Five Monkeys Inc - Building a Creative Community

Five Monkeys Inc is a magical place to visit! Filled with artwork from a bunch of local artists (yours truly included!), it provides something for everyone! Paintings cover the walls in a variety of styles. Shelves are filled with jewelry, soaps, woven baskets, and so much more! They even have tea!

And when you go into the back, unpainted pottery fills the shelves lining the walls. A rainbow of glaze colors to choose from let you make the pottery your own! The pieces you paint here become treasured items for years to come!

Want to visit yet? This just gives you a small peek at what I feel every time I walk in the door.

The owner, Dina, opened up Five Monkeys in 2014. And since then she has been dedicated to creating a space where new artists can thrive and grow. All of the artists are local and many of them are newer to the business-side of being an artist. She helps them to learn, network, and reach new audiences, with her support and guidance!

Since adding in the paint-your-own-pottery studio, she has made that focus on creative community even more evident - It's not just artists that sell in the store anymore! Now everyone who wants to create can come in to her studio and make their own art as well!

Have you found a creative community of your own? If you are local to the Des Moines area, you can stop into Five Monkeys and find one there! If not, you can always check out her website!