EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out our recent blog post on at-home crafts, courtesy of The Craft Studio.
The phrase “arts & crafts” evokes a shmorgisborg of childhood nostalgia: finger paints bursting with color, scissors and scrap paper, tiny clay figurines, glitter pens, button-up smocks with sleeves rolled to the elbows. Now, add to that an eclectic and funky mix of paint splatter, creative juices and disco balls in a space that rivals any warehouse party venue. The result (and I would bet my glue gun on it) is every child’s dream: The Craft Studio.
With its high ceilings, warm ambiance, and cool tunes pumping, The Craft Studio is an inspiring and energetic space tucked into the Upper East Side where creativity roams free. Owner Lindsey Johnson has a commitment and love for the studio that’s infectious. She’s the cool, hip aunt—the one you always want to come over and whisk you away to a magical world of arts & crafts. Only this time, it’s real.
Crafty from a young age, Johnson admits to falling in love with the studio when she first started working there as a college freshman. “I developed a really good relationship with the former owner, Barbara Dansker,” she explains. “She started this from nothing, one of the first of its kind, back in the early 90s when this neighborhood wasn’t as family-oriented.”
Johnson took over three years ago when Dansker decided to stop working. “Before I graduated, I told her I’d like to start a workshop program,” she recalls, “and Barbara said to me, ‘Actually, I want to retire, but I want to see [The Craft Studio] live on and I don’t want to sell it to just anybody.’”
Taking over a business straight out of college? It sounds intimidating, almost impossible, to most young adults. So how’d Johnson do it? She did what comes naturally to her; she got creative.
“We made a deal where for two years, Barbara worked a little, I worked a lot, and she taught me the business,” Johnson describes. “Parents ask me to tell their kids my story because if you put your mind to it, even if you don’t have the resources, you can make anything happen.”
But kids seem less interested in potential entrepreneurial pursuits and more interested in what the studio has to offer. And can you blame them? The 16-year-old establishment is a veritable hot spot for birthday parties, seasonal workshops and walk-in crafts. With terra cotta pots, wooden key chains, hand puppets, superhero costumes, mosaics, and silk scarves aplenty, the studio has something for every kind of project and for every kind of kid.
“We customize games. We customize playlists. We have a lot of girls and boys that have had parties with us for years, so we are always thinking of new projects,” Johnson says. “If there is something here that we don’t offer, we’ll make it happen.”
In addition to rows of work benches, shelves of crafts, and pockets of party space, the studio offers its own mini toy store, with unique finds off the beaten path. It’s ultra-handy for parents in need of last minute gifts. The possibilities seem limitless. But, like any great undertaking, Johnson doesn’t do it alone.
“I have a great staff,” she gushes. “I try and hire people who are passionate about the place. They’re dancers and artists and they bring that creative vibe to work.”
A bright and energetic staff is vital at a place like The Craft Studio, where new ideas are always being hatched and kids are looking for fresh inspiration. What’s more is that there’s no sitting fee, making it perfect for after school play dates, rainy afternoons, or family weekend retreats. “You can stay as long as you want,” Johnson assures us.
That kind of carefree, laid-back approach to art is perhaps what’s most special about The Craft Studio. While it boasts all the proper tools, devices and methods for making a masterpiece, the studio encourages experimentation and simply having fun with friends and family while spending quality time together in a creative environment.
“Kids are happy to spend time with their parents. It doesn’t matter how it turns out,” insists Johnson. “Are they going to remember their project five years down the line? No, but they will remember getting their hands dirty with their moms and dads or aunts or uncles.”
And soon enough, parents and their friends may have their own space for conceiving and creating art, without their little ones around. Johnson has hopes for a craft studio for adults, with some fun twists. “A place where you could take a sewing class, do scrap-booking but with cool vintage-y paper, and maybe have cocktails,” she says.
Cheers to that.
For more information, visit craftstudionyc.com.
