The Artful Gathering is a new, family-friendly art studio in the village of New Richmond.

Jessica Blankenship owns the studio, which is located in a renovated former church at 411 Walnut Street. The studio opened in October 2022.

She shares ownership of the business with Dave Hensley, who handles accounting matters.

“We have transformed a historic, former church building into a beautiful art studio with character and charm,” she explained.

Blankenship is an art teacher at Bethel-Tate Local Schools and has a demonstrated passion for her work.

Blankenship grew up in New Richmond and lives in the village with her husband and children.

She studied art and interned at the Taft Museum of Art, which she says inspired her to want to teach.

She developed take-home art kits that families could utilize on their own. The success of that program gave her the confidence to look for a studio space.

She started The Artful Gathering to “give access to the Eastside to fine art, fun art and a beautiful place to gather.”

She describes The Artful Gathering as a happy, welcoming art studio that offers art classes and art camps.

There’s also a curated gift shop featuring local artists and authors.

The Artful Gathering also offers event space; they have tables and seating for up to 90 people.

“I am envisioning our space to be used for various types of events: from bridal showers to speaking events to business networking events and more,” Blankenship has said.

The Artful Gathering is also an Ohio Afterschool Child Enrichment Educational Savings Account program qualified provider. Blankenship is excited to have been recently approved by the program.

Blankenship shares: “Exciting news for Ohio Families. You can receive up to $1,000 per year to support day camps and after-school enrichment for your children. We offer art camps and classes weekly and during school breaks. Evening art camps, day camps, two-day camps and weekly classes.”

Uniquely, Blankenship is offering an opportunity to sign up for classes with no out-of-pocket costs, whereas some providers will seek payment from parents and guardians up front, and let the parents and guardians pursue reimbursement from the program.

She explained that families need to register for The Artful Gathering camps and classes on The Artful Gathering website using a special coupon code exclusively for ACE customers, which reduces their cost to zero.

For more information about The Artful Gathering, visit https://theartfulgathering.com/.

For more information about the Ohio ACE Educational Savings Account program, visit https://education.ohio.gov/OhioACE.

Blankenship is passionate about art and its ability to have positive influences.

“I feel like everything in modern families is so fast-paced. Everybody is hustling about, and everyone has a million things,” she said. “We have to make a really intentional effort to really step back and evaluate the childhood that we’re providing for our kids.”

She added, “Art is so many things to me. It is hands-on. It uses the whole brain. Kids get to socialize with other kids in such a beautiful, healthy way as they’re making art.”