Little Known Art House

Opening Spring 2025!!

Hi, I'm Jackie! A venture that has long been in the works is starting to take shape and for my birthday this year I’m getting the best present, the keys to my shop, Little Known Art House. 

The arts have been in my life as long as I can remember. My cousin, dad, and grandpa are/were carpenters, a true testament to their craft. My mom, like me, is a multi-passionate artist and when I was a child she owned a kiln to fire ceramics. My siblings are artists and musicians of amazing talent. I have been lucky to have a family and to find friends that are wonderful, weird, and creative individuals.

Entering my 43rd year, my life as a creative has already been an interesting and winding road. I am an artist, educator, and photographer, but for years an idea has been marinating in the background of my mind, the desire to create a place, an environment that supports the arts, not just for myself, but for others. Having grown up in both urban and rural environments, on occasion, I would see a little farm or quirky urban buildings for sale and dream of creating an artist community or a little gallery and shop. I love spaces like The Draw, Blue Moon Emporium, Ellinor, and The Garden/Potter and Clay here in the Fox Valley and they have all been sources of inspiration for my someday space. Prior to the birth of our daughter we even looked at the coolest little shop with apartments above to potentially purchase. But I didn’t quite have a plan in place and we were planning a wedding, covid started, and then came our daughter.

Before our daughter’s birth, I was a commercial photographer and led Fox Valley Photography. Both were a great source of joy to me but choosing to be just one thing has never felt quite right, a difficulty, I think many multi-passionate people face. The pandemic caused me to question what I wanted for my life, as it did for many, and after my daughter was born I left the corporate world to be home with her. A decision I will never regret and am so grateful for. After a few months I started thinking about what was next for me as a creative and when Hazel was about 18 months old I began hosting a couple nights a week at a restaurant called Ellinor. I felt inspired by the business chef Adam and his wife, Lindsay had created, and by the space Ellinor is housed in, a hundred year old building that used to be a corner store. I started to dream again about that little shop and gallery and felt like maybe opening my own place was something possible. Not easy by any stretch but that I could be capable of creating this space I had spent so much time thinking about. In 2019 I started to make linocut prints and about the same time I started working at Ellinor I began to sell my work at art markets. These gave me a taste of running my own small business and I started to meet other amazing artists, some of which I hope will be a part of my shop! My husband has always been supportive of even my most crazy of ideas while still being the one to ask the hard questions. We discussed the possibility at length and started looking at buildings to buy or a space to lease.

I started thinking about names for my little shop and landed on two that I liked best. Francis Lee Art House, a combination of my middle name and my husband’s, and Little Known Art House. All artists starting out little known, perhaps just by their family and friends and for all the women in history who were never known or little known artists. My husband and I both liked little known and the meaning behind it best. 

After over a year of searching I found the perfect little spot in downtown Appleton that I can turn into warm, welcoming, comfortable space where you’ll find unique items created by hand. There will be artist made treasures like prints, wooden bowls, woven baskets, jewelry, pottery, wall art, plants and a little gallery to showcase local artists work. I signed the lease and plan to open in the spring of 2025. My talented family and friends have already been helping me get started. My sister, working for a firm in Chicago, is creating the designs for the space. My dad is gifting me wood from his property that he made into boards to make shelves and tabletops. My cousin, a carpenter, is building the walls for my studio, making displays, and the check out counter. A wonderful friend and artist whom I worked with at Nancy’s Notions is creating the logos. My husband and good friends are keeping me sane and helping me through all the stresses of starting a business. I’m so lucky so know these wonderful, creative, and talented individuals!!

Unfortunately, it takes more than talent to start a venture like this, it takes community. If you’d like to see Little Known Art House come to life and make this birthday even happier I hope you’ll be a part of making this space happen. I have some awesome stickers, cards, and artwork from my print studio, Nimble Lemon Ink, for those who donate $10 or more. Every little bit helps and I can’t wait to see you at the opening this spring.

Donate $10-25 get one sticker of Jackie’s choosing

Donate $26-50 get a set of three stickers

Donate $51-75 get a set of three stickers and either a bookmark or set of three backyard animal greeting cards (blank inside)

Donate $76+ get a special, limited edition print created by Jackie just for this event and those who donate

Please make sure to provide an address so I can ship out your reward. Thanks!!

Everyone that donates will be invited to the opening this spring!! Donations will go towards the installation of a sink so we can have workshops, building the check out stand, displays, tables, materials to create the studio wall, lighting, and pos system.

Thank you to all of you who have helped out in all the big and small ways and being a part of this crazy adventure. 

Love, Jackie and Little Known Art House