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 the best kind of wonderful, weird, and creative. 

Entering my 43rd year, my life as a creative person has already been an interesting and winding road. I am an artist, educator, and photographer, and for years I’ve had this idea to create an environment that supports the arts. Having grown up in both an urban and rural environment, on occasion, I would see a little farm or a building for sale and dream of creating an artist community or a little gallery and shop. 

Before our daughter’s birth, I was a commercial photographer and founded Fox Valley Photography where I often held meetings and taught workshops at the library right across the street from Little Known Art House's current home. As much as I love photography, I really enjoy experimenting with all different kinds of art. I started printmaking in 2019 after my husband and I got engaged and a couple years later, when our daughter turned one, I began doing art markets around the state, including Appleton's own Art at the Park. One of my favorite aspects of art markets is the feeling of community. I've met so many talented artists and love seeing people get excited about the arts. Creating my booth space and learning to run my small art business had me seriously thinking about opening a brick and mortar shop and dreaming about what that could really look like. My husband and I discussed my ideas at length and with his cautious but wholehearted confidence in me we started looking at buildings to buy or spaces to lease. 

I also started thinking about names for my little shop and landed on Little Known Art House. All of us who create start out as little known artists, usually by those who love us most, our family and friends. I also wanted to honor those women throughout history who had amazing talent but, because of societal norms, remained little known artists. 

Appleton, where I live, is an artistic community hosting, Art at the Park and Mile of Music, every year and has the beautiful Trout Museum downtown.  I’m excited for Little Known Art House to be a place of community, to provide opportunities for artists to showcase their work, to host workshops, and pop-up's in the summer.

After over a year of searching I found a little spot in downtown Appleton, that with the help of family and friends, has turned into a warm and welcoming space where you’ll find a beautiful micro gallery and in the shop, unique items created by hand. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you at Little Known soon!

Love, Jackie and Little Known Art House