Art Central celebrates 12 years of service to the San Luis Obispo community 

As cars zoom by on Monterey Street, a pleasant chime signals a new customer at Art Central.

Some days it's a college student looking for class materials. Other days, it's an artist looking for the perfect paints to bring their passion to life or a mother and child looking for materials to make the most memorable family craft night.

"There's a wide variety of artistic types that we serve in the community. Fostering that diversity has always been part of our mission," said Art Central associate and event coordinator Shauna Jellison.

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• Photos Courtesy Of Art Central
• HANDS-ON Art Central's 12th anniversary celebration will enable visitors to put many of the tools the store sells to use through demonstrations hosted by local artists.

On Feb. 4, the store will hold a special 12th anniversary celebration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. marking its impact and history with sales and live artist demonstrations, including pet portraits with Karyn Blaney, book making with Lyndee Sing, and acrylic painting with renowned guerilla artist Robbie Conal.

All of these festivities are designed to celebrate Art Central founder and owner Etty Pacifico's vision of bringing the San Luis Obispo art community together by being the go-to location for artistic needs, carrying products from simple canvases, to acrylic paint, to T-shirt ink for custom designs, and more.

Pacifico, who started out as a painter, saw the need for an art store that could meet the needs of painters but also serve other forms of art blossoming in the SLO community.

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• Photos Courtesy Of Art Central
• PAINT PARTICIPATION Art Central is bringing back its in-person annual anniversary event, so customers and community members can once again celebrate by creating art.

Starting in 2011, she brought on others who were equally passionate about growing the local art community, including Jellison and her coworker Nick Webb, to help expand workshops and demonstrations like the ones being held at the anniversary event. Pacifico and Art Central even venture into fundraisers that provide art supplies to local students who may not be able to afford them otherwise.

"We have had programs over the years that have been dedicated to fundraising for arts scholarships and expanding the reach art has throughout the community," Jellison said, "so that has to be an essential part of the anniversary celebration as well.

"This is the first time since 2020 that we have been able to host an in-person event like this," she said. "For the last two years, these events have been largely online, but virtual events weren't nearly as interesting and didn't offer the same excitement as our traditional anniversary event."

In addition to the live demos, the event will also feature art "play" stations and mini classes all run by local artists, who are happy to share their know-how with watercolor, specialty pens, gold leaf, paint markers, printmaking, and calligraphy. The art stations will be run by Tracy Taylor, Shirley Horacek, Maryanne Nucci, Dorothy Anderson, Mary Lou Johnson, and Charmaine Martinez.

"The anniversary event is all about giving back to the community while strengthening our artistic impact in the process and celebrating local artists together with our customers," Jellison said.

Art Central will also host youth-centric activities, encouraging young artists to come and experience live demos and special discounts on beginner art kits alongside their parents. The morning demonstrations and play stations will cater primarily to teens and adults, while the afternoon is designed to be more kid-friendly, which is all part of the store's desire to encourage more creativity in the community.

"The artists who will be providing demos and running stations all offer a really unique experience for both adults and children, and that's reflective of the range of supplies we provide here," Jellison said.

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• Photos Courtesy Of Art Central
• GIVING BACK Part of Art Central's commitment to the community includes fundraising events centered on providing art supplies to in-need students throughout San Luis Obispo.

She and Webb have come to learn the ins and outs of the local art community's needs, from standard art equipment to special bundles or items required by the art programs of Cal Poly, Cuesta College, and Allan Hancock College.

"We see a lot of local landscape artists come in, knowing exactly what they want—bam, in and out," Webb said with a laugh. "Other times, it's a brand new artist just looking at where to start their journey into expression, so we have learned to adapt to whatever the customer needs us to provide."

In addition to equipping students and accomplished artists of all ages over the past 12 years, Art Central is serving a new role for many of its more recent customers.

"We have seen so many new people come in over the past two years looking for some way to express themselves artistically because of how cooped up they have been," Webb said. "To be able to be part of their creative journey and provide them with the tools they need to express themselves is really neat."

Freelancer Adrian Vincent Rosas is saving up to buy some new fancy colored pens to jot down notes with. Reach him at [email protected].