Silly Little Art Shop Coming to PXV!
After years of dreaming and planning, Silly Little Art Shop is about to become a reality at 28 South Main Street. Sarah Jackson sat down to interview the shop owners, Kenzie De & Mallory McDaniel, to get the inside scoop on their quirky art space.
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The downtown Phoenixville art scene is about to get a little bit sillier.
Silly Little, a printmaking and textiles workshop, will launch its grand opening on July 10th from 6:00-9:00 PM at 28 S. Main Street in Phoenixville.
Kenzie De and Mallory McDaniel, co-owners of Silly Little, are excited to bring a unique makerspace to the community they love. Kenzie and Mallory are local Phoenixville artists who want to combine their varied expertise to create a shop that has something unique for every kind of artist.
“We want to make sure that everyone, no matter what, feels welcome to come and play,” Kenzie said. “We truly believe that everybody should be able to experience the magic of creating art and being creative, whether you feel like you’re creatively inclined or not.”
Mallory recently moved to Phoenixville, but Kenzie has long been part of the local art community. From the moment she first visited Phoenixville, she knew it was a place she wanted to invest in.
“I felt pulled,” Kenzie said. “It was literally like a voice said, ‘You are going to live here. This is where your life is going to be.’”
For several years, Kenzie was a member of The Upstairs Studio Artists collective, and before that, she ran a framing shop in downtown Phoenixville. When her best friend Mallory moved here last year, they decided it was time to start something brand new together, and Silly Little was born.
Making art and having fun!
Kenzie and Mallory are both artists, so they understand the challenges of maintaining your creativity while trying to build a name for yourself in the art world.
“As artists, we struggle finding opportunities where we get to just play,” Kenzie said.
Their goal with Silly Little is to give people of all skill levels the opportunity to explore new ways of creating art without the pressure of making “serious” art. That’s where their offerings like a tote-making workshop or a tufting class come into play.
“Even if you’ve never, ever done anything artistic in your life, you’re not going to feel stressed out,” Mallory said. “It’s going to be a fun place where you get to make a ‘silly little’ thing.”
For Kenzie and Mallory, keeping art fun is the foundation of their shop. Silly Little will be a place where the experience of creating art is just as important as the outcome.
“Whether it’s a Silly Little product, a Silly Little class, a Silly Little silent disco, or a Silly Little printmaking kit, no matter what you’re doing within our shop, you’re always reminded that this is supposed to be fun,” Mallory said.
Who are the owners of Silly Little?
Kenzie and Mallory both bring extensive backgrounds in art to their ownership of Silly Little.
Kenzie earned a BFA at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, where she’s from, and then interned at a print shop before starting her own framing shop in Phoenixville in 2018. Currently, she curates multiple gallery walls in downtown Phoenixville as well as creating and selling her own printmaking and mixed media work.
Mallory began working with a youth media program called Spy Hop in high school, where she worked on a number of film projects, including a documentary special that won an Emmy for community programming. After she graduated, Mallory transitioned into teaching art for several different youth programs in Utah and then California while earning a degree in fashion design from the California College of the Arts. Mallory’s artistic pursuits include sewing, costuming, and other mixed media.
Together, they plan to use their combined talents to offer classes on a variety of different techniques, including printmaking and tufting.
Owners of Silly Little Art Shop: Kenzie De & Mallory McDaniel
What will Silly Little bring to Phoenixville?
One of the goals of Silly Little is to stay true to the heart of the local arts community by thinking outside the box and curating a unique vibe for the shop.
“We’re going to be one of those weird destination places where you go because there’s always going to be something new,” Kenzie said.
Kenzie and Mallory have big plans for Silly Little, such as a rotating gallery wall and a variety of class offerings. They plan to offer workshops in all kinds of art mediums for people of any skill level.
“We like art, and we like to make art that makes us happy,” Kenzie said. “If it makes you smile and it makes you laugh, then you should have more of that in your life.”
For Kenzie and Mallory, opening Silly Little is their way of investing in the local arts scene.
“We’re pushing forward what I think the community of Phoenixville really wants, which is more fun, quirky, original spaces that are directly serving the community,” Kenzie said. “A place where you get to know the people that own the business, they’re a part of the community, and they work together in tandem with the city to foster that creative spirit that Phoenixville has.”
Kenzie and Mallory don’t just want Silly Little to be another retail store. They want it to be a community-oriented third space in the Phoenixville community where people can hang out, create art together, and most importantly, have fun.
