Kelly Childress painted for many years. The owner of Mustardseed Artisan Market describes herself as a glass and resin artist. However, when the first waves of the pandemic hit in early 2020, Childress found herself out of work.
“I decided to step out and start traveling across Missouri and Arkansas, that’s where we did really large festivals,” she said during an interview at a downtown coffee shop.
Most recently she and her husband Larry, the office manager of Maverick Glass, decided they wanted to focus on their home area and put something in Poplar Bluff.
That idea sparked a decision to create a store specifically designed around artists and other local vendors. Childress then found another key component in her search for a place to showcase her artistry and other local artists.
“We found this building downtown,” she said. “Todd and Sierra Henson are the owners of the building and their support and the renovations of the building have been phenomenal.”
The Hensons, owners of Nest Investors, recently announced their new ownership and planned renovations at 416 Vine Street. It is commonly known as the Jim Faith Building after the last business to live there, Jim Faith’s Office Supplies.
“This building holds a lot of memories in our community and we hope to provide many more for years to come,” the Hensons posted on Facebook. “It will now serve as the home of Mustardseed Artisan Market which will host artists from all over our area and beyond! Keep an eye out for an opening date expected soon.”
Childress says that she expects to be able to teach her art classes at the downtown location and to open a custom hat bar as well. But she wants as many artists and craftsmen as she can find to sell their hand-made goods.
“It’s not going to be like a flea market,” she said while describing her new store. “We will have photographs, we will have pottery, basket weaving, just all kinds of different things; all inside the store.”
One of the other concepts that she plans to add is a hat bar. Childress said she started selling customized hats in January of this year and then crafting embellishments as part of her customized design.
The suede hats that she sells start as basic pieces, but then one can add as many embellishments or designs as needed.
“Typically, it’s the woodworking tools that you use to make the designs,” Childress said.
She said she learned to design the hats from a YouTube video and then her addiction moved forward from there.
“I just started watching videos on how to do it,” she said. “That’s how I learned. I just see someone doing it. And I just like to engross myself in it and learn how to do it.”
Childress’ passion for art does not stop there. Her glass and resin designs also create beautiful masterpieces. She said she has been creating her glass and resin designs for three years and even uses the leftover glass from her husband’s business as part of her initial design.
The concept for the downtown artisan market grew because Childress had difficulty finding places for her art.
“I want people who are like me to have a place to sell their stuff,” Childress added. “Because that was my biggest thing. I didn’t have anywhere to showcase my designs.”
These frustrations created the foundation of store and built upon the concept of housing different artisans. In addition to selling art and hosting art classes, Childress also wants to expand into creating a local downtown art walk.
“I would like to have featured artists within the store but I also want to involve the community,” she explained. She also sees her store concept as a hub for other local artists to network.
“I have another artist friend in Dexter and she just wanted a place where she could come and hang with other artists,” she said. “That’s what I want; so artists can be creative with each other.”
As far as an opening date, renovations for the building are still a work in progress but Childress expects to be open before the holiday season begins.
She recalled that many of her designs are based around the mustard seed and that idea not only sparked the name for the market but also the idea that with faith, anything is possible.
“If you have faith, you can chase a dream,” Childress said.