CAPITOLA — Artists of all ages and skill levels, from novices to professionals, gathered at Palace Arts & Office Supply on a sunny Saturday to celebrate the local shop’s 75th anniversary, pick up supplies, participate in activities, and observe demonstrations from a palette of local artists.
Palace Art Director of Business Development Mark Rispaud was chatting with regular patrons and local artists Saturday morning as he mentioned that as much as he loves spreadsheets, he’s a people person at heart. Rispaud has worked for Palace Art & Office Supply for about 25 years and has worn many hats over the course of his career.
“I just love being around the art community,” said Rispaud. “I have become art-inspired and art-interested, and from that to painting myself. I don’t let anyone see my work but my family likes my work and that’s all I need.”
He explained how ownership of the business, locally owned and operated since 1949, changed hands in recent years.
“The Trowbridge family were the owners until 2021,” said Rispaud. “They just didn’t have any successors for the business and we were also just coming out of COVID, so business was way down and the lease was coming to an end. We were looking at just closing it up. Then, another local family said that they couldn’t imagine Santa Cruz without Palace so they bought it and embraced it and we’re still alive.”
Charles Maier with his wife Al-lee Gottlieb took over the local art and supply store at the end of 2021 and kept the staff, many of whom have worked for Palace Art for years such as Rispaud’s daughter Lisa who was practically raised in the store and works there during her summer break from university. Like her dad, she dabbles in acrylic painting.
“I have been coming here since I was really young and people just knew me as Mark’s daughter,” she said. “I used to do this thing, where I would take the yodeling pickle that we used to sell here and put it over the intercom. And everyone would know it was me. Now, I work here but it’s nice because I get to know about new art products and learn from artists who use other mediums.”
Although the Rispauds are partial to acrylic paints, local artist Maggie Renner Hellmann who was demonstrating is partial to oil paints and was teaching patrons about the finer points of paint colors and color combinations at the store Saturday.
“I love Palace and I do not want them to go away,” said Renner Hellmann, who will be taking artists on a painting adventure in France next spring. “I don’t live too far away so it’s easy for me to come and pick up everything I need and they have everything I use. It’s like a candy store.”
The store was filled with other artists from near and far demonstrating their skills such as Palace Art supervisor and artist Leelah Maurer who got into painting during 2020 after taking an online course and was advocating for environmentally friendly products to clean paint brushes at Palace Art Saturday.
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“What’s really cool is that we’ve been bringing in more products that are eco-friendly,” said Maurer. “Solvents will strip out your bristles and make them dry over time and damaged, and typically solvents have a harsh odor. These eco-friendly products are odorless and it also conditions your brush. It’s like a two-in-one shampoo.”
Screen printing professor at Solano Community College Alden Knight was on-site to show people how simple it can be to create designs and print them onto paper at Palace Art Saturday. He pointed out that the best part about screen printing is that you don’t have to be particularly talented at art.
“I don’t have to be as good at painting or drawing as any of these amazing artists here,” said Knight. “I feel like I just get to hang out and make prints and I get to be surrounded by artists.”
As many pointed out Saturday, you don’t have to consider yourself an artist to do something artsy such as Aptos resident Merry Treanor who was checking out the celebration Saturday.
“This location has totally been expanded and it’s pretty amazing,” said Treanor. “I’m not a big artist but I like to walk around and think about being creative. I am doing adult coloring books right now, which are great because you can just kind of zone out, concentrate and not think about anything else.”
Crafty Capitola resident Jordan Berger has been popping into Palace Art for about 10 years to get supplies for various projects and was perusing the aisles for components to create chain mail and a pair of earrings at the 75th anniversary Saturday.
“When I was a little kid, I was really into the Klutz books where they would introduce a new craft and I would get those as gifts and have a new craft hobby every couple of months, and I still do that.” said Berger. “I like Palace because it’s on my way home and I like to shop locally.”
The 75th anniversary celebration continues Sunday from 10 to 6 p.m.
If you go
What: Palace Art & Office Supply 75th Anniversary Celebration
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: 1501-K 41st Avenue, Capitola
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