An art gallery. An art education center. A skin art shop. An art shop. Celebrating its grand opening at 2 p.m. July 18, the Rusted Jade Art Collective, 1142 W. Jefferson St. in Brooksville, truly will be a place for the arts in Hernando County.
The Rusted Jade Art Collective is a 800 sq ft facility with a tattoo room in the back, and an entire open front area with the lounge area and store. It’s also a dream come true for owners and artists Max (Maxine) and Lenny Grey.
“My husband Lenny and I just recently moved here from NY, and my husband was a tattoo artist and I was a photographer/teacher & birth worker. We love working with people, helping people, and other artists, and wanted to continue our work together down here,” said Max Grey. “So we decided to open up a store that encompassed all of that in one place! So it is a tattoo shop and art shop all in one. Immeshing our strengths and passions.”
The pursuit of the arts is indeed a passion for this creative couple. According to a collective bio, Lenny Grey is a tattoo artist who has created drawings, paintings, and mixed media art since childhood–choosing tattooing as his ultimate media due to his joint passion for “making art + meeting people.” He also loves to make thrifted art from random thrifts, and will be seen around the shop, making artistically inspired tattoos, and teaching a variety of art classes. Max is a holistic art dealer, and found her heart in creating storytelling imagery through her camera lens. Honest photography of the complete human experience and pairing it with the written word is how she creates art, and refers to it as “pictorial poetry.” She will be seen around the shop, selling beautiful custom art pieces from various local artists, handpicked for the gallery, plus hanging out with guests in the collective’s community lounge. She will be teaching photography classes and booking in-home and on location photo shoots.
The Rusted Jade Art Collective is intended as both an artists collective and community hub.
“On a day to day basis, we will be selling tons of handmade art from local artists,” said Max Grey, “and we welcome everyone to come shop and/or hang in our community lounge with friends/family and enjoy the art, grab something to drink, sign up for a class, or get a little ink if you wanted! We plan on hosting art shows once a month, once we get rolling.”
The Rusted Jade will offer a full range of art classes to suit every ‘palate,’ including watercolor, acrylic, photography, tattoo flash, and drawing.
“We will be offering classes for all ages and various art media,” said Max Grey. “We will also have “art & sip” nights (some days) where they are very similar to paint nights, but with other art forms offered as well!”
Among the featured art teachers will be Allisa Babor, Founder of Roots Creative Co. and Art in the Park Chair & Hernando County Fine Arts Council member.
“Their place is full of creativity,” she said of the Rusted Jade Art Collective.
And aside from learning about art, numerous artworks will be available for sale at the collective.
“We are stocking up our shop with tons of art from local artists,” said Max Grey, “and hope this will bring a different form of exposure to these wonderful artists!”
The Greys are hoping for a fun and creative grand opening event that truly captures the spirit of the Rusted Jade Art Collective.
“At the grand opening party we will be doing a cool tattoo special, showcasing/selling art, having our artists there to put a face to their art for a meet and greet, food and drinks from local businesses, and just an all around good time,” said Max Grey. “We can’t wait to bring the community together through our collective!”
The Rusted Jade Art Collective should prove to be a mecca for the arts in Hernando County.
“Welcome to the social club,” reads the collective website, “where art speaks!”
For more information about the Rusted Jade Art Collective, contact +1 352-340-3739 and [email protected].
