Hometown Plaza offers venue for work of local artists

Local artists have a new possible venue for their art in the form of Hometown Plaza LLC, an art, craft and antiques shop owned by Sablle Erickson that recently opened at 324 Second Street in Havre.

Erickson said she's always been a local small-business enthusiast and a lover of art and the people in the community who make it, and she always wanted to own her own business and give local artists a way to showcase their talents.

"Havre needs this kind of store just to show off what these people can do," she said.

She said in addition to the antiques she sells at the location, they sell all kinds of art from people across the Hi-Line and Montana, everything from photography to paintings, wood sculptures and coffee mugs to homemade blankets and vests, so many different kinds of art that people probably need to see it.

Erickson said many of the vendors she works with also do custom orders, so people looking for something specific can get in contact with her and she can pass their requests on to artists.

She said one of the reasons she wanted to create this kind of store is because so many artists in the area have full-time jobs, and selling items themselves over social media or otherwise can be difficult and time-consuming.

She said she's motivated and committed to making this venture work and she thinks by working with local artists and vendors they can make this a successful business.

Erickson described Hometown Plaza as a sort of indoor farmers market for local art and antiques, one that will provide local art enthusiasts a place to buy the work of talented locals, and a place where tourists can find items made by people who live in the place they visited.

She said it's not difficult to find items that reference any given place a person may travel, but buying a piece of art specifically made by the people in that place may be more meaningful for a lot of travelers.

The store held its grand opening two weeks ago, and the event got a bigger turnout than she was expecting, which is great because this is her first venture as a business owner.

"It was kind of a magical moment," she said.

As for the future, Erickson said, she hopes to see the store's website up and running next month and she has plans for events like craft nights in the works, which will hopefully start in October.