The corner of Fifth Street and Main Street has always been a magical crossroads for children. For decades, the building on the northwest corner housed the Carousel Connection — a clothing and toy store catering to the area’s kids.
Now, 29-year-old Annie Mattox is continuing that legacy with AM Creative. AM Creative is one part art retail, offering original paintings and sculptures from area artists and the supplies needed to create them.
But then it also operates as an art school for children and adults alike.
“We started across the street from Walgreens a year ago and have now moved up the road,” Mattox explained. “I wasn’t sure how it would go, but we quickly outgrew that space. For the art class side of things, we have a board to help us judge and keep grounded in good art. One of our board members is Thom Dobbs, who taught me while I was growing up in Hammon. He is a brilliant ceramic artist and potter.”
The art school side offers several classes that cater to adults.
“For example, we have our Tuesday evening pottery class for adults,” Mattox said. “We then also sell ceramics and do classes on painting those. We can do private parties as well. But teaching the kids is truly our passion.”
AM Creative offers after- school classes for children from fifth graders to seniors.
“We offer classes Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursday and break the classes into two age groups. We work on five units of art — pottery, acrylics, watercolor, drawing form, and videography for our older kids’ class. We have broken the classes by semester — the first goes from August to November, and the second goes from January to April. In addition, we raised money to provide scholarships for young artists in need,” Mattox said.
The group will host an art showcase on April 29 from 3-7 pm at their building.
“The kids will get sparkling juice when they arrive,” Mattox smiled. “We want them to feel celebrated. This is our end-of-semester show, so we know it is important to them to show their parents and loved ones all that they have learned. We will give out awards such as Best in Show, the Studio Award, and Most Improved. We also invite the general public to attend.”
Mattox also envisions her business as an art gallery. Currently, AM Creative is featuring two local artists — Thom Dobbs and DJ Scott.
“Of course, we do have art for sale, but we also want the public to feel free to come in to simply enjoy the art we have on exhibit. It makes for a fun afternoon,” she said.
For more information, visit AM Creative’s Facebook page.
