ended up going to Georgia Tech for a degree in biomedical engineering. While I was there, I struggled to find my community – Greek life was not for me, I’d stopped playing sports, and I bounced around a few clubs not really finding a good fit. Second semester, I found an on-campus art studio called Paper & Clay. I was too intimidated to go inside, I tried once but had all of this self doubt surrounding me as I stood outside the door — “I am not an artist, I don’t even know what I would do if I did go inside” — so I left. I ended up applying for a job there, and only once I got the job did I decide “okay, this is a space I am allowed to be in”. During my 3.5 years working at Paper & Clay – I found my place. I found my people, and I found my fixation in clay. I worked to make the studio space more accessible, always remembering how silly I felt now – assuming I wouldn’t be welcome in a space that ended up being incredibly welcoming, and such a crucial part of my college years.
After getting my Masters and settling into a job in Capital Hill, I began to feel that sense of longing for purpose and a “home” away from home, that I found in the art studio in college. I tried to find a space, but struggled to find something in DC that met my desire for inclusion & access to be at the center of the studio mission. Since I couldn’t find the space I was looking for, I decided to create it.
I started small. My childhood BFF & I had been putting on local art showcases in empty homes in PG County MD, for a several years. She’s a performing artist/musician who lives in Berlin, and every time she was home, we’d put on a show in an empty house either between renters, or a vacant that was in the process of being flipped. I had such great energy and motivation off of a COVID-era show where we did timed entry, and an outdoor art market. I reconnected with another childhood friend, pitched my idea, and the rest was history. We opened our doors in a small basement apartment in our childhood hometown of Cheverly MD, in October 2021.
Arteasy is a play on words, because I love a good pun — our first location was in a basement with a backyard entrance, tucked away where you’d least expect to find a little cozy art studio. A speakeasy, but for art. And then of course, the mission was to ensure that arts and self-expression were easy to access. We definitely don’t claim that it is easy to be an artist full time, because that is not the case :D. We just want a world where creativity is a practice that everyone feels motivated and enabled to pursue. Our new location is in a historic Baltimore rowhome-style storefront- and is a bit of a speakeasy of its own. The front room is a living room with a hallway kitchen behind it — and that’s the gallery/shop space. Then you keep going down the hallway, and it opens up to a bright, open, workspace with a little bit of every art supply you could imagine. We even have a pottery wheel and a kiln tucked away in their own little cozy corners.
We are currently in the process of applying for our non profit/501-3(c) status, so that we can continue to advance our mission of accessible and low-intimidation arts access for kids and the general public, as well as expanding our reach as a launch point for early career/starting artists looking for more structure, community, and support.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am sure this question makes a lot of small business owners laugh in a sarcastic and slightly self deprecating manner, as it did for me. No – it has not been a smooth road.
I am an impulsive person, and I am a person who puts everything she has into things that matter to her. This was a dangerous recipe for starting a business. I jumped in with all of my energy and passion, and said there’s no option other than for this to work. Delusion? Maybe. But we’re still here.
The biggest challenges for me have been (1) creating a model where we have enough money to stay afloat, and pay myself consistently, while staying true to the mission of affordable access, (2) finding people who I can trust, who understand my mission, and are able to work with my chaos, and (3) self-doubt/maintaining healthy relationships with self and others outside of this studio identity I have built.
1. I am not great with money. As an engineer, accounting is the most backwards illogical way to handle numbers, and I just cannot. I have not paid myself consistently over the past 5 years, because when the funds are short, I am the easiest budget cut. I have wanted to become a non-profit since starting, because our mission and vision are so closely aligned with a non-profit structure, but the paperwork/administrative barrier to entry were too much for me. I am really excited with the prospect of being a nonprofit, so that we can better leverage fundraising and grants to support our mission.
2. Finding the right team to surround myself with has been a struggle. I have learned a lot about myself, how I can be difficult to work with because I have a zillion ideas, I am willing to put in way too much of myself to make them happen, and I can’t expect everyone around me to have that same attitude. In fact, I need to check myself and hold boundaries for myself, not just with others! I have learned how to communicate better — how to offer a criticism/complement sandwich, and generally ensure that I am always communicating my gratitude for people that I do want to keep around. I have also had to learn that not everyone is able to fit every space, and let employees go who were great people, but didn’t fit the specific niche of skills and initiative that I needed at that time. When you are small, you need people who can wear multiple hats around you. It has been a journey, but I have a great group of people around me now, both paid staff, and artist members who are committed to the space from that perspective.
3. I started this business during the peak of covid. It was my therapy at that time. But over time, I think I got a bit too deep and too intertwined with the studio as my identity. I have gone back to personal therapy in the past year, and have had to set boundaries, admit hard truths about my lack of boundaries thus far, and most recently, learn to love myself and exist for me again. I realized that I have begun to tie my own self-worth too closely with what I am providing for others. Is the studio successfully bringing others’ meaning and joy. Am I appropriately caring for my dogs. Am I being a good family member, Am I being a good wife. But I stopped asking myself if I am just happy being me. And I think I realized that I am less comfortable than I used to be by the idea of existing just to exist, and that’s something I am currently working through. I am incredibly proud of what I have created, the relationships I have formed, and the doggos I have raised, but I also want to return to being proud just to be Ann Marie — independent of anything I have built.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I do clay sculpture. During my undergrad at GT, I worked at a studio that had clay, and then I studied abroad quite a bit to fulfil my minor focus in international affairs. Each time I studied abroad, I found a local clay studio and either took classes or joined a membership. I studied in clay studios in Ireland, Spain, and South Africa. South Africa was where I found sculpting, and it all clicked. I would have called myself a clay hobbyist before finding clay sculpting, once I found sculpting, I began to feel more like an artist.
I am most known for sculpting faces that are humanistic but not quite right. Whether it’s the proportion, the bone structure, the features — something is off, so it may be a little unsettling, but still familiar and recognizable – its a face. I also enjoy constructing things that don’t make sense structurally, or seem too precarious to be made out of clay. I love using found materials to make multi media sculptures. A recent sculpture I made used a lamp wire spool, chicken wire, and reclaimed smashed ceramics to make the base and stem for a clay-sculpted black eyed susan flower. I love this one, because it feels very ‘me’. The excerpt I displayed next to the piece when I showed it was:
“She’s equal parts metal, mud, glitter, and glue. Resourceful, gritty, and a little precarious. Sharp, well constructed, rough around the edges but graceful in her own way. And of course, she’s Maryland through & through.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Surround yourself with support, delegate what you can delegate, let go of what you can let go of, and remember yourself and why you started this in the first place!
Pricing:
- Our kids camps have a community cost sharing fund – so if you ever are in a situation where you need child care but our fees are too high, just send us an email with how much you are comfortable paying, and if we have the funds, we will write you a discount code. We hope to formalize this offering more as we pursue non-profit status.
- Our pricing is accessible intentionally. Our instructors are mostly members at our studio, and we don’t charge them a ton of overhead to host classes with us, meaning they can offer lower prices than you may expect, and still take home sufficient money at the end of the day. So don’t confuse our affordable prices with lower quality, these are amazing offerings, and we want you to be able to come frequently and often, supporting our studio while also supporting your own creative practice.
- $10 tuesdays are our big low budget day. Each of these is a low-material cost, low-intimidation day of creative expression led by one of our members. $10 all in, no additional costs! Each Tuesday features a different activity/medium of focus, depending on the member that is hosting. Follow IG to see the schedule up to a month in advance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.arteasystudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arteasystudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arteasy.studio
