Arts & Entertainment

Mara Beckwith's Entrepreneurial Art

This Owner Of Studio M Fights For Survival In An Inhospitable World

As with many artists refusing to starve for her passion, Mara Gillen Beckwith is also an entrepreneur – she  started a framing business within her Studio M gallery as a way to make ends meet. It is a path she has followed for a while.

“I knew I was an artist, but I took the safe route when I graduated high school,” she said. Beckwith is a painter who also does print work.

She went into drafting and design for the defense industry after high school—skills she still uses today in her framing business.

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“[I was] looking for that financial security,” she said. “I still did art on the side.”

Beckwith comes from an artistic family. Her grandfather was a professional photographer for Underwood and Underwood, her father a painter, and her mother with needlework.

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“I always felt like I was an artist,” said Beckwith. “As I went along, I think I got better at it. My parents were always supportive of the arts and then I had art around me.”

Her early work consisted of local landscape painting and print making. She picked up new techniques for engraving and etching while traveling.

“[But] it’s an important foundation to say, ‘I need to know a little bit more about art than just ‘I’m going to paint a flower,’ ” said Beckwith. “You need to know where [that art is] in all of art history. Where are you placing yourself?”

Beckwith went back to school in pursuit of an art degree from Connecticut College. She graduated in 2001 and has since continued work in print and etching. In 2006, she began painting a series based on the chakra—which she continues to refine today.

“I’ve come a long ways with my artwork since I started,” she said. “I think my pieces are really showing who I am. Ten years out [and] I feel like I’ve actually developed a style.”

The Business of Art

After she graduated from Conn, Beckwith opened a small gallery and framing store in Groton City—the birth of Studio M. The gallery was located on Thames Street and attracted a lot of foot traffic—patrons of Paul’s Pasta, Electric Boat, and Pfizer. Still, the shop was 300 square feet and offered little parking.

“It was a good place to start, but I quickly ran out of room to get the [framing] work done,” she said.

After she weighed the option of staying in Groton, inevitably decided against because of high rent, Beckwith learned of an opening in Mystic.

“I was kind of looking for that perfect little spot, because I was starting a business myself and didn’t want to get into a huge debt owning a business,” she said. “I lost like two nights of sleep when I was thinking about it [Mystic location]. You know: ‘Can I do it? Can I make rent?’ You think about everything.”

Studio M relocated to the hub of Mystic’s art center. The gallery is down Cottrell Street from the Mystic Gem Company, owned by Beckwith’s brother.

“Now that I’ve moved here, I see the difference in just the volume of people,” she said. “[It’s a] world of difference in terms of exposure.”

Since the move, Beckwith has plunged into grassroots promotion of her gallery, networking through colleagues, utilizing the Internet, and working with local associations, like the Greater Mystic and Eastern Connecticut chambers of commerce.

“I’m doing a so-so job at it. I know there’s still room for improvement,” she said. “When I get done at the end of the day, I go home and I’m still doing things because I really want it to work.”

Applying Her Talents

Beckwith has combined her talent in art with her business.

“I think when people come to get something framed, they know me as an artist and take that into consideration,” she said. “When you’re an artist you have a good eye for things, you know how things are going to look. It does carry over.

“They don’t realize what’s going on,” she continued, “but when they first walk in and put their piece on the table, I’ve already narrowed it down to six frames that I think will really work on that piece and then I have different price ranges.”

Beckwith has also applied her talents to teaching. She and a friend co-founded the Stonington Printmakers Society, which teaches continuing education courses at Stonington High School. Beckwith works with more than 60 students who exhibit two to three times a year.

Studio M

Studio M hosts rising artists in its front gallery on a monthly basis—hosting an opening gala for each show during the Mystic Art Stroll. The gallery takes a 30 percent commission on works sold, which is far less than in other galleries.

“I guess I feel some compassion to them because, you know, I’m an artist too,” said Beckwith.

A second gallery space is reserved for Beckwith’s personal work.

“You have to really allow yourself time to create,” she said, “and then you don’t always feel like creating. It’s a balance.”

“If you push yourself, your art starts to speak to people,” she continued. “Each piece brings something different to each person. It runs as a combination. It all goes together. You have to be good at [art] and business.”

 “Sometimes you’re just naïve and then you figure it out rather quickly. You learn the lessons and hopefully you learn them fast,” Beckwith said. “I really go by intuition and that seems to be working for me.”

Studio M is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is currently exhibiting work by Lindsay Aromin and will showcase work by digital photographer Ryan Sheridan on August 4.

 


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