By Sarah Huether
The quiet neighborhood lined with rows of trees and cozy houses is interrupted by a weathered airstream trailer. The trailer sits comfortably in front of Jennifer Christy’s home with bright orange decals reading “Craft, Create, Celebrate” welcoming visitors. Christy juggles coffees she had picked up after dropping off her two children, Benjamin and Penelope, as she opens up the trailer. The surprisingly spacious trailer includes crisp white walls, a blank canvas for all who enter the airstream and the home of the Creative Capsule.
Inside Christy’s home, stacks of colorful, dynamic paintings by Christy line walls adorned with photos of her family. The vibrant art reflects her vivacious aura as she sits comfortably in her living room, bright shoes on her crossed feet. “I have a sickness…I use so much paint,” she jokes, describing her signature style of layering paint.
Christy received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from St. Edward’s in Austin, later moving to Dallas to earn her Masters of Art with a focus on painting from the University of Texas at Dallas. A teacher since 1997, Christy says she spent the majority of her career teaching in public schools.
She and her husband Matt and their two kids moved to Bryan two years ago when Matt took a job at Texas A&M University. The plan was for her to work from home for a few years, but Christy says after six months she realized she missed creating things but didn’t miss teaching at schools.
“I wanted to do my own thing,” says Christy, who always dreamt of having her own art studio, a “brick and mortar” thing. It was Matt who came up with the idea of an art truck in the model of popular food trucks. A Google search revealed that someone had beaten them to the idea – the Creative Capsule owned by two women in Salt Lake City. Deflated, Christy returned to her original fantasy of a building a studio.
“The universe started giving me signs,” recalls Christy. Soon after she watched a TV show about a mobile business, a friend of Christy’s shared his dream of opening a mobile art school. “That’s my dream, too!” Christy exclaimed. Another online search for the Creative Capsule revealed it was for sale. “It just came into being,” she says with a snap of fingers.
From Dallas to Downtown Bryan, Christy and the Creative Capsule have racked up some miles since she opened for business in June. From Frozen themed parties where the kids paint castles to superhero parties where capes are made, fun art is in the making.
Christy says she and Michael Darin, who shared the mobile art dream, have partnered with Ronin Cooking and the Full Moon dinners to bring the Creative Capsule to the wilderness allowing diners to sip and nibble while the paint on their masterpieces dry. From Montessori schools and home school groups to senior citizens, Christy describes the business’ growth noting that on a recent Tuesday she had three different locations and taught six classes.
Except for the heat, Christy says she likes being out and about with her art, even the physical process of hooking up the Creative Capsule to her vehicle and enjoying surreal moments like picking up Starbucks with her entire art studio behind her.
Christy continues to flex her own art muscle, showing her art locally at the SEAD Gallery, the Guerilla Art Take Over, as well as a show in October at the Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. As for the future of the Creative Capsule, Christy says with a laugh that one day she could have a whole pack of airstreams teaching music and drama and everything in between, but for now Christy said she loves the “endless possibilities” the Creative Capsule provides. Her vision includes using it as an outreach program for areas without art programs by providing a studio and classroom on wheels.
“Art is survival,” says Christy. “I couldn’t live without it.”
To learn more about the Creative Capsule visit www.thecreativecapsule.com.
