Creativity carries the day at Arsty-Parts in arnold

How an artist found elastic and love
​during the Covid-19 shutdown.

Mona Baroody solves problems with creativity and business skills

Like most of us, Mona Baroody, owner of Artsy-Parts in Arnold, didn’t expect a mysterious and lethal virus to upend the world so completely. But she is navigating our new reality with the blunt force of her creativity.
 
Mona opened Artsy-Parts in Cameo Plaza almost exactly a year ago as a creative community center. After dedicating four years of her life to the Butte Fire recovery, she said “I wanted to do something for myself.” Someone asked her, what would you do if you could do anything? “My answer was easy. I want to create all day and get paid to do it. I’ve always been creative and happiest when I was doing it. I also wanted to help other people feel the same peacefulness.” In the time before Covid, the cozy warren of rooms provided space for the community to drop in and spread out art projects, take art and craft classes, buy hard to find art supplies and exhibit their art work. The virus changed all that.
 
If an art store seems an unlikely business to survive the shut-down orders, you’d be surprised. Not only do times of uncertainty call for creative outlet to relieve stress, precarious times require an artistic temperament. Mona believes that all the traits and skills of an artist—creativity, inventiveness, thoughtfulness, flexibility—coupled with a positive outlook and hard work will help her weather this storm. At the same time, she can help her community too.
 
“I thought, how can I make this work for all of us?” 

Mosaic making class at Artsy-Parts

She started by supplying crafting kits for families sheltering at home, giving bored kids and stressed parents the chance to craft items ranging from simple foam chickens and bunnies to complicated quilled paper pictures. But other needs surfaced. On Facebook, she posted “hey, spend your money locally. Then somebody said, ‘I need elastic. [for making virus masks]. Can you get elastic?’ And I had no idea what was going on in the world regarding elastic.”
 
In the two days it took Mona to put together an order for a group of local mask makers, all the elastic supply was suddenly gone. “The shipment was being held by the government at the dock as supplies necessary for essential workers only,” she said. Eventually, the wholesale company she ordered from was able to take possession and distribute the elastic. But because the manufacturer couldn’t keep up with the orders, they released only 2 rolls of elastic per day. Not enough for the sudden crushing need for homemade masks.
 
You can’t stop an artist. Mona, a jewelry maker, remembered a kind of silicon rubber cord that is used for stringing beads, and will be able to buy a supply of this for mask makers, as well as pipe cleaners to make the masks form fit to the face. “If the elastic crisis continues,” she said, “I have other ideas.”

Artsy-Parts carries locally crafted masks

Then people asked if she had material for making masks. “The most effective mask material is debated,” she said, “but the general consensus is that you want 100% cotton quilting blocks. That happens to be what one of my wholesalers carries.” She bought enough for the group and enough to have in stock at her store.
 
All of this has kept Mona quite busy. Time flies as she finagles orders for craft kits, origami paper, calligraphy pens, art supplies, and mask making materials. Customers pick up their orders outside the store, which Mona sanitizes religiously. At the end of her days, often after midnight, she said “I’m so busy I haven’t had time to figure out how I’m doing.” ​

This has made me very aware of how much I love people...It's a basic human need. Love is part of our DNA

One thing Mona has figured out is how hard it is to be isolated. “This has made me very aware of how much I love people. How much we all love people. It’s a basic human need. It’s part of our DNA, a deep need that’s part our survival. Love is a part of our DNA.”

“If it wasn’t for the virus,” Mona said, “I wouldn’t have realized this so deeply.”
 
Mona encourages people to call her for creative needs. She said she can meet or beat Amazon pricing and delivery time. Order supplies from Mona’s online store at artsyparts.com, or her Facebook page, or give her a call at 209/736-7336.