This Thomas shop supports a curated collection of emerging artists.
Although Bloom in Thomas might look like an art gallery, the owner, Morgan Smith, says it’s more like a record store. “We are a retail shop that offers over a thousand art prints from around 40 contributing artists,” he says. The resulting space is one where you can spend hours inside flipping through prints much like enthusiasts would thumb through vinyl records or CDs back in the day.
Smith, a Pittsburgh native and enthusiastic Thomas transplant, opened the shop in 2014 and draws upon a lifetime of surrounding himself with creative people. Smith dove into creating a space that was full-heartedly focused on selecting incredible emerging artists, representing them to the best of his abilities and relieving them of the need to do it themselves so they could focus on creating more art. It’s been a successful endeavor thus far and, in 2021, Smith and his team acquired the space next door, expanding the shop by more than 1,000 square feet.
Waiting for your Walls
Here are a few of Smith’s favorite pieces in the shop right now.
Bathtime
“This print was drawn on an iPad by contributing artist Haylee Morice, taking her just over 20 hours to complete. She joined forces with us last year, and the colors that she uses in her prints feel fresh and brighten up the walls of any home space. We carry around 20 prints of hers and are proud to be the only shop that represents this artist.”
Watercolor in Nature
“This is a brand new ‘how to’ book written and illustrated by our former artist in residence Rosalie Haizlett. Her work has been in our shop since April of 2019, and this book quickly became one of our top-sellers. We currently have more than 100 products of hers in the store and online.”
What Lies to the North
“Consistently one of our top-selling art prints, What Lies to the North invites people of any age into the fantastical world Stephen Willey creates. Willey is our current artist in residence and has been working with us for over two years. We have more than 45 art prints from Willey currently, with a host of fans waiting to see what new world will be made next.”
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S SPRING 2022 ISSUE
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