GREENSBORO — Art is …
Passion.
Soulful.
And an expression of someone’s journey.
Sarah-Margaret Church’s philosophy about what art is also reflects her own path to fulfilling her life’s dream.
The new owner of the downtown gift shop Just Be always wanted to own her own business. Her passion for art also directed her desire to blend the two.
When Just Be’s original owner, Christina Brown, decided to pursue her own dream of going to art school, it created the opportunity for which Church had longed since childhood. The two met for coffee in October, and Church took over the shop in late December.
The 30-year-old mom, artist and new business owner wants to maintain Just Be’s focus on unique, handmade, locally made and fair-trade merchandise. She also wants the shop to serve as a venue to promote local artists.
“I know how hard it is to try and find a way to make it as an artist,” she says. “I want to give people that opportunity to showcase their work.”
Laying the foundation
Church says her interest in art evolved before she even realized it.
Her family lived in Plain View in Sampson County when she was a child. The town was so rural, it didn’t even have a stoplight. She and her two sisters played outdoors and made things to entertain themselves.
“(Playing outside) is where I gained the appreciation for the simple things in nature,” Church says. “It gave me an eye to stop and think about small details.”
She describes her father as someone who always built things with his hands. He’s the one who sparked her interest in welding, she says. He frequently fabricated equipment for his contracting company. Church often traveled with him on business trips when she was a young girl.
“He would be welding something on the side of the road, and I would be collecting items to take home with us,” she recalls.
“This one time we were in northeastern North Carolina, and as he was welding and repairing some parts, I was collecting the most beautiful moss that I had ever seen. I proceeded to fill the cab of the truck with moss so I could, of course, take it home and decorate our large oak trees at home with this romantic-looking moss.”
But Church didn’t know that spiders and other critters had inhabited the moss.
“It made for an interesting ride home,” she says.
Church earned an art degree from UNCG, where her focus was sculpture. Her medium: metal. She was often the only woman in her metal classes.
Although she stands just 5-feet-1-inch tall and weighs 100 pounds, Church wasn’t intimidated by the heavy machinery. She had been around it her whole life. She even got a welder one year for Christmas.
Church creates small-scale sculptures — organic forms or frames combining fabric or paper. She hasn’t had much time to create art since her daughter, Payton, was born two years ago. But she hopes to, once she’s able to balance her new business and family responsibilities.
Working with metal relaxes her, she says.
“Don’t get me wrong, the machinery can be very intimidating, but making things puts me at ease, especially when it comes to the detail work,” she says.
Art + experience = business
Church’s goal of running her own business came from her parents.
She knows it wasn’t always easy for them to be business owners, but it allowed them to work and be available for their children. She says they never missed a game or recital.
“Now, that may mean that my dad worked 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, but he had the freedom to choose what was important to him at that moment,” she says. “I want to be able to do the same for my children.”
Her path to becoming a business owner may have been an indirect one, but she says each experience led her toward her goal.
Church’s resume includes jobs at a financial company, her dad’s company, the N.C. Department of Revenue and the clothing and accessories store Anthropologie.
“I know most people would look at this and think, 'How could one person have such random jobs?’ But each was a stepping stone and a huge learning experience that helped lead me to where I am today,” she says.
She and fellow art school classmate Addie Brown often discussed running a small boutique together. Both worked for Anthropologie — Church as an apparel manager, Brown as a display artist. The women met at UNCG and were roommates.
Brown, who studied graphic design and dabbled in sculpture, says they collaborate well together. They share a passion for creative approaches to design. They also balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Brown says.
“She has a lot of that business mind. She’s taught me so much, with the other business interests she’s had,” Brown says. “I can be all over the place sometimes. We’re a good fit.”
Last summer, the women started Twine and Twill, an event design and styling business. Addie Brown learned of Christina Brown’s decision to sell Just Be while visiting the shop in October. The two chatted and agreed to meet with Church to discuss the opportunity.
Christina Brown says she instantly thought the women were perfect for the store.
“They seemed to appreciate and understand what the store meant to me — that it wasn’t just a retail store,” she says. “That was important to me, that someone carry on that same feeling in the store.”
As Church focuses on Just Be, she will promote Addie Brown’s Twine and Twill business through the shop’s window displays. Brown will change the displays six times a year and lead a Christmas holiday workshop.
Supporting other artists
Church wants to maintain Just Be’s niche as a market for products that are fair trade, handmade or made in the U.S.A.
“I think it’s essential to what Just Be’s all about,” she says.
She also wants to expand its reach outside the area by creating an online store, website and blog to promote merchandise and events.
But what she’s most excited about is the opportunity to showcase local art. She intends to stock her shelves with the work of area artists and craftsmen, and she plans to host workshops throughout the year. The first will be about visual journaling in February, featuring Suzanne and Edgar Cabrera, a husband-and-wife design team and creators of the blog “an open (sketch) book."
Another workshop will feature longtime Just Be employee, Casie Leigh Lukes, whose creativity centers on papermaking and bookbinding.
Church wants the shop to serve as a gathering place for the creative community to share their talents and generate art. Christina Brown hopes maybe she can one day sell her art there.
After waiting so long for the opportunity to run her own business, Church marvels that this venture happened so serendipitously.
“It’s funny how all of this came together,” Church says. “This opportunity definitely would not have been possible without the grace of the Lord and support from my family and friends.”
Contact Tina Firesheets at 373-3498 or tina.firesheets@news-record.com
