On 2/18/26 I met with Jennifer (she/her) in Frankston, TX to talk about her experience running an art gallerette in rural Texas.
Visit them at 290 S Commerce St. Frankston, TX or stay up to date on their workshops here!
Get your history out of the closet!!! Message me here, insta @queerjoyetx, or facebook to record your life.If you don’t- history will say we weren’t here or Queer :(
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- Carolina (she/her)
Walking into I Arted and Dyed is like walking through a portal to another city. The outside surroundings are similar to any small Texas town. Inside the shop is filled with colorful art or all kinds and yes, lots of tie dye goodies. Visitors are welcome to browse, purchase, or find a seat to relax and create with any of the art supplies generously donated by the community.
Now let’s hear from Jennifer!
I Arted and Dyed happened like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I had another job; it was not anything that I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but I was good at it. My favorite part about it was the people, the customers.
That job ended. I was like “what the fuck am I gonna do” and at that point I said out loud, “if I never have to work for anybody else again I will be happy.” Well, here we are. I got keys to the joint!
It was just a thought fart kinda thing like “what if we had a little spot…” The catalyst there, the thing that made us go “hmm this might actually could happen” was I was three doors down at the candle store, that’s our friend Monica. They have at the end of their building a spot, which is where I Arted and Dyed was originally, it was about 400 square feet, super tiny. I asked on a whim, “what’s the rent for that place?” She said what it was and I was like “hmm.”
Pieces just starting falling into place.
Some of Jennifer's Tie Dye Work!
An art collective tried to get started here when we were in the process of opening. That kinda petered out. But in that same vein we needed something like that. So I was like “what could we do that could facilitate that sort of thing,” collectivist type shit. What if we got a bunch of local artists and we consigned for their work?
We opened September 2024. That Art Walk I was going around apostatizing artists and I’ve done that ever since. We have some that have been with us this whole time. It was born out of “I don’t want to work for anyone else” really.
Mary Anne, she’s one of those that was with us right from the jump, asked me one day about this place [current location] because it had been closed for 3 years. We came and looked at the place and I thought she was gonna think about it and sleep on it, but she called me and said “do you really want to do this” I said “yeah.” That was August of last year [2025]. We shut down for a month to get us over here. It was a lot of work to get us right around the corner but we went from 400 square feet to 4000 square feet. As much as I was excited to be in this place, I was still like “now they’re really gonna know that we’re here.” We can’t hide anymore.
The only thing I missed from my old job was the customers. When this happened I was like “those people aren’t gonna know where we are.” Well, little by little they’ve been trickling in here, it’s organically happening, they’re just finding us. I have gotten more artists being here, people started to come in and say “my friend said I should come here, I have some art to show you can I bring it?”
What I’ve heard people say when they come in here makes me believe that this is so much more than I even understand. To be the steward of that is a little pressure, but what an honor. Because so many weirdos have walked into this place and they’ve breathed when they walk in, their shoulders go down, their head comes up, they look around, and they are comfortable. We want to be a harbor, a safe space for those who don’t have a place. I’ve had people already come in here and talk about how this place is saving their life.
Queer Joy is this, you're in it. The freedom to be exactly that. This place is healing me just as much as it’s doing anything else. If it’s supposed to serve the community it’s supposed to serve us too. I needed this place more than I ever knew I needed it. This is a sanctuary really.
FREAKING AWESOMENESS!! My sister Buffy just met ya’ll and I had to come see!
This interview has been one of the most interesting! I love the title of the post too.