Winter is upon us and is here for the long haul. One of the ways small businesses add festive cheer is to hire local artists to create elaborate window displays. These eye catching designs pull people in, give them reason to stop and say “wow,” and provide important work to professional mural artists in the community. Here are our picks

The Salem’s So Sweet Chocolate and Wine Festival is just around the corner, and the perfect complement to this year’s predominately outdoor event, along with the Salem restaurant punch card and the ice sculptures, will be a custom window display. Why not add to the spectacle and joy by helping to create more art! Here are 14 artists and design

By Anna Dugan of AnnadidathingAll images courtesy of the artist Setting boundaries and learning when to say no is such a difficult thing to do. I’m still practicing it, but I’ve found a few things very helpful in this process: 1. Expectation Setting Getting on the same page before starting a project is huge. Being up front about your expectations

This holiday season, we’re highlighting local businesses as part of our #StayLocal2020 campaign. Scroll to the bottom for more information. It’s been quite the year in storytelling: here are 18 stories that inspired us and made us feel hopeful this year, and we hope they can inspire you too. Local Photographer’s Front Porch Project Leaves the Light on for Shelter Pets –

#ChalkArtSaturdays Mural by Annadidathing by Joey Phoenix UPDATE 6/2 – The Art Prompt this week is Celebrate Salem Arts Festival and the artist is Maia Mattison. It’s Saturday. The sun is shining. The kids are sticky with syrup from pancakes and begging you for something fun to do.  The answer: get out the chalk.* Studioful Design, in collaboration with the

This Mother’s Day, Creative Collective has teamed up with 5 local small businesses and 5 local artists to give complimentary Mother’s Day postcards to the first 100 takeout/delivery orders at each location. These unique designs celebrate Moms, and since they double as coloring pages, it gives them something to do between doing their jobs as actual heroes. Lucille’s Wine Shop

Anna Dugan of Annadidathing is a Filipina American mural artist, illustrator, and weirdo extraordinaire based in Salem, MA. She joins Joey on the podcast to talk about the Mariposa Project, why failure is important, and what it means to create from within.  In February of this year, Anna partnered with Creative Collective and the North Shore Mall to raise support

Annadidathing paints a mural on Balikbayan Boxes at the Peabody International Festival, Photo by Creative Collective MA. Story by Joey Phoenix No human is an island, and no artist is either. For most humans, it’s tricky to separate what’s happening to them individually from what’s happening in their local communities. It’s even more difficult to disentangle from what’s occurring on