Alisa Inglett’s Your Design in the Heart of Rose
By EMILY RAMSEY
Managing Editor
RECYCLED ART: Recycled art was on display in April at “Green Art, Red Wine,” hosted by Your Design, 211 S. Main St. in Broken Arrow. Standing around a sculpture created by local metal sculptor Stephen Schwark are, from left, Your Design owner Alisa Inglett; Kelley Rash, with the Arts Council of Broken Arrow and AVB Bank chairperson of the board; Katy Newton, art model; and Jennifer Deal, with the Arts Council of Broken Arrow and Broken Arrow High School art teacher.
GTR Newspapers photos
Six years ago, when Alisa Inglett opened Your Design, her art and framing store on Broken Arrow’s Main Street, just like downtown Broken Arrow which was not yet the Rose District, Inglett’s mission for her store had yet to be realized.
Inglett, who grew up in Tulsa, moved to Broken Arrow 12 years ago to allow her daughter to be in a school district with more art opportunities.
Inglett’s decision to open her own store came about partly as a way to provide a place of employment for her mother; her decision to locate Your Design on Main Street years before the Rose District took shape came about because “there’s something about a city’s main street; it’s got a hometown feel,” she says.
For the past 20 years, Inglett has worked in art framing, which is one of the services offered at Your Design. Eight years ago, Inglett began offering to create faux finishes and murals for clients. She is also a master gilder, who has studied and trained under master gilders.
Inglett cannot pinpoint when she began doing art because she has always created, she says, experimenting and working in all types of mediums, including printmaking, mixed media, watercolor, murals, oil painting, and faux finishes, with her current focus being on installations.
Art has always offered Inglett, who describes herself as socially uncomfortable, an avenue for communication and self-expression.
“Art is the way that I get my thoughts and emotions out,” she says.
As Inglett recognized that she was far from alone in her feelings, “I determined that I wanted to help the invisible person be heard (in others) and to be an advocate for artists and creative people,” she says.
One way that she brought fruition to that goal was when she formed Alternative Outside Artists (), a group made up of Tulsa artists of various art forms, such as visual, theater, dance. The focus of the organization was to locate space for artists to show their work.
“We found all kinds of places to show our art: a lawyer’s office, a hair salon, abandoned buildings, warehouses.”
Fast forward about 15 years, and Inglett is still supporting and fostering local artists.
“After I opened this store, I realized that I could use it to provide an area to allow artists to show and perform their work,” says Inglett.
On average, she hosts an art event once per month at Your Design. These events range in variety from art shows to fundraisers to live performance art.
For example, in April, Your Design hosted “Green Art, Red Wine,” which featured sculpture, ceramics, pottery, assemblages, wall art, and other types of artwork constructed from found objects.
On May 7, Your Design presented the “Vaudeville Museum,” where four separate full-costume Vaudeville performances took place simultaneously that evening on four separate street corners along Main Street.
Coming next at Your Design is “Artists of the Future,” an art show for artists between 10 and 20 years old. The event will be held June 2 and include art work of various mediums, which will remain on display in the store through July.
However, this event offers more than a one-night art show; it includes education for participating artists.
“I will help participants before the event to title and price their art work and just generally help them behind the scenes as to how to get their pieces art-show-ready,” Inglett says.
Explaining why she holds mentorship as such a passion, she continues, “I wouldn’t be where I am if I had not had strong mentors in my life.”
Updated 05-23-2016
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