Written by Charles Noyes
Photos by Shana Sureck Photography

Sponsored by Valley Home Improvement

Published in Northampton Living (March 2021)

When Lindsay Fogg-Willits graduated from Skidmore in 2002 with an arts degree, she took some time to consider her options. “Ultimately,” she said, “I decided that relying on my art-making to get by would be too stressful.” The balance of stability and creativity she yearned for arrived in the form of teaching. She taught art at Northampton High for 5 years while developing an arts program for children, teens, and adults outside of the school called Art Always.

“Teaching was always something I knew I wanted to do and I found this way of combining those two loves in a really fulfilling way,” she said. After a few years of juggling both projects along with her painting, eventually Art Always became her full-time job. “I was always drawn to not just the artistic side or the educational side, but also the business side of it.”

Having grown up in the area, she knew Florence was the perfect location for her business.

“I love the juxtaposition of rural and urban in this area,” she said. “It’s the best of both worlds. And it’s an area that’s so family-centered and very supportive of the arts and education and all the things that matter so much to me.”

Along with Art Always, Lindsay pined for more opportunities to educate adults and children alike through her love of the arts. One of those opportunities came from a grant program focused on inmate education at the Hampshire County House of Correction. Though it initially pushed her comfort levels, she found the inmates to be “some of the most genuinely interested and appreciative students I’ve ever worked with. My weekly classes gave them a reprieve during their days to do something that made them feel valued and gave them opportunities they didn’t often have to express themselves creatively. It was profound and fabulous.”

In 2004, she joined the Deerfield Academy Summer Arts Camp (DASAC), eventually becoming the Administrative Director. In 2008 she began teaching adult drawing classes at the Hill Institute in Florence as well. She’s stayed with both of these organizations into present day and it was at DASAC where she met her future husband, Zack.

Lindsay and Zack have two children; Lucy, 8 and Noah, 6. Noah is always active, scootering and skateboarding through town, while Lucy prefers reading and LEGOs. “They’re creative and love art projects, but I try not to push anything on them. Except for puzzles, but nobody else seems to get as excited about them as I do,” Lindsay lamented. They all look forward to returning to Quarters when it reopens and spending time with friends indoors.

On top of running a successful business and raising a beautiful family, Lindsay is also a brilliant painter with a long list local and international solo and group exhibitions. “Birth and rebirth in both the human and natural world have always shown up in my art.” Recently, her art has taken a backseat to her many other passions, but this doesn’t concern her. She laughed, “My creativity has always come in bunches. There’s only so much energy with all the things I’m balancing. But I firmly believe that all the experiences that have stalled my art-making will serve as inspiration in the future.”

After years of running the business on her own, Lindsay began to yearn for something more. “I was getting a bit lonely not having someone to collaborate with. I’d been teaching and running a business for 18 years on my own.” When her friend Lexi, a parent of one of Lindsay’s art students, left a job in publishing, they got together in the fall of 2019 and discussed possibilities for the future.

What started as a walk in the woods quickly turned into a brainstorming session and pretty soon, Art Always moved in with High Five Books to open a shared storefront. “From that first ‘business meeting,’ it felt really right to have someone to bounce ideas off of and share in the day-to-day bustle.” Lindsay added, “We’re a natural fit for sure. We both want to provide families with something necessary and worthwhile. But we’re also just a great fit personality-wise, how we view the world and how we view parenting.” And their new storefront in Florence is a testament to their fabulous working and personal relationship. This partnership turned out to be perfectly timed because soon after, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their business in a major way.

“First and foremost, we had to change our annual summer camp into a virtual experience, but I had a lot of fun packing up a week’s worth of art supplies for every student and going door-to-door dropping them off. And we began offering Art to Go kits, which are art projects for kids to do at home inspired by the drop-in art projects we used to have set up for families in the studio pre-Covid. And finally, the real core of our business is the afternoon art class, which we had to modify to be via Zoom.”

It was certainly a unique challenge, but having someone else to bounce ideas off kept Lindsay afloat. Necessary changes in the operations of both businesses led Lindsay and Lexi to the conclusion that they needed more space. “The pandemic really made that clear. Moving right in the middle of all that wasn’t ever part of our plan, but 2020 was really the year of pivoting,” she smiled.

Lindsay has a lot to be thankful for, despite the year’s hardships. “I’m so grateful that we’re providing something that helps entertain and educate families right now. We’re very lucky to continue our business and be as successful as we’ve been during these difficult times.” She carries a handful of lessons from 2020 with her, but none more important than the value of community. “The whole thing reminded me what a supportive and wonderful place this is to live. People have been so determined to continue to support the work I do and shower me with praise and all the things that make coming to work a joy. I like living here more than ever.”